the blue jays and the lesson of perceived value

Today could potentially be when the Blue Jays clinch their first World Series title since 1993. Toronto, normally clad in blacks, greys, and dark blues during this weather, has been flooded with Blue Jays blues. This, if you hadn't guessed, is pretty rare, and there have been numerous news stories about how tickets to tonight's game has reached thousands of dollars on the resale market.

I don't follow baseball closely, but even I was stirred to try to find a rainbow-coloured pride-themed Blue Jays shirt I got for attending a game in 2019. In fact, I was willing to spend over an hour digging for it, just so I could take part in some local, well, pride. I couldn't find it because I probably gave it away to someone who I knew would appreciate it more than I would.

This clearly demonstrates perceived value, which is the amount of value we believe something has. I hadn't thought twice about that shirt until this World Series, as I'm not a baseball fan, but only when it becames topical was I curious enough to look for it. Meanwhile, the person I gave it to has likely got joy from the shirt over the past six years beause it holds meaning for them.

Naturally, there's a financial component to this as well: now that the Blue Jays are doing well, that shirt might fetch a higher price because its perceived value has gone up. Even though the shirt is now six years old and would have been used, the cultural meaning of the shirt has increased, and people might be willing to pay more to be part of the moment.

Perceived value is at the heart of many decisions we make. Colloquially, it's how we know something is "worth it." Often, we'll use the cost of production as a benchmark for understanding something's value: for example, furniture made out of glue and sawdust ostensibly has a lower value than something made of solid wood, since we understand the former can be made very cheaply. When digital music was first sold, many people found the idea difficult because there wasn't an underlying physical object to anchor the cost.

At this point, we now have three ingredients to understanding business: the cost of production, the price point, and the perceived value that triggers customers to buy or not buy. Changing any of these contributes to a company's success or failure: you can shrink or increase costs; raise or drop prices; and, shift or improve perceived value.

That last one, as you'll notice, is a bit trickier than cost and price. Since perception is subjective, that means it can change in multi-dimensional ways. I can't recall, for example, ever a product purposefully decreasing perceived value, but sometimes a brand may change customer bases, where the value proposition will be perceived in a more beneficial light.

Understanding that perceived value is subjective is, in my opinion, instrumental to getting the most out of everything you do. Everything we do (and don't do) comes with a cost, whether it be your time, energy, or money. A common trap is blindly adopting the belief systems of others in determining the perceived value of something.

Let's return to our Blue Jays example. For instance, swept up in Blue Jays-fever, people might be buying tickets to the game just to be able to say they were there to witness the win–even if baseball hasn't been on their radar, like, ever. Now, could that experience be worth thousands of dollars for them? Perhaps. Maybe the mileage they get out of telling people the story of being there gives them a feeling that is worth every penny.

But the funny thing about subjectivity is that what appears valuable in the moment can change swiftly, especially out of the heat of the moment. Bubbles, famously, happen this way, and, whether it be Labubus or AI, the question of persistent perceived value determines whether or not these high valuations are justified or merely trendy.

Ultimately, how you spend your money is entirely up to you, more or less. No one else has had your experiences, so any valuation they place on things is based on their experiences coupled with their understanding of you. For example, one time, as a thank you gift, I rallied my calculus class to chip in for a toy from our teacher's youth and he remembered that kindness for decades. The cost, split between a class of 20, was relatively minor, but bringing him joy meant a lot.

There is no such thing as one correct, fixed perceived value. Therefore, what you can do is hone greater self-awareness, so that whatever value you project is more closely aligned to who you actually are. You're not gonna hear that advice often from personal finance content creators, since it's not an especially easy thing to sell, but in an era where you're being constantly sold to, the time you take to know yourself may be the best investment you make.