For this spender, there is one real turn-on about saving, called the time value of money. This is the amount of time it takes for invested funds to double (triple, quadruple, etc.), based on the interest rate. The earlier you start, the bigger the payoff.

But there’s another time value that is currently winning around here, and that’s convenience.

Or the value of my time right now, dammit.

As one of my good friends said the other day, when we both lamented what lousy bargain shoppers we are, “I just want to get what I want, when I want it.”

Both my husband and I have a high tolerance for spending a bit more money if it saves us some hassle: An extra trip, a phone call, or just the sheer number of brain cells required to keep thinking about it.

But how much is a bit? And where is the convenience-meets-pain threshold?

I got my answer at Ticketmaster. Which must secretly double as a behavioral economics experiment.

Last week I bought two tickets to an upcoming rock show. (Can we afford this? Of course not. Please don’t interrupt.) In order to make sure I got them before they sold out, I clicked on Ticketmaster at the appointed sale start time, 11 am on Friday.

I should mention that a local record store selling the same tickets, also opening at 11 am, is five blocks from my house.

But I was working, and I knew Ticketmaster could protect the Value of My Time by granting me instant satisfaction. I felt a twinge of guilt. “But I have a babysitter and this will take 2 minutes, not 20.”

Then I read the fine print.

Tickets: $24/each.
Building fee: $1/each
Convenience: $7/each
Taxes: $1.18
Order processing: $4.52
TicketFast delivery (note–this is the option to print them on your home computer!): $2.50

Total: $72.20.

Total translation: The cost of one extra ticket.

I’m so happy to support my local record store!

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Tags:   behavioral economics · convenience · Ticketmaster · time value1 Comment