I have a close acquaintance whose brother just got locked up and he needs bond money fast.
He offered to sell me a $5500 watch (with a typical ebay resale of about $3000) for $1K if I can hook him up tomorrow AM.
It's basically a free two grand.
I know damn good and well that after I buy this watch from him, that will be it for our friendship- or, at least it will be when he tries to buy it back from me for the $1K I gave him and I tell him to piss off (which is precisely his plan and why he's coming to me rather than taking it to a pawn shop or resale jeweler- he knows I'll probably keep it and he can try to guilt it back out of me at a later time). Really, this is good punishment for buying an expensive luxury item while remaining entirely cash illiquid- I'm doing gods work here by teaching him this lesson, but it's still a bummer that I have no choice but to take the watch (mainly because I really, really want that watch)

I realized that I price my friends no differently than I assign a monetary value to everything else in my life.

Here's how I value them.

Tier 1- Shallow acquaintances. 0 value. I will take advantage of them or use them for my personal gain without any consideration to the value of the friendship. I'll be nice to them or maybe enjoy their company, but at the slightest hint of gain, I would sever all ties and not lose a seconds sleep over it.

Tier 2- Near acquaintances- $1-$200. I will forsake up to two hundred dollars for the sake of the acquaintanceship. Anything above that, I'll take the money and they can **** off.

Tier 3- Close acquaintances- $201-$1000.

Tier 4- Friends- $1001-$5000

Tier 5- Close friends- $5001-$10,000

Tier 6- Best Friends- $50,000+.

How do you price your friends? And if you say you don't, you're lying.

Interesting concept. I have to say that I've begun to think about this explicit example pretty often the last six months or so. Since I have no friends worth real money, and I'm worth well into the negatives, it's hard for me to compare my friends to your friends. I enjoy tinkering with the concept, and maybe if I'm sober I'll attempt to provide you some discussion, because people are definitely worth some monetary value.

Did scram get banned?

Tier 1: 1 friend - $20M
Tier 2: 5 friends - $5M each
Tier 3: 6 friends - $500,000 each

All of my other satellite friends I'm fine with giving away for free. This scale is based on just never seeing them again...the top two tiers there (total 6 closest friends) I wouldn't personally fuck over for any amount of money, save for something ridiculous and unrealistic like a billion dollars.

If your friend is thinking he should be able to buy back the watch at the same price he might as well just ask you for a $1k loan.

hi

I can safely say that my best friend is worth at least ten million. Beyond that number, I have no ability to discern differences in dollar amounts accurately, so I'll stop it at that minimum. I can safely say that if I were offered ten million in cash under the only condition that I never see or speak to this person again, I would easily turn it down. I wouldn't even think about it.

Simply put, the money would not improve my life nearly enough to compensate. I think people overestimate the value of cash in many hypothetical situations.

Actually, I tend to think that people overestimate the value of friends when the cash is only a "hypothetical".

Put it in front of them, in bundles of crisp, new bills, and it's a different story.

Maybe I'd feel differently if I had a wife or kids or something, but it takes very little money to maintain my happiness. I don't want to get all corny and gushy, but I really only need enough money to pay for rent, food, music, clothes, and the ability to go out at night occasionally. I guess that is what being in your twenties is all about, but having millions more really wouldn't increase my ability to do the above all that much. I'd wear nicer clothes, have a bigger apartment, and order the filet mignon more or better wine, but that's basically it. I can honestly live without all those things.

Good question. My numbers will be artificially inflated for a few reasons:

1) I pride myself on my loyalty. I'm inappropriately loyal, to the point of it being a flaw. I would rather be loyal to my own detriment 1,000 times than sell somebody out when I'd later regret it, so I draw a very bright line, content in the knowledge that I'll take some lumps for people that wouldn't do the same if the situation were reversed.

2) I decided a few years ago that I'd rather be poor than cheap. This decisions has worked out very well for me, and I've generally felt better about myself since coming to this conclusion.

3) I don't have many friends I'd consider very, very close. Mostly because I'm a miserable bastard.



Tier 3- Close acquaintances

Money value tough to assign. Much of my decision here would be based on the harm I'm causing to the other person. Would I be ruining his life, or would I simply be taking money neither of us needs but both want? I'd probably put the "ending our friendship, but no other consequences at all" value at something like 2000-5000. If it meant my reputation would be sullied, or I would endanger other friendships, this would be much higher.

Tier 4 and Tier 5- Friends

250K+. Notice the huge gap here. I don't consider many people a friend. I would need some serious life-changing money to end my relationship with most of these people. The high price-tag is most likely a reflection of the guilt I would feel over the following months/years about being a heel.

Tier 6- Best Friend(s)

It would have to be an amount that would bring me real, legitimate happiness for the forseeable future. My best friend is one of the most fiercely loyal, honestly good people I know. He's stuck through me through some real bad times, even when it cost him quite a bit. The value of his friendship is tough to express in a dollar amount. At one point I could have taken 20k of his money, and there was no chance he'd ever find out. It never crossed my mind to keep the money.

scram's jopke account?

I think you are asking the wrong question.

The correct question is what is my loyalty worth?

If you would take advantage of a friend for a couple grand, you are not a person of much value.



Now if this was about animals, then I would put it this way:

How much is your animal worth in vet bills before you put them down?

My answer would be:

$50 any cat

$300 any dog

$500 my dog

$20 all other non livestock animals.

multiply those figures by 10 to get how much the animal is worth to your wife/girlfriend/kids..

This is one reason we go gray earlier than women.

cheap bastard. Probably send your kids to public school too.

I sell my friends sometimes...only at silent auction though...Anyone want one?

3 of them.


I just have a deep hatred for the amount of money people spend on poodles and I am probably over reacting.

But that is my right as a man.

I, for one, don't believe you. I think that if you had a 5 year old dog that you got as a puppy and was a breed that lives 10+ years, you'd spend $600 if it would be the difference between it dying tomorrow or living the rest of a full life.

I'll lay odds.



But the times that an exact cure can restore your animal to long life for a reasonable amount isn't going to happen as often as; your aged dog has a disease that will require $200 meds a month and you needing to put on a latex glove to administer them daily. Nice knowing you Fido

But I do like my dog.

Ok.



But that's what we're talking about. Dog get hit by car. Vet says surgery plus recovery will cost $750, and after that dog will be fine.

That's

Okay you win.

How much did we bet? and what odds did I give you?

No bet. I'm satisfied knowing that you're not a heartless bastard that would let his dog die for $500. Now we've just got to work on getting you to appreciate (if not love) cats.

I say the OP is Zsta2k6. If he says he is setting up an FCP tourney on Stars ....bolt!

lol, wow, this is quite interesting.

I guess I'd divide my friends up like this:

Acquaintances - <€100-€500 (depending how much I like them)
Close acquaintances - €500-€1,500
Friends - €3,000-€10,000
Good friends - €15,000+
Very close/best friends - €100,000+ at least


Wow, what an interesting concept. But still, it's hard to think about unless your actually put in a specific situation

Here's where I get my money back

Well put, I feel the same way and I'm 35.

My wife---yes

My dog---maybe


My gun---never