What if Price tags shows Hours of Work instead of Money?

[mirakal]

Would you think twice before buying something if you knew how many hours you had to work to pay for it?

I don’t think it would make any difference. I know because people who live in countries where they earn per hour do the math subconsciously. Unfortunately, consumerism has such a stronghold on people today that cost doesn’t matter much to them. A person earning $15/hr working 40 hours per week will buy a product worth $1100 when they know they can’t afford it even if it’s on finance.

Perhaps it would make a difference for those people who don't just think of today and tomorrow but for the future ahead. They won't resort into easy spending because they know how every second or minute of labor counts, and life's reality is that you can't be sure that you'll still be in good health in the next days, months or year.

But maybe for those who can easily access a loan or borrow from family or friends, even if they know they can't afford it but they will still be buying the item anyway.

[freedomgo]

The cost of the time won’t be similar for everyone. In my country a daily labour cost of time would probably be $1 per hour, but higher job holders or businessmen's time costs would be $10+ or more. So it won't be possible, at least in my country.

It’s not possible in almost any country in the world because nobody earns the same hourly rate. I’ve looked at the first few comments and I’m surprised nobody has mentioned it. I say ‘almost’ any country in the world because I don’t know if in North Korea or somewhere like that everyone earns the same, but that would be the exception.

I do the maths in my head for big purchases, but not when I go to the supermarket.

And that's probably the reason why this kind of scenario cited by OP never exists, otherwise it would bring confusion to everyone as we have different hourly rate.

However, those who are earning well will definitely won't hesitate buying expensive products as long as its included in their list of necessities. But people who have high  income does not mean since they can afford it, they will surely buy it. Wise buyers still think of it a couple of times before they will decide to  finally buy it or disregard it.

[Rockstarguy]

~Snip

I think this may help some people to rethink whenever they want to make a purchase, especially low-income earners. Some people struggle to accumulate their low income for a long time, but whenever they want to spend it, they spend it on things that are meaningless or invaluable.

However, I think for people like this, if hours were shown as the price tag, it might give them the consciousness to rethink. Most people don’t really think very well when purchasing things; it is only after the purchase is done that they discover what they have acquired is not valuable, and they regret their decisions.

[CryptoBuds]

~Snip

I think this may help some people to rethink whenever they want to make a purchase, especially low-income earners. Some people struggle to accumulate their low income for a long time, but whenever they want to spend it, they spend it on things that are meaningless or invaluable.

However, I think for people like this, if hours were shown as the price tag, it might give them the consciousness to rethink. Most people don’t really think very well when purchasing things; it is only after the purchase is done that they discover what they have acquired is not valuable, and they regret their decisions.

Anyone  earning their own money should be able to work out how many hours of work it takes to pay for something. So I see it the other way around. Even if price were shown in hours, it would not help much for someone with poor financial literacy who  doesn't think  twice before spending. Imo it's financial literacy and spending habits that make the difference, not how the price gets displayed.

[henmark]

I think this may help some people to rethink whenever they want to make a purchase, especially low-income earners. Some people struggle to accumulate their low income for a long time, but whenever they want to spend it, they spend it on things that are meaningless or invaluable.

However, I think for people like this, if hours were shown as the price tag, it might give them the consciousness to rethink. Most people don’t really think very well when purchasing things; it is only after the purchase is done that they discover what they have acquired is not valuable, and they regret their decisions.

Anyone  earning their own money should be able to work out how many hours of work it takes to pay for something. So I see it the other way around. Even if price were shown in hours, it would not help much for someone with poor financial literacy who  doesn't think  twice before spending. Imo it's financial literacy and spending habits that make the difference, not how the price gets displayed.

I would disagree. If you see how many hours, then you would be able to actually calculate a lot better. If you are making hourly, for example, you can calculate based on that and would make a lot more sense. But I have another idea: a friend of mine does a "meat comparison", while that sounds dirty . It is not. He likes meat, beef, ribeye, sirloin, ribs whatever you can think of. So while it has ALWAYS been funny for me, this dude is single so he is the only one making money and only one spending his money.

So whenever he wants to buy something, and it's not like paying the bills or whatever, like it's a personal thing he wants to buy, he calculates based on how much meat he would eat. If he wants to buy headphones but it costs 10 kilos of meatloaf, then probably no or something; I am making up the numbers, but you get what I mean. So there are a lot of people who come up with these types of things, and I would say "how many hours you would have to work to pay for this" is a very real thing.

[Somegory]

Imagine walking into a shop and you see a pair of shoe priced at 20 hours of work instead of a specific amount of money and a phone could cost 200 hours. Would you still spend your money the same way you do now?
We are used to looking at prices in our local currency but we hardly think about how much time we have spent working just to gather up that money. For someone earning very well, buying things might mean just some few hours of work while someone earning small could spend weeks or even months for the same item.

Money does make busing and selling easy but sometimes  we forget the time and effort behind what we spend. I’m just wondering about what people think of this. If shops truly displays prices in the amount of hours we spent working along with the normal price, would people become more careful with the way they spend or would it still not make any difference? Would you think twice before buying something if you knew how many hours you had to work to pay for it?

You are still talking about the same thing, if you have something that you love to buy you will still have to check your pocket if you really can afford it, what are you going to do if you can't? Move on right? There it is.

You can't afford it means you can't afford it even if it is priced in hours of work instead of dollar value, if you can't afford 400 hrs of work for a product you will work away, same as the dollar value too.

When it's time to spend money or face some responsibility you will surely remember how much work you went through to get the money, those who don't think about it have access to money easily, probably because the make more or they are from rich homes.

[5W-KILO]

This one is definitely a conversation that's not necessary, there are people in the UK and US who get paid on hours they spend on work, that's why many of them are able to do shifting between jobs.

Now tell me how this type of money making method isn't painful, someone who works their asses off to get their bills paid and still have to share some part of the money with taxes won't know how to spend their money? Sounds like an insult to hard workers out there

It makes no difference if a can of tea is price tagged base on hourly work or in fiat, everyone get paid differently and some have to crack their bones to get those paycheck.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Money does make busing and selling easy but sometimes  we forget the time and effort behind what we spend. I’m just wondering about what people think of this. If shops truly displays prices in the amount of hours we spent working along with the normal price, would people become more careful with the way they spend or would it still not make any difference? Would you think twice before buying something if you knew how many hours you had to work to pay for it?

To me, it still would make no difference because money we don't spend today will still be spent tomorrow, either you spend it yourself or your family spend it for you when you are not there.

Get my point, an hour does not carry the same value for everybody, for some, an hour may be valued at $100, while for others, an hour may be valued at $1, but here is my point, regardless of the type of work I do and how much value an hour is to me, if I walk into a store where I have to pay for things by hours of work, I wouldn't mind spending even 1000 of my hours on something I know I really need or want so long as I can afford that much.

What use is the time you spend working so hard to make money if you cant spend some of the money on things you love and wish to have/own?

[Ever-young]

I don’t think this is going to make any significant difference, because humans we are very conscious and as such aware of every financial move we make. Sometimes we already have what we want to purchase in mind but the money isn’t there, if the goods is actually worth it, we take it upon ourselves to raise the money and at the end of the day we trade the money for the goods, soo we are very much aware of how we actually earned the money.


You even made exceptions for the rich which is actually the same thing that happens using money. And there is no way they can be accurate with their timing because are you supposed to know if a walking customer is rich or poor.

I don’t even believe money can be replaced with anything.

[Die_empty]

I don’t think this is going to make any significant difference, because humans we are very conscious and as such aware of every financial move we make. Sometimes we already have what we want to purchase in mind but the money isn’t there, if the goods is actually worth it, we take it upon ourselves to raise the money and at the end of the day we trade the money for the goods, soo we are very much aware of how we actually earned the money.


You even made exceptions for the rich which is actually the same thing that happens using money. And there is no way they can be accurate with their timing because are you supposed to know if a walking customer is rich or poor.

I don’t even believe money can be replaced with anything.

Some people are not always conscious of how much they work before spending it. An example is people who lavish an entire salary in one day. I know people who spend an entire salary on alcohol and gambling within two days of receiving their salary. He would end up asking for loans or credit facilities to survive. Maybe if he is reminded that he was spending his entire salary, he would have had a rethink.

The OP is not talking about replacing money but about how items or services are costed.

[Ever-young]

I don’t think this is going to make any significant difference, because humans we are very conscious and as such aware of every financial move we make. Sometimes we already have what we want to purchase in mind but the money isn’t there, if the goods is actually worth it, we take it upon ourselves to raise the money and at the end of the day we trade the money for the goods, soo we are very much aware of how we actually earned the money.


You even made exceptions for the rich which is actually the same thing that happens using money. And there is no way they can be accurate with their timing because are you supposed to know if a walking customer is rich or poor.

I don’t even believe money can be replaced with anything.

Some people are not always conscious of how much they work before spending it. An example is people who lavish an entire salary in one day. I know people who spend an entire salary on alcohol and gambling within two days of receiving their salary. He would end up asking for loans or credit facilities to survive. Maybe if he is reminded that he was spending his entire salary, he would have had a rethink.

The OP is not talking about replacing money but about how items or services are costed.

You made a very great point and I must commend that , but I still think it’s not going to make any significant difference. Some person have their financial affairs planned, while some people don’t and these are the people that fall into the category of using their salary to gamble and lavish within a day.

Not the point is this people failed in planning, what they need is to learn financial discipline for themselves or anyhow they can not a reminder. They maybe unaware that all the money is almost gone, but can never forget how the actually struggled for the money.
When you hear an individual say things like; we only leave ones, I made it I’ll still make another etc. trust me their brain has just sent a reminder, but it’s doesn’t change anything.

[Natalim]

~Snip

I think this may help some people to rethink whenever they want to make a purchase, especially low-income earners. Some people struggle to accumulate their low income for a long time, but whenever they want to spend it, they spend it on things that are meaningless or invaluable.

However, I think for people like this, if hours were shown as the price tag, it might give them the consciousness to rethink. Most people don’t really think very well when purchasing things; it is only after the purchase is done that they discover what they have acquired is not valuable, and they regret their decisions.

People who are responsible in spending their money will often think carefully before buying any item. So regardless if the price tag indicates the working hours or money, these people will stick to smart buying. They prefer practicality over buying unnecessary staffs that are just a waste of money.

On the other hand, people with no discipline and lack self-control, they will always spend without thinking. Regardless if they are earning more or less, these kind of people are mostly those who end up with huge debts.

[lovesmayfamilis]

This is a crazy idea for me. I'd rather think about it before I buy something that I need to find additional income for, instead of counting the time after which I can purchase it. Time, of course, is the most valuable "commodity," but we live only once, and if our capabilities allow us to buy certain things, we have the right to do so, especially since there are services such as loans or just some kind of additional income. I am not ready to count the days and years until I can afford something; I live here and now, and, of course, I have common sense and understand what it will cost me to buy.

[Sammysmart001]

This is a crazy idea for me. I'd rather think about it before I buy something that I need to find additional income for, instead of counting the time after which I can purchase it.

I do understand why this, sounds very stressful. The joy would definitely be taken out of life, if  constantly having to calculate the hours you own for a pair of shoe or even a cup of coffee.

But also to cure impulse buying, translating of prices into hours worked has actually been a popular mental trick. Most especially  in a case of a big ticket items but also you don’t need to so for your daily groceries.

The urge of waste of money can be instant kill by simply asking urself a question. Like if you want to buy a phone cost $1,000 on whim, you should simply ask urself is this phone really worth my two weeks of my time/life at the office ?

Not really about refusing urself not to enjoy life or punishing yourself. It just a simple trick to find out if this expensive item is truly worth your hard earned time for trading.

[red4slash]

Imagine walking into a shop and you see a pair of shoe priced at 20 hours of work instead of a specific amount of money and a phone could cost 200 hours. Would you still spend your money the same way you do now?
We are used to looking at prices in our local currency but we hardly think about how much time we have spent working just to gather up that money. For someone earning very well, buying things might mean just some few hours of work while someone earning small could spend weeks or even months for the same item.

Money does make busing and selling easy but sometimes  we forget the time and effort behind what we spend. I’m just wondering about what people think of this. If shops truly displays prices in the amount of hours we spent working along with the normal price, would people become more careful with the way they spend or would it still not make any difference? Would you think twice before buying something if you knew how many hours you had to work to pay for it?

Is not this also going to be sustainable because for now the price set in accordance with the quality is not only about the goods we buy but also the time used to get the goods, the details that characterize and how its workmanship.

So that in this case all continuous between working hours (manufacture of the goods) branding and how his workmanship makes cumulative for the price to be different.

As for those who shop / buy goods everything goes back to the readiness and qualifications they (buyer) have of course with the financial conditions they have because when someone who can only afford to buy a bicycle is unlikely they will come to the car shop when their money is not enough, although this may be a refutation of the credit but still for credit it requires some verification including for the condition of income earned monthly.

[Samlucky O]

If shops truly displays prices in the amount of hours we spent working along with the normal price, would people become more careful with the way they spend or would it still not make any difference? Would you think twice before buying something if you knew how many hours you had to work to pay for it?

Of course business people will never display the price of their products in hours because that will scare their customers away. But that is for those that understand financial management. But however those who don care about financial management but loves fashion will not mind buying, because they believe the value of something is base on the price tag even if it was displayed in hours of work. And another thing there is that if guys can afford buying things that are wey expensive than their 5 months salary without thinking how long it took them to save save such money, it means they will still buy it if hours are displayed on it.

[TastyChillySauce00]

It will work as a shock effect, first few days everybody shocked, don't want to buy anything because buying means they are spending their time, then after 7 days passed probably they realized whether it's hours of work or money, doesn't make difference, you're getting the same amount of purchasing power and you realized that you ought to buy what you need to buy which is basic needs regardless.

If anybody can put enough attention into calculating their salary based on their hours rate, they'd instantly know how much working hour they spend to buy something. It's that simple, the price tag is just taking it one step further.

[traderethereum]

People won't think about how many hours they spent to buy that stuff. If they have money, they will directly buy without thinking and if they earning very well, spending their money to buy something will be easiest thing they can. They don't think twice before buying because they want that. Many people seems not appreciate the money they earn and spend so makes them easiest to spend their earning.

[abel1337]

If shops truly displays prices in the amount of hours we spent working along with the normal price, would people become more careful with the way they spend or would it still not make any difference? Would you think twice before buying something if you knew how many hours you had to work to pay for it?

Of course business people will never display the price of their products in hours because that will scare their customers away. But that is for those that understand financial management. But however those who don care about financial management but loves fashion will not mind buying, because they believe the value of something is base on the price tag even if it was displayed in hours of work. And another thing there is that if guys can afford buying things that are wey expensive than their 5 months salary without thinking how long it took them to save save such money, it means they will still buy it if hours are displayed on it.

Yes, People would certainly be scared if that was the case given that it will take them some great time if the purchase is a high value one. Well, people who really want an item would buy it whatever the price is, whether if it is their time or money. From a buyers stand point, what I'm doing is to value product how often I use it and how much money would it cost me each time I use this. One example of this is a phone, I'm using it daily as it is part of my daily routine so I would want a higher spec one since it improve life quality as well as it would last me a long time, so I wouldn't mind paying on the best value phone even if it is on a higher price tag.

We all have different salary grades and displaying a working hours would be insignificant depending on the salary grade of the customer. Many businesses doesn't do this as I think it discourages people from buying and it would complicate things for them, unless it's a very cheap item that would only cost people less than an hour earning.

This might be off topic but this thread reminds me of the businesses on our country that advertise their product pricing on daily payable if you take their product on a loan. They advertise that you can avail their $365 product by paying only 1 dollar daily. This kind of strategy is rewriting our brain that we only need this much to afford this but in reality, you are just paying the same amount, it's just the perspective that is changed.

[Josefjix]

Are you saying that a phone will show 20 hours of you working tirelessly before been able to afford it? So iPhone users who owns it had worked 20 hours upwards for them to afford it?

I hope you do know that some people work 24 hours with little pay that can't afford iPhones, are you those people can simply buy iPhones with their work hours time?

Some people work 30 mins and get paid in large amount that can afford 3 ore more iPhones, could those one needs to overwork the stress to reach 20 hours before the iPhone sellers release the phone to them.

What I can say, it would be complicated doing this, price tags works best and not hour tags.