This week I've been involved in several internet discussions about the cost of tonight's pay-per-view MMA event (Aldo v Faber). A lot of the commenters feel the card is not "worth" the price. This got me thinking about how "worth" is determined.
The promoters of tonight's event are gambling. They've done their research, promoted their product, and decided that now is the time to try getting paid better for it. There are a lot of angry fans out there who are used to getting it for "free" (or almost free, after paying for cable tv or internet access and watching a bunch of commercials). Some of them want to see it and would normally be OK paying for it, but they've already paid big bucks to see other recent events that they feel did not end up being worth the money.
In the marketplace, quite simply, a product or service is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. Take onions, for example. This morning I paid $7.50 for three medium onions. Am I crazy? No...I just really hate chopping onions. Plus I was short on time. So the price I paid included somebody cleaning and chopping them for me.
On some other day, in some other situation, I might not pay that price. But the people who produced those three containers of chopped onions took a gamble that there are people like me who don't want to chop onions.
And that, kids, is the nature of business. The consumer is king. YOU determine with your dollars what a product or service is worth to you. If enough people are not willing to pay the price, those producing that product or service will either change it or stop making it. But no product or service will ever be truly free.
As for me, the price of the event is worth it. At least today it is.
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