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April 8, 2009: Today in the News15 years ago
Monday, April 27, 2009
The Cost of "Free"
Monday, April 27, 2009 | 
Posted by
Chi
In this economy, the term "Free" is an attention gatherer. Nothing will motivate people like a chance at getting something for nothing. Whether its a free scoop of Ben & Jerry's ice cream to free one day pass to Disney World, people love free even when it's at a cost.
For instance, take the very popular free Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day (the last one was on April 21st) which is likely an annual festival for fellow Tar Heels near Franklin Street. Lots of students, graduates, even professors turn out for a free cone of amazing ice cream. In fact, it gets so popular that the line for a cone can take up to half a day. And the cost is self-evident, it is the time spent in that line. While for students, standing in line for half a day costs next to nothing, that time is of some value to people who could be doing something else. Assume for instance that a particular line stander makes minimum wage (capped at a low $6.55) and waits 1.5 hours for that free cone. That comes out to a cost of $9.83 that could have been earned for a small cone that costs maybe $3~4 dollars. The cost for a "free" cone becomes $5 in addition to the cost of that cone.
In the other case of the free day pass to Disney World, the associated costs of a trip to Disney World is many. Lodging, travel, and food are additional costs that are easily over looked. Moreover, its unlikely that a person would go for a single day to Disney World by themselves. Granted, one could make the case that if you lived in or near one of the Disney World facilities, lodging and travel can cost next to nothing. However, the fact still remains that there is still inherent costs once in the park. What costs? From a bottle of icy water to take the edge off the heat to the inflated prices for a simple bite to eat, nearly everything at a theme park is grossly inflated.
Even the offers of free service/software/advice are usually tagged with some sort of catch or gimmick. A quick view of mouseprint.org, shows the lengths that companies have done in their marketing campaigns to lure potential customers to purchase their products.
Bottom Line? The old adage of "if it's too good to be true, it probably is!".
-C
For instance, take the very popular free Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day (the last one was on April 21st) which is likely an annual festival for fellow Tar Heels near Franklin Street. Lots of students, graduates, even professors turn out for a free cone of amazing ice cream. In fact, it gets so popular that the line for a cone can take up to half a day. And the cost is self-evident, it is the time spent in that line. While for students, standing in line for half a day costs next to nothing, that time is of some value to people who could be doing something else. Assume for instance that a particular line stander makes minimum wage (capped at a low $6.55) and waits 1.5 hours for that free cone. That comes out to a cost of $9.83 that could have been earned for a small cone that costs maybe $3~4 dollars. The cost for a "free" cone becomes $5 in addition to the cost of that cone.
In the other case of the free day pass to Disney World, the associated costs of a trip to Disney World is many. Lodging, travel, and food are additional costs that are easily over looked. Moreover, its unlikely that a person would go for a single day to Disney World by themselves. Granted, one could make the case that if you lived in or near one of the Disney World facilities, lodging and travel can cost next to nothing. However, the fact still remains that there is still inherent costs once in the park. What costs? From a bottle of icy water to take the edge off the heat to the inflated prices for a simple bite to eat, nearly everything at a theme park is grossly inflated.
Even the offers of free service/software/advice are usually tagged with some sort of catch or gimmick. A quick view of mouseprint.org, shows the lengths that companies have done in their marketing campaigns to lure potential customers to purchase their products.
Bottom Line? The old adage of "if it's too good to be true, it probably is!".
-C
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