Re: Whats it worth to you?
- To: p*@athenet.net
- Subject: Re: Whats it worth to you?
- From: R*@aol.com
- Date: Fri, 7 Nov 1997 10:41:03 -0500 (EST)
Usually it only makes sense to talk about what things are worth in an open
market with free movement of information. As the commodity approaches the
unusual, it becomes harder and harder to asses its value. If you find a
T-rex skeleton in your back yard and spend half a million to dig it out, your
neighbor probably would not buy it from you even for 50 bucks. A museum
might buy it for five million. So, what you spent does not really have an
effect on what people will pay for it. You don’t care what Mc Donald’s spends
on a Big Mac. If it costs them one cent to make, you will still pay about a
buck for it. If it costs them ten dollars to make, you will still only pay
about a buck for it. Information must also be freely moving. If the museum
does not know that you are selling the T-rex it is not worth five million.
You just have a pile of bones. Also, if the museum hears of another
skeleton of the same quality, selling for less, they will no longer be
willing to pay five million for it. Rare objects have volatile worth. If
an earthquake destroys the Smithsonian’s collection, you might have a buyer
for ten million.
