Local matters: is an impulse worth $10?
[Cross-posted with the iMedia Connection blogs.]
Yesterday, wandering through CD Trader here in the San Fernando Valley, I spotted an unpriced copy of the first season of Veronica Mars, of which I’d only seen half. I took it to the front desk and learned the price was $29.99. “It’s a used price, but the set has never been opened,” observed the cashier.
Too rich for my blood, I left. Walking to the coffee shop across the street where I was meeting my wife, I used the Amazon widget on my iPhone to check the price: $19.99.
So much for the new price REALLY being $59.98– that’s only for people who don’t know any better. With my Amazon Prime membership (perhaps the best $79 I spend each year) there’s no shipping cost, so if I bought the DVD right this very second it would be here by Wednesday with a total cost of $19.99, rather than $29.99 plus tax yesterday.
Is it worth a couple of days to save $10? Usually the answer is yes.
Although I do want to catch that first season, my desire isn’t THAT great at the moment… not $19.99 today, not $29.99 and certainly not $59.98.
That isn’t always the case, though. Hanging out with my three year old son a few weeks back I paid full price at Toys R Us for the DVD of the 2008 Speed Racer movie, since he likes the 1960s cartoon so much. (Alas, like the critics neither of my children liked the movie.)
With Speed Racer, I was investing in intest (mistakenly, it turned out) that might not last until a company could ship something to me. That’s one of the true values of local: impulse purchases where your impulse has a short half life. I imagine that suits and other clothing that needs to fit carefully — as opposed to t-shirts — will also remain largely local, as will perishable foods and things that nobody wants to buy in bulk. We’ll search for cars online but buy them in person because you don’t really know until you drive it, and we’ll do the same with houses. You can have food delivered but at least at the moment Amazon doesn’t deliver pizza.
Most other things, though, are up for grabs.
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