The Illusion Of Price When Utility Is Derived
Some days ago, I was out to get a new device and the first thing that caught me was the way prices are generally skyrocketing. I'm not sure if I can blame this on the constant dipping of the Nigerian currency or the artificial inflation caused by middlemen in Nigeria. I'll blame it on the two, but more on the latter.
You see, everyone knows Nigeria is a sinking ship, so because of this, there are people who are glaringly creating excessive inflation, by increasing the prices of goods and services, creating a monopoly of scarcity, which means, you have no option but to spend above your means.
The logic is simple; increase the prices of goods and services and blame it on the government. The dollar to Naira rate is another way of creating bloat. Some traders value the Naira to dollar rate so wrongly, howbeit, knowingly to cheat people of their hard-earned money.
When I got to the place where I was supposed to get this device. The price was unbelievable, I was so overwhelmed, I couldn't believe my eyes and ears, this reaction was what probably made me make irrational decisions to leave the device. The irrational decision was this.
Normally, I needed a change of device, I could have just ordered one online from the comfort of my home. However, I discovered that online purchase is overblown. People who are online merchants think that their customers have the choice to get these services in a real-time store but still chose to buy from them, thereby creating a mentality that they're (their customers) rich.
This mindset is why they value the prices of their product outrageously. Their delivery fee is high, their products are no better than the ones you'll get from real-time stores so what makes the difference?
The difference is clear, money.
I am a frugal person at heart no matter the change in my financial position over time. I don't buy from online stores to enjoy the utility of comfort at the expense of spending dumb money. The money is dumb because I worked hard for it but sacrificed it to attain comfort. In short, the comfort I will be worth the extra money I will spend.
This was why I had to go to real-time vendors. Although I sacrificed time, and money on transport and the weather was chilly and rainy. At the end of the day, I was overwhelmed by the prices. It seemed these vendors have joined in on what online vendors do and it was crazy to see how people could just manipulate the prices of goods and services to a virtually unbelievable extent.
While I know I could afford the product, I didn't think it should be valued for that price and I don't think the value I'll attain from it would be worth it in a space of two years or less.
I consider my decision to be irrational because I allowed the price to drive me away quickly.
I could have been logical about it and choose to weigh in on other options. But this is one thing with spending money. The moment we're fazed by huge figures, the first time we do becomes calculative. I must say that my idea or perspective on what is quality is what determines my preference for a brand.
For example, my two best tech products are Apple and Samsung, while I might get other cheaper brands, can I trust them enough to get the value/quality I crave? Sometimes when we spend, we're always sentimental about it. But the reason why we're always sentimental when we're buying is because of our previous experience and the satisfaction or dissatisfaction/disappointments we've had from buying rightly or buying amiss.
I have bought other products in the past and they didn't seem to bring the value I wanted, this is why I'm dogged towards brands because price becomes an illusion when utility is derived beyond measure. However, does the idea behind the meaning of "quality" take away reasoning? Not.
The fact that I am dogged towards brands, doesn't mean I wouldn't feel that I am overspending. However, I know that I'll derive satisfaction from my purchases and even save me more money over time if I do a side comparison of a possible opportunity cost.
But then, when something is overpriced, the quality it embodies doesn't change the fact that it's overpriced.
This is because we know how the circumstance that surrounds how our money is made, we understand the difficulties in earning and this is why even when we're after quality, we end up buying less, not because we're stupid but because we're limited in resources
Interested in some more of my works?
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Why You Couldn't Create Good Contents In 2021, Why You Still Wouldn't In 2022.
A Psychoanalytic Dive Into Incentivized Loyalty
The Nigerian/African Disposition On Marriage As An Endowment
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well price raising of products is not only an issue of only Nigeria its same here. Common people suffering a lot for this price rising. You are right that you believe in brands. You've taken wise decision.
Yeah, it's common among different countries. Is it that bad as well in your country?
Yes, people making trolls when our PM giving silly solutions for price rising. Like she told us to make snacks of different veggies available in the market as the price of egg plant raising to the moon day by day. Our cooking oil to all groceries are rising up as a result electronic gadgets and other materials are getting expensive for common people.
Which country are you from? I'm sure what's happening in Nigeria has no comparison
Its Bangladesh
Well said. I sense the frustration in the tone. Middle men and governments seem to be running things they don't understand. You would think there job is to sabotage the economy. Where do they place thier customers,what is there goal?to sell or keep a product in the shelf. With the way product prices are set, It looks like they suffer an Infiriority complex to the product. They price the product based on an assumption the have on the customer and brand, not on what they paid to order the product or economic principles of supply and demand. Sad thus trend has overflown into the online market aswell. Perhaps they want you guys to now catch flights to bo and buy a single product at the manufacturers lol
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The sad reality is that these vendors and middlemen want to become rich by living off the misery of others, while this is totally crazy I believe it's the world we currently live in. Everyone who is a vendor is looking to rip you off your hard earned money, while simultaneously blaming this on inflation. But when you are particularly living in a backward country with the backward economy, it becomes difficult to put some specific laws in place to tackle these things
And the problem is that these economies have been sugar coating backwardness and wrong decisions with forward thinking. Not realising the boat is getting filled with water and will sink beyond redemption in no time. Its elements that are not common in man that will cause technologies like crypto to take over eventually things like trust
Man, I tire for here with the way situations are. I pity those people who work in traditional jobs as things would be harsh for them as their purchasing power reduces due to the constant rise in prices and yet salaries remain constant.
Bro, having a full-time job in Nigeria makes you poor over time. Even the people that their salaries are increasing, it is very slow in comparison to the way the prices in the market are increasing. I believe we do not have an economically inclined government. If not, we could have put some basic economic measures in place to tackle this excessive inflation and self-inflicted inflation by middlemen. It's a mad country.
A mad country it is! What do you think about this coming elections? Is there any possibility that the people who would come in would not make the country worst than it already is.
Or we now have wiser citizens in making good decisions regarding casting vote for someone who could do better.
I thought you bought a new phone sometimes last year or is my memory playing pranks on me? Because I think I read about that iphone purchase unless it wasn't you but starstrings 🤔
Ehrrrr I actually decided to replace my work phone, my iPhone is mainly for photography and my videos. But I wanted to sell my old work phone to get a new one. You remember too many things 😅😅😅
Hahaha.... I even remember your reasons for buying the iphone then.. lol.
It's okay. As long it helps you work better. Good luck with everything. 💚
Thank you, I take lots of these decisions, sometimes I'm obsessed with clarity and perfection. Classic aiming for the sun but falling on the moon. Sometimes it bites me in the ass 😅😅😅
I know you are obsessed with clarity and perfection... Chai 🥺
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I think another factor is time. There are a lot of people who just want the convenience of getting it sent to them and they don't want to get up to move. However, I am a bit surprised to see them gouge you so much for online stuff because it generally has less overhead as they don't have to pay for the store or the workers.
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Yeah... You know people are now using every opportunity to just siphon money into their pocket and what does everyone do - blame it on the government! Even the aspects are phone or its gadgets that us another world entirely. Gone are the days when you'd calculate the price you wanna sell something by afding all your expenses then adding reasonable profit to it....but now the selling price is now based on your physique financially with which you are judged and billed...😂
Good points there my bro. Everything here in the U.S is bloated too. Global downturn and inflation kind of. Keep rockin though man, hopefully the time spent at hive is worth it. I think theres always been activity on hive. I was on steem too before the fork, wish i bought more steem at the time actually, but feels like things should be solid here.
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