How Much Does A 99-cent TV Cost?
Thursday, November 16th, 2006I recently read an article on Retro Crush about a 99-cent store opening in Sacramento. Because this was the store’s grand opening, they decided to entice people to come to the store by sending out fliers advertising that the first 9 people to come to the story would get a 19″ Sharp color TV for just 99 cents. The next 99 people would get a scooter for 99 cents.
Just for reference, A 19″ Sharp color TV can otherwise be purchased for $29.00, and is not worth $100 as the article suggests.
In spite of the incelement weather, more than 30 people had gathered around the storefront more than 9 hours before opening time. If you think 9 hours is early; the two people at the very front of the line had been waiting for 3 days.
So how much is a 99-cent TV really worth? Well the answer depends on the opportunity cost of your time. What would you have been doing otherwise? If you look at the first 9 people in line, you will see that their opportunity cost of standing in line to get the TV is probably less than $29. For example, “[spots] 5-9 were taken by homeless people…in sleeping bags.”
Does waiting 80 hours in line to get a $29 TV for 99 cents make sense? Even if you are making minimum wage, which in California is $6.75, you are foregoing $840 by standing in line to save $28.01 on a TV. I guess there is a reason why the top 9 spots were taken by homeless people.
