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Mind & biases2 MINBrief fileContext-dependent

Endowment Effect

A mug changes hands. Why might its price change when the mug itself has not?

01 / SUMMARY

In short

Owning an object can raise the amount requested to sell it relative to what one would have paid to acquire it. The effect depends on the good, choice design, market experience, and transaction costs.

03 / SCENE

In the wild

A person randomly given a ticket may demand 80 to sell it even though, moments earlier, they would have paid only 35 to buy it.

04 / LIMIT

The limit

A buy–sell gap does not always prove psychological attachment; budgets, inconvenience, and use value also matter.

FINAL NOTE

What remains

Ask what you would pay today if the object were not yours, then compare that figure with your selling price.