Value Variance

Let’s talk about getting a good deal. There are massive swings in price versus what you receive. This is value and it’s hard to define and a very personal concept. So I’ll share MY notion of value. Here are the top three categories where value lies for me:

Handmade - The real effort through human hands that play into the thing you receive.

Input ingredients - Whether it’s metal vs. plastic or organic vs chemical… what’s the stuff that goes into it?

Intention - The goal of the producer. Are they sharing their craft as the main goal or is it something else?

With those listed out, let’s dig into each one. Handmade items cost a lot to produce because you’re paying for the ingredients plus the time the person or people are taking. Suppose you want a coffee mug. At a farmer’s market or etsy shop you see a single piece of pottery, perhaps a coffee mug, for over $30. Functional coffee mugs can be had for $5 or less. So is the handmade mug a good value? Let’s break it down with some math. Cheap factory mugs are cranked out at a swift rate from a machine and are nominally touched by humans, costing under $0.40 unit, probably far less. Meanwhile, to calculate the inputs of the handmade mug there’s nice clay plus an artist’s time. And not just the time making YOUR mug but all the time to gain the skills.

Buying the handmade mug is the far better value. Not only are mornings going to be greeted with a lovely work of art, It is voting for more art and artists in the world.

Input ingredients either make quality or break it. A metal can last forever while a plastic one will likely become landfill in a few years. An IKEA plate or mug will chip or shatter if you look at it wrong. Meanwhile, hand blown borosilocite glass or vitreous china dishes and mugs will stand up to years of use. And the choices for input ingredients for food tracks similarly but in enjoyment/health vs. durability. Which leads us to our last category…

Intention - Why does the business exist in the first place? An obvious answer is money. The key idea for value is where money sits in priority. If it’s the number one spot, then the value of what you receive has to be low. It should firmly reside in the number two spot. Number one must be about doing something you care about…something you enjoy doing or feel a calling to do. A farmer, a potter, a baker, a maker of art in all of its forms just wants to do the thing they enjoy. Getting back to source ingredients. A baker who loves to bake and wants people to enjoy a beautiful, delicious healthy sourdough will want to use really nice flour, natural sea salt and lovingly nurtured starter so you will receive something very high value. If the business is focused first on making money then the goal is to find the cheapest ingredients and taking all the shortcuts. The mission there is to fool the customer into thinking it is nicer than it is. With money in the top slot, the customer’s well being isn’t really considered. With craft in the top slot, the customer is the whole point.

I will make this bread so you can be sustained. I will charge money for it so I too may be sustained and can make more tomorrow. That’s it.

Always look for the good deal. Assess what went into the thing, consider what’s important and choose wisely.