GrogNerd

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not all "we" would

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"It's all beer, it's all good." - Words of House Grog
"I'm only happy when I'm suffocating yeast" - Rob Grog
"Homer no function beer well without" - Homer Simpson

drinking: Sweetpea's Mock Maibock, BigHair Belgian Pale Ale, O'Rob's Irish Red, Rob's 50th SMaSH ESB, Feet & Ass Mild - bottle conditioning: CLB's Red Barley Wine - primary: DB 8 Point IPA Clone - on deck: Belgian Pale Ale

pm5k00

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LOL, I understand economics just fine, hence my statement. Yes the value of something, defenitly has something to do with price of making it, saying otherwise is absurd.

Try looking at a Mexican market, your can get 6-8 threads of saffron for $10.

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Citra-Fest (Oktoberfest-IPA) - Cibolo Pale Ale - Imperial Belgian Wit - Forbidden Fruit IPA - Centennial Pale Ale

RainyDay

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Except that its not actually saffron

JordanThomas

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I think you're confusing "value" with "sale price." Not to be a nit-picker or anything

troyh

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The cost to make something is only relevant to how profitable a business is. Businesses can't charge whatever they want for their products, they have to be able to make them for less than what people value them at.

Why aren't pencils made out of solid gold and priced accordingly? Because no one would buy them, which means their value is low even though their cost is high.

Imported beer isn't priced higher because it costs more to import it. It's imported because people here are willing to pay more for it. And we'll see that change as people realize domestic beer is worth paying more for. Imported beer will drop in price but many on this thread will conclude that shipping suddenly got cheaper. And if the value of imported beer drops below the cost to make and ship it then imported beer will largely disappear and people here will conclude that ships don't exist anymore.

This thread could appear in an economics forum titled "Funny things you hear people say about economics". ;-)

rifraf

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People have also been purchasing "limited edition" metal Starbucks gift cards with $50 on them for over $1000 on ebay (wish I was making this up).

Value is quite high even though he cost to make is very low.

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You have to grow old, you don't have to grow up.

JordanThomas

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LOLWUT?

People are so stupid. I hope no one on this forum bought one of those...

troyh

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Why are they stupid? Because YOU don't value it? Update: the cards actually had $400 on them and also gave other benefits and were sold for $450 by Starbucks. One person paid $1000 on eBay for one. http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/10/news/companies/starbucks-card-ebay/

I bet lots of people here pay prices for beer that a lot of people think is stupid. A man dying of thirst in the desert would happily pay $100 for the last bottle of water. Is he stupid too? I'd say he'd be stupid not to pay it.

EnjoyGoodBeer

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Totaly agree someone would knock me for buying a $20 750ml of beer. And i knock them for buying 100 dollar pair of jeans. Its all relative.

Having heard anything funny about beer lately, but I do have a biddy getting off BMC and liking good beers. But he always says everything has a hoppy bite. Im thinking hes jist trying to explane what he's tasting even tho that hefe has a hoppy bite. but at least hes off BMC.

jerrodm

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Not to be a dick, but that's not exactly how "economics" works. At a competitive market equilibrium (which I think you can make a case for the BMC market being close to), the price of a good IS directly tied to the cost of production; specifically, price will equal the long-run marginal cost of production, which also equals the long-run average cost of production. You're right in your point that price is also tied to demand (the reason economists love markets so much is that they're a tool for equating supply and demand), but that doesn't change the fact that the price charged for a good is directly tied to the cost required to make it.

Your example about saffron beer is a little bit of a different case, since that would be a differentiated good (as most craft brews are) that's only produced by one place--for example, only one brewery makes Pliny the Elder, and no one else can really copy it. In that case, price doesn't need to be equal to marginal cost, but it's still connected to it. It's a little more complicated but I'm sure you're not that interested in the explanation.

All that to say that yes, all else equal, beers that require costlier inputs (like those with higher ABV) should cost more. According to economics.

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For they garner the succulent berries of the hop and mass and sift and bruise and brew them and they mix therewith sour juices and bring the must to the sacred fire and cease not night or day from their toil, those cunning brothers, lords of the vat. -James Joyce

On deck: Orange Cranberry Wit, Dusseldorf Altbier
Primary: Belgian Partigyle Tripel/Saison, 1/1
Secondary: none
Bottles: Northern Brown Ale, 1/10; English IPA, 12/31; Cider, 12/9; White House Honey Ale AG, 12/9;