It turns out the amount of time you spent getting the tickets is irrelevant.
No its not my time is worth something.[1] If I spent 3 hours getting the tickets and I value my time at $150 an hour then the value of the tickets is now $505 and I'm only getting offered $500
Also the value of a ticket "To Me" may be worth more than $55 I spent. It might be worth $1000 in my mind for a chance to see Bruce regardless of what I spent.
[1] One of my great life hacks as I've gotten older is valuing my (particularly free) time at some amount - usually $150 per hour. Have a task I can pay someone to do and get the time back on a weekend? - $150 x Time of Task is the amount I'm willing to pay.
If I spent 3 hours getting the tickets and I value my time at $150 an hour then the value of the tickets is now $505 and I'm only getting offered $500
Except that's not how spending time (or money) on something works. If you spend 3 hours trying to fix something and fail, you shouldn't value the item any more. The value of the tickets doesn't go up because the time you spent on it. Selling the ticket (or keeping the ticket) doesn't get you the time back. The question to evaluate the potential sale is only which do you value more, the $500 being offered or the ticket. What you spent on the ticket is irrelevant - it's a sunk cost.
We see this with stock trades all the time. Say you bought a share of company XYZ at $100, and then a scandal broke and the value plummeted to $20. You don't think the company is worth buying for $20, either, because the scandal was that bad. Therefore you should sell it, as you think the true value is below $20. Yet, many people would hold the stock as they don't want to take the $80 loss. This is what happens when you fail to ignore sunk costs - what you paid for the item (be it in cash, or the ticket example, your time) doesn't increase its present value to you.
It increases with the amount of effort you would spend. If you value your time at $150/hr and you _would_ spend 3 hours looking for them, the tickets are worth $505 to you, even if you spent 15 minutes looking for them. Then, if someone offers to buy them at $500 that’s a bad deal because you value them more.
Time is money. I think we'd also have to factor in the opportunity cost. You invested time in getting the tickets, which also denied you something else.
With regards to the tickets, I think the better question is: Will that ~$500 buy me an experience/memory as valuable as seeing Bruce? If, for example, the next thing on your bucket list is say $1500 then it's probably wise to stick with Bruce, and deal with what's next later.
Comments
The Springsteen ticket example is a horrible one.
It turns out the amount of time you spent getting the tickets is irrelevant.
No its not my time is worth something.[1] If I spent 3 hours getting the tickets and I value my time at $150 an hour then the value of the tickets is now $505 and I'm only getting offered $500
Also the value of a ticket "To Me" may be worth more than $55 I spent. It might be worth $1000 in my mind for a chance to see Bruce regardless of what I spent.
[1] One of my great life hacks as I've gotten older is valuing my (particularly free) time at some amount - usually $150 per hour. Have a task I can pay someone to do and get the time back on a weekend? - $150 x Time of Task is the amount I'm willing to pay.
Except that's not how spending time (or money) on something works. If you spend 3 hours trying to fix something and fail, you shouldn't value the item any more. The value of the tickets doesn't go up because the time you spent on it. Selling the ticket (or keeping the ticket) doesn't get you the time back. The question to evaluate the potential sale is only which do you value more, the $500 being offered or the ticket. What you spent on the ticket is irrelevant - it's a sunk cost.
We see this with stock trades all the time. Say you bought a share of company XYZ at $100, and then a scandal broke and the value plummeted to $20. You don't think the company is worth buying for $20, either, because the scandal was that bad. Therefore you should sell it, as you think the true value is below $20. Yet, many people would hold the stock as they don't want to take the $80 loss. This is what happens when you fail to ignore sunk costs - what you paid for the item (be it in cash, or the ticket example, your time) doesn't increase its present value to you.
The value of the tickets doesn’t increase with the effort you spent towards them.
It increases with the amount of effort you would spend. If you value your time at $150/hr and you _would_ spend 3 hours looking for them, the tickets are worth $505 to you, even if you spent 15 minutes looking for them. Then, if someone offers to buy them at $500 that’s a bad deal because you value them more.
Sure it does, my labor is why I’m now being offered $500 for $50 tickets.
Time is money. I think we'd also have to factor in the opportunity cost. You invested time in getting the tickets, which also denied you something else.
With regards to the tickets, I think the better question is: Will that ~$500 buy me an experience/memory as valuable as seeing Bruce? If, for example, the next thing on your bucket list is say $1500 then it's probably wise to stick with Bruce, and deal with what's next later.