If I was to try to sell you a piece of wood about 3 feet long, how much would you pay? Not much, I assume. Maybe a dollar.
What if that piece of wood was nearly a hundred years old? Probably even less.
What if I was to turn that piece of wood into a baseball bat? How much would it be worth then? My labors have turned the raw material into something useable. The piece of wood’s value has increased because it is no longer just a raw material. Now, it is a raw material plus my labor.
What if that piece of wood was the bat that Babe Ruth used to hit the first home run out of Yankee Stadium on April 18th, 1923? Would a hundred thousand dollars be enough? How about $214,000?
The person who bought this old piece of wood wasn’t just getting a piece of wood worth about a dollar. They’re weren’t just getting a finished product worth the price of the raw materials plus the labor. They got history. They bought a story.
Raw Materials = $
Raw Materials + Labor = $$
Raw Materials + Labor + A Story= $$$$
