Four Books And A Value Lesson

 Last Sunday I made my fairly customary visit to my local Regional Used Book Store Chain.  It is conveniently on my way back from the Rabbit Shelter and I can usually be in and out in 10 minutes if nothing catches my eye (I have my book searches down to a science).  Lo and behold, when I wandered through the Science Fiction/Fantasy section, they had not one, not two, but four books from one of my favorite authors, H. Beam Piper (to those unfamiliar, his book Space Viking remains one of my favorite science fiction books and one of the best descriptions of failing societies and the growth of totalitarianism in a fictional form).  

I initially deferred buying them - after all, did I really need another four books?  The week wore on until I thought about it hard again and based on my last hike and the fact that I could have benefitted from one or two lightweight books (weight wise and thought wise), I decided I had better get them.  To my good fortune, they were all there.  

I paid the princely sum of $8.63.  

Although all the stories of these books were written in the 1950's and 1960's (Piper committed suicide in 1964, cutting off an otherwise promising career), the editions of the books date from 1981-1983 - in fact, three of the four covers (Empire, Federation, and Uller Uprising) I remember from that time period.  

Again, there was no particular need for "new" books.  And much of Piper's material is now available on Project Gutenberg as the copyrights have lapsed (except, of course, I just cannot really do electronic books).  And they certainly met a need.  But I walked back to the car, preening my inner decisive self, I suddenly realized that, like most paperbacks of the era, the original price was printed on the cover.  A little quick addition indicated that - had I purchased these books in 1983 on the publication date of the last one - I would have paid $11.20 before tax, or (using current tax rates), $12.18.

Because I am that way, I checked my math. An Inflation calculator (I used three to check) indicates my $12.18 in 1983 is worth $35.35 to $36.65.  $8.63 (in case you were wondering) in 1983 dollars was between $2.97 and $3.02.

Somehow, over the course of 40 years, I "paid" less for them than I would have back in the day.

This is - to my mind - one of the greatest and easiest lessons about value.

Value - as any experienced seller will tell you - is not about what you as the seller think something is worth.  It is simply worth what the buyer is willing to pay for it.  Sometimes things have an inherent value (like, for example, certain cars or certain precious metals or particular famous works of art).  Some things have a random value (one book I own, Just Enough, which I bought at the original purchase price, is somehow worth $90).  But value is always something that is based on what ultimately the buyer believes the item is worth to them (be it for use, personal enjoyment, or profit), not what the seller believes it is worth or what the seller paid.

It is a pretty easy lesson to grasp for a nation state and its inhabitants that so often spend, somehow thinking that everything it or they purchase can eventually be sold for the same or more value.