{"id":54,"date":"2010-03-10T08:05:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-10T08:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/67.249.26.136\/wordpress\/?p=54"},"modified":"2010-03-10T08:05:00","modified_gmt":"2010-03-10T08:05:00","slug":"1268226300000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/romeyn.me\/?p=54","title":{"rendered":"Why “free” isn’t really free"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since they were old enough to understand the concept, I have made it clear to my children that "there’s no such thing as ‘free’."  I do this wherever and whenever the opportunity presents itself, and I love the weird looks I get from people in stores; people who, based on their facial expressions,  clearly think that my brain is on fire and that worms are crawling out of my ears.  <\/p>\n

Simply, there is opportunity cost associated with every transaction.  And in most cases, when an advertiser uses the word "free" what they really mean is "at no additional monetary cost".  This is what I tell my children: if you have to spend money to get it, then it isn’t "free".<\/p>\n

Not everything advertised as free costs money, however.  Well, at least not up front!  Some time ago someone clued me in to the existence of Freecycle<\/a>.  Anyone can join and post stuff they want, or stuff they want to give away.  It’s for people who realize that someone might actually want that "piece of crap" they would otherwise throw away.  So they give it away.  This isn’t eBay.  There’s no bidding, no money, and no shipping.  If you want someone else’s crap, you have to go get it.  And the first one there wins.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago someone posted that they had a Kenmore portable dishwasher.  By its description it was in very good shape, but it did not drain.  I contacted the poster and he said someone else was scheduled to pick it up, but that if that didn’t work out I was next in line.  A few days later I got another e-mail: "Come and get it!"  I set a date and time and was off to get my "free" dishwasher!<\/p>\n

Here is what this thing actually cost me:<\/p>\n