Hi Dien,

You are right.... Money and the value we place on anything are all relative, kind of like Einstein's theory of relativity in a way.

For example, real estate is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it at the time, and not what most people believe... That your house is worth what the market value is.

A friend of mine bought a house 6 months ago at $355,000... At the time there was another buyer who was equally interested in buying it, but the owner accepted my friend's offer first.
2 months later, the well heeled other buyer approached my friend and offered him $495,000!!! because he wanted it so badly... Although the market value of the home compared to houses of a similar design in the area had only risen by 5% above what he had paid.

The perceived value of money also depends on HOW much you have or don't have AND how QUICKLY it takes you to EARN it.

If something costs $1000 and it only takes a person one-hour to earn that amount... Then the value of the $1000 is of course perceived differently to a person who takes a month to earn it.

I always remember the famous line John Paul Getty once said (I'm pretty sure it was him?)...
"A billion dollars ain't what it used to be!"

I also believe that most people make their buying decisions based upon the price they pay for OTHER goods and services in their lives, products that may not necessarily be similar to the goods in question.... Rather than the benefits, quality or market value of the product being bought.

Then there are people who hate wasting CENTS but will not think twice in spending extra dollars.

For example... People who turn lights off when they leave a room for five minutes to save a few cents of electricity... But then spend an extra dollar on a pack of smokes at a convenience store rather than buy the pack at a discount supermarket???

Each one of us has a built in "yardstick" depending on the value we place on money and our existing wealth or earning capacity.

In marketing, I always apply what I call the
"Within the realms of reason" factor... In other words, when you price a product, you take into consideration the psychological value the majority of your target customers would be willing to pay, and not just the price of competing products or market values.

Sure... Salesmanship comes into it... If you are good enough you can sell products for much more than what they are really worth... But if a product is priced outside "the realms of reason" in your customer's mind it's going to be a hard sell indeed!

A good way to find out the perceived value of money for a given person is to ask the question..
"If you were to go to a casino... How much would you be prepared to lose at the roulette table, black Jack or the slots before you walked away?"

The amount of money a person is prepared to gamble and lose is a good indication of a person's ability to take a risk... Money wise.

If a person is prepared to lose $100 at the casino and walk away without blinking an eyelid.. Then it's not hard to sell that person an ebook for example for that amount or less, if you can convenience them it will make them money, etc.

Also people spend money based on "lots".
A "Lot" is an amount of money we "think in".

For example... I think in terms of "$100 lots", others may think in "units" of "$10" , "$1000 lots" or if you are Bill Gates "$10,000,000 lots".

What this means is that when I go to buy something, I "value" the product to the nearest "lot"... For instance, a $275 video player, in my mind in $300, a $8.75 pack of smokes is really $10, etc.

If I take a friend to lunch in a good restaurant...I think $100... Even though the bill might be $70.

Money.... It's really all about "units" of perceived measurement, earning capacity, status Quo, upbringing (our parents influence), economic times and value mix we equate to the spiritual and material world each of us have.

Then there is the ultimate definition of money...
"Money is TIME". Without TIME... There is no money, no matter how much you have.

Imagine winning a million dollars... With only a week left to live.

Then again... Imagine living lifetimes in a material world with no money at all as millions do.

Imagine a world with no money or where money is no longer is valued... The Celestine Prophecy, a book worth reading. Especially since the events of S11

Warmest Regards & $uccess

Ricky Higgs




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