3/28/10 Complete set of skis, bindings, boots, and poles, given awayIn the end, the stories make it worthwhile.
Today, I gave away one of my more significant possessions, at least in terms of value measured in use over time. In high school, I received a set of downhill skis from my parents for Christmas. I think it was my junior year, so it must have been around 1988.
This was a big deal because skis were seriously expensive. I remember being in a little bit of disbelief when I got them. They were even engraved with my name, which really sent the point home that they were mine.
Owning your own pair of skis makes the difference between skiing and not skiing. If you have your own, you: A) Only have to worry about the price of the lift ticket, and B) Don't have to waste time and aggravation dealing with rentals. Those things can be enough to prevent most of us from bothering to head to the mountain. But, when you've got your own, you can grab 'em and go, which I've enjoyed doing countless times over the last twenty-plus years.
I never ski as much as I'd like, but when I do, it's pure joy.
Two years ago, however, I bought some much-newer used skis off a ski-fanatic colleague of mine. I was about five years behind the shaped-skis curve, but I finally caught up. (Thank you, Patty!)
I've held on to my original skis since then but finally realized there's no reason I'd ever use them again.
Of course, this was probably a $500 package, and they are still practically as good as the day they were made. I was sure I could net a little cash for them.
I posted them for sale on craigslist. I started with $25. Nothing. Dropped it to $15. Silence. Went to $10. Nada. Oh, well.
I finally threw those babies up for FREE. I had six replies within twelve hours. Yep, once again, the Strange Price of Free. It's a powerful force.
The first person to respond was a woman named Jean, who came by this morning to get them. Turns out Jean has five kids, and her middle son wants to take up downhill skiing. Of course, with five children, Jean doesn't have the luxury of throwing money around, especially not on the sporting whims of a middle-schooler.
But, she was thrilled with my offer of skis, which would allow her son to try out the sport. They should certainly serve him well.
She was appreciative, he'll have fun, and I guess that's all the payment I need.
You should check out Dan Ariely's "Predictably Irrational" for a behavioral economics take on the Strange Price of Free. The whole thing is an entertaining read, actually, as it simultaneously debunks classical Market Theory and shows us (through repeatable, testable, scientific research, mind you) that humans are, occasionally at least, very, very foolish.
ReplyDeleteExcited to check out that book recommendation, CRM. Thanks! (Although do any of us need research to show that humans are foolish?)
ReplyDeleteCRM, ah, I just figured out where I'd heard Dan Ariely's name before. I was just on his web site, which had an excerpt from his book. The excerpt was almost word-for-word a speech he gave at the TED Conference, which I listened to on a podcast several months ago. (If you aren't listening to those TED podcasts, you should start). Now I'm even more excited to read that book!
ReplyDelete