Shop for best value, not lowest price

The price of something is its price. The price is the same for everyone. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Value, on the other hand, is relative and may be different for everyone[/inlinetweet].

If someone gives you a free book, but it’s written in a language you don’t know how to read, it has no value. The fact that the price was free is irrelevant.

If someone gives you a free book, written in a language you do know how to read, but it’s a book you aren’t really interested in, it has more value than the book written in a foreign language, but still not much value overall.

If someone gives you a free book, and it’s written in a language you know how to read, and it’s a book you’re very interested in reading, then it has value for you.

The price of all three books is identical, but the value is relative and subjective. The same thing is true when shopping for technology. You can get a “great deal” on devices or technologies that have no real value for you.

I wrote about the issues of price and value in this blog post:

Everybody loves to find a great deal, and save a few dollars. When it comes to choosing PCs, mobile devices, and other technology, however, price is often a poor measure in and of itself.

Don’t get me wrong. Price is certainly a factor—an important one even. It’s just that price is different than value. You want the technology you choose to provide you with value, and that takes more discrimination than simply choosing the device with the lowest price.

As an illustration, consider a jar of pickles. A 46 ounce jar of Vlasic Baby Kosher Dills costs $3.98 at Walmart. If I found a 200 ounce jar for $5, that would be an awesome price, and a pretty sweet deal. Price is not the only consideration, though. The price is right, but the cheap jar of pickles has absolutely no value for me because I hate pickles. It’s just a waste of $5.

Click here to read the full story on Forbes: Buying Technology Based On Price Could Cost You.