What do you pay for that you could get for free? (Including premium versions of something you can have a basic version of for free, like Dropbox or Spotify or or LiveJournal or sex.) Why do you pay for it?
Huh, I assume there are many things in this category. Like, bread. I occasionally buy bread, but it's so over produced that bakeries are always giving away end-of-day bread.I guess I am paying for a choice of flavors, the convenience of getting it at the time when I'm getting other groceries, and the avoidance of embarrassment about scrounging for free food which I can afford to buy. Similar for buying toilet paper instead of taking the left over half rolls from work, which are often replaced by full rolls by the custodial staff and then left lying around. I have sometimes bought the upgrade version of SurveyMonkey for work use, because I want to send out surveys with more questions than are allowed by the free version. I paid the optional fee for HogwartsIsHere (Harry Potter MOOC) because I thought it was a cool idea and wanted to support it. I pay to subscribe to delivered bottled water at work instead of drinking out of the taps because I mostly drink tea, and I'd rather get the near-boiling water out of the bottled water dispenser to put into my electric kettle rather than the chilled drinking fountain water, and I also have a bit of a psych lim about drinking tap water from a sink in a public bathroom. I've paid for a travel agent to book flights that I thought were going to be particularly complicated or prone to disruptions, in order to be able to just call them if a problem came up. I pay for a rabbit sitter when I'm out of town because I'd rather not ask a friend to do it, because then I'd feel like I had to pet sit for them later. Similar for taking a taxi or staying in a hotel instead of asking for a ride or couch space, though the hotel part is usually more about the convenience of staying right near where I need to go. I get my hair cut at a barber shop every couple years, instead of having a friend do it, because I've had much better looking outcomes with a professional. I assume that the majority of stuff I buy could probably be obtained through non-cash means like barter or DIY, but buying stuff is easier, faster, has more options available and avoids the need for so much interpersonal interaction. I do belong to a time trade circle but don't use it extensively.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment