the unqualified economist

I was out last week with a friend who put a card down at the bar to start a tab.  After about an hour she decided she was ready to leave.  However, she had only ordered one beer and had not reached the $10 minimum the bar requires to run a card.  There was a generic ATM in the bar that charged a $1.99 fee but she decided to walk to her bank, between ten and fifteen minutes away.

A little over twenty-five minutes later my friend returned to the bar looking flush.  She did not realize until she got to the bank that she had given the bartender her debit card and not a regular credit card, and thus she couldn’t take any money out from her bank.

It took her another five minutes to get her card from the bartender before heading back to the bank.

Another twenty-five minutes later she returned, cash in hand.  After saying her goodbyes, she paid her tab, and left.  Altogether, the ordeal ran about an hour and fifteen minutes.  She avoided the $1.99 surcharge and likely a $1.99/$2.99 fee at her bank.

I guess you could make the argument that she might place a certain enjoyment value on her stroll to the bank and  also since it was after work hours she values that time less (I value it more!).  But still, over an hour of one’s time for a maximum savings of $4.98 doesn’t seem like a good value to me!

* I should note that I did offer to pick up her drink or–even more graciously–let her pick up a drink from me to reach the minimum.