Price Vs. Value

In today’s economy all of us tend to focus on price. Yes, I’m even guilty of wanting to get the cheapest price on everyday items. Where we make our mistake is confusing a "Cheep Price" with "Good Value".

Economics 101 reminds us that Value = benifit+cost.

I’m also reminded of the old economic principle that you can have 2 of the following but never all three. Cheep, Fast, Good. You can get Fast and Good but it’s never Cheep or you can get Fast and Cheep but it’s usually never Good.

Price never takes in consideration, year of experience, creativity in design or production, amenities, equipment, props and backgrounds on hand to name a few, all of which add quality and saves time when it comes to photo shoots.

It seem like every time the economy decline many of us that provide a "Good Value" loose projects because of price, but end up in the long run getting the client back because they were dissatisfied with the quality and service they got when they focused on price.

A "Good Value" is always less damaging to your Brand's image and good vendor relations in the long run.

I’m always reminded of the time I went to one of the Cheep tool stores and bought a Cheep 4” metal grinder. I think it cost $10.00. I had to take the first one back because I used it for 10 minutes and it stopped working. The next one lasted a day but never had much power and made the whole project real slow.

I finally bought a good DeWalt 4” grinder for $69.00 and it has plenty of power and 3 years later it still works as good as the day I bought it. The $10.00 Cheep grinder cost me more than $69.00 in time, gas and frustration.

I’m writing this as much to remind myself that Value is what we need to pursue, as it is my thought for today to you.

David M