Highest, Lowest Price of Movie Tickets in 2012

A movie ticket in Tokyo Japan is $21.5, but the cheapest in the world is just $4.95.

Photo from mconnors’ morgueFile

The number one movie in the world, as predicted, is The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part Two. The last stretch of the popular vampire series snagged $340.9 million in its worldwide debut. Depending on one’s location, the price for seeing the movie in the big screen could be heavy or light.

While a small continent in Asia sits atop the 10 most expensive cities to watch a movie, five cities are in Australia. The other four cities are in Europe.

Watching Bollywood movies is a bargain basement recreation. In the top 10 cheapest movie tickets, five are found in India. The cheapest is in Hyderabad. Seven are in Asia, two are in Europe and one in North America.

Top 10 most expensive movie tickets in the world

1. Tokyo, Japan: $21.5
2. Zurich, Switzerland: $18.5
3. Geneva, Switzerland: $18.5
4. Perth, Australia: $17.5
5. Sydney, Australia: $17.5
6. Adelaide, Australia: $17.5
7. Melbourne, Australia: $17.5
8. Oslo, Norway: $16.5
9. London, United Kingdom: $15.5
10. Brisbane, Australia: $15.5

Top 10 cheapest movie tickets in the world

1. Hyderabad, India: $4.95
2. Tehran, Iran: $6.23
3. Belgrade, Serbia: $6.76
4. Pune, India: $7.16
5. San Salvador, El Salvador: $7.43
6. Mumbai, India: $7.45
7. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: $7.61
8. Bangalore, India: $7.62
9. Delhi, India: $7.78
10. Cluj-Napoca, Romania: $8.15

Data from Expatistan.com; cost of living index

Any of the US cities did not fit on both lists; but since 1995, the ticket prices have risen steadily. The movie ticket price hit the all-time high in the second quarter of 2012, averaging at $8.12. The average price in 1995 was lower than the cheapest of today, $4.35.

Premium 3D theaters, higher cost of movie production and general inflation affected these prices. Do you think the price of movie tickets is justified?

Sources:
Top 10 most expensive movie tickets; Expatistan
Top 10 cheapest movie tickets; Expatistan
Movie Ticket Prices Reach All-Time High in Q2 of 2012; The Hollywood Reporter
Box Office Report: ‘Breaking Dawn – Part 2’ Bites Off $340.9 Million Global Opening; The Hollywood Reporter

The Psychology of 9.99, 10 and 1200

People think an item is way cheaper when priced at $9.99 rather than $10.

Photo from Photoxpress

Price tags ending with .99 rule the stores. They are prevalent wherever you shift your view. Ever wonder why retailers do that? And you can expect certain category of products and services with price ending in 0, like $10 or $400. Even the emission of the comma in 1200 is a result of pricing studies.

9.99s

9 has a pricing power. Any item that ends with .99 speaks out “great value”, “sale” and “discount”. Buyers think that it’s the lowest price it could ever have.

People round $9.99 as $9 instead of $10. Researchers call this the left-digit effect. Everybody that has a brain is susceptible to think that way because that’s just how human minds work. And we are more led to round prices on the left digit because we see .99 innumerable times.

William Poundstone on his book Priceless analyzed eight different studies on .99 prices and found that sales increase by 24% on .99 prices compared to the 10s. Kenneth J. Wisniewski from the University of Chicago conducted another study at a local grocery chain:  sales of margarine increased by 65% when price was dropped from 89 cents to 71 cents; but it increased by 222% when dropped to 69 cents!

People buy more when the price ends with 9. That’s why we see a lot of .99s.

10s

A tipped polo from Neiman Marcus is priced at $150, while a Dolce & Gabbana leopard print bag is priced at 3,425.00. Both prices are ending with 0, and both products are high end. An item whose price ends with 0 communicates premium quality.

People get satisfaction on owning an expensive product. People are convinced that prices ending with 0s are upscaled; and prestige brands love it that way. Companies wanted to keep the reputation on their products so not all can buy it and those who can buy it will love buying it.

1200s

How they write it affects how you buy it. The longer the price appears, the more expensive we perceive. This is the reason why restaurants minimize the price on their menu with 29 rather than $29.99.

Commas and cents make the price longer; hence, increasing the magnitude of the price (at least according to our brain). 1200 seemed to appear cheaper than 1,200.00. There are less words in “twelve hundred” than in “one thousand two hundred”, so we think of 1200 as less.

Did .99s lured you?

Sources:
The Psychology Behind The Sweet Spots Of Pricing; Fast Company
Pricing Psychology: 7 Sneaky Retail Tricks; CBSNews
5 Psychological Studies on Pricing That You Absolutely MUST Read; Kiss Metrics
Party Like It’s 19.99: The Psychology of Pricing; Wise Bread
An Easy Way to Make Your Prices Seem Lower; Neuromarketing

Future of Money: Papers and Coins will be Missed

Electronic money is replacing papers and coins.

Photo from mangpages’ flickr

We get more incentives when we use our debit/credit card to pay for our purchases. Points accumulate to discounts and even cash. It is more convenient as you only have to scan your card, no counting of paper money and no burden of the clinking coins. I don’t see why we won’t use this.

Apple is rumored to be developing “Near Field Communication” feature in their devices. When brought to fruition, people can use their iPhone and iPad to do the paying for them. The latest software of Apple though has Passbook. It has the all the coupons you need. Another coupon managing application that is more accessible to most smartphones is Groupon.

75% of the world’s population has mobile phones (Fitzpatrick, 2012). As smartphones increase in popularity, its functionality of being a wallet is emerging. You can now use PayPal for store transactions, a leap from their famous online paying platform. Google Wallet keeps the record of your debit and credit accounts for in-store and online use. All you need to do is tap your phone to pay.

Money has changed many times, and maybe we’re seeing another cycle right now. It is argued that the oldest form of money is cattle, around 9000 to 6000 B.C.. Then money, well, became easier to tame as people used the “most widely and longest used currency in history”, Cowrie shells. And through the course, it became bronze, copper, leather, paper and gold (NOVA, 1996).

It’s rather queer that the modern money is transitioning from tangible to abstract. The future of money is imaginary but still agreed money. People would have to believe that they’re working for money that will go directly to their bank and accessible via their phone. They won’t have to see them. Oh, I guess neither will we see our wallets.

Do you like the future’s electronic money?

Sources
The History of Money; Nova
Apple Plans Service That Lets IPhone Users Pay With Handsets; Bloomberg
75% of World Has Access to Mobile Phones; Mashable
Inspired by BennyBuzz’s Future of Money 

Money Growth Investments

To cross the upper class border, investments are the best strategy to engage.

Photo from photoXpress

Sure, you have a job that pays constant money; but it doesn’t take a mathematician to know that it’ll take a lifetime of savings until your steady paycheck can add up to a fortune.

Investments are smart. You don’t have to work so hard, eight hours a day to reach financial freedom. Money comes to you passively – you can swim with penguins while your investments add bucks to your account. Here are the investment kinds you may want to know:

Bonds. You lend your money to a company or government.
How does money grow? They pay you back with interests.

Stocks. When you invest on stocks, you buy a part of a business. This means you own a percentage of the business.
How does money grow? You are entitled to receive profit of the business proportional to the amount of stocks you own. However, the return and risk is high.

Mutual Funds. A professional manager invests your money in a collection of bonds and stocks.
How does money grow? Same as bonds and stocks. It is diversified and it doesn’t demand your time.

Real Estate. You buy a land property.
How does money grow? Since value of house and land is increasing over time, you can sell it high.

Certificates of Deposits. You deposit money to the bank within the time frame, while during the time you cannot spend that money.
How does money grow? You earn with interests.

Forex Trading. You buy or sell a foreign currency.
How does money grow? You can earn or lose money through the movement of exchange rates. For example, you exchange US dollar for UK Pound. If UK Pound increases in value, you earn. If it decreases, you lose some money.

Business. You fund a starting business or you found your own business.
How does money grow? You earn through profit of the business, or you can sell your business for up to millions. However, starting a business is demanding and it may take most of your  time. Make sure you systemize it so the business can operate it without you.

All of these investments are simplified. I encourage everybody to sign up for at least one, but be sure to study it well. “Big risks, big rewards” is a good statement, but I prefer “controlled risks, big rewards”.

What kind of investment are you interested in?

More Moments for you:
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Source:
Different Types Of Investments; WXINVEST.com

 

Weddings: Waste of Money?

The average cost of weddings in the US is $27,021; honeymoon not included.

The Wedding. Photo from kristineneeley.com

Old people were surveyed on the biggest advice they can give to the younger generation. Majority said that weddings are “the biggest waste of money”. It’s the one day women and some men felt like their life is a fairytale; but now they are told to stop the illusion for prudency’s sake.

Just start with the wedding dress. You spend a deal of your savings for the cloth. A guy speaking here, but it’s not like you could wear that again to party, unless it’s a Halloween party and you’re willing to torn it and blot it with blood. It’s once in a lifetime wear, then you put it in a box or hid it in the closet forever.

The preparations are not only a mentally and physically exhausting, but it hurts financially. I suppose wedding invitations are not yet sent through Facebook. It has to be pretty and appealing. Professional photographers took the images. And every print for every person is at topmost quality, to which the recipient will merely set aside. The more reasonable expenses were the food at reception, the reservations, the decorations (which has got to be a lot of floral) and of course, the after party.

The average cost of weddings in US is $27,021; and of all the states, it was mostly expensive to wed in New York where the average is $65,824.

IHateWeddings.com is a website for the sole purpose of hating weddings altogether. There are interesting comments like weddings are fake, it’s just a day of acting while one believed that the minutes of emotional bliss is worth it. A woman said that she and her boyfriend are at the peak of their relationship, why would a piece of paper change it all?

I think it’ll change everything. The wedding wouldn’t change their lives, but the marriage would. The knot was tied, the vow was said – the couple is ready for the rest of their lives together. It doesn’t matter how grandiose the wedding or how saved up it was. The symbolism of it is supposedly the most important aspect of it. Love is the reason of the celebration in the first place.

What do you think, are weddings waste of money?

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Sources:
Planning a wedding? Don’t waste your money; The Guardian
Average cost of U.S. wedding hits $27,021; Reuters