A couple of  days ago, I was meeting Truphosa*,  a possible contributor to  PesaTalk at a coffee house in Upperhill. I had just settled in and taken a look at the menu when she walked in, looked extremely miffed. She sat down and without looking at the menu, asked for some cake and an iced coffee. The waitress was just leaving when she changed her mind and asked for a double espresso milkshake instead, looking at me and shrugging  'Its only a hundred shillings more'
Once the waitress had left, I turned to her and aksed 'So, you look a bit...miffed. Everything OK?'

"Yeah. I was just pissed at having to pay 60 shillings to get here," she replied

"And what do you usually pay?," I inquired

"30 bob at most! I can't believe I had to pay double!" She said, huffing again.

"So its only 30 bob more,"  I said, smiling

She looked at me as if I was a mad man, but when she realised I was smiling, she understood what I was driving at and smiled.

****

How many times have you found yourself paying for something that you had originally avoided, and telling yourself that its only 50 bob more? Its only a hundred shillings more?

Would you walk across town to buy a t-shirt at KES 1,000 instead of the KES 3,000 it is at Kenyatta Avenue? You most likely would. But would you do the same if you were buying a car, go an extra 5-10 kms to buy a car at KES 596,000 rather than the KES 598,000 that the exact same car is being sold for at the car-lot next to your house? Most people wouldn't. They'd brush it off and say 'Its only 2K', and then go test drive their new car.

So why is the 2,000 you save on a T-Shirt more valuable than the 2,000 you lose on a car? Is it because of relative value?

Have you found yourself doing this?