Sales Is the Free Exchange of Value

Imagine someone has something that you want or need. You want to acquire what is that they have, meaning it has value to you. But it also has value to the person who presently possesses it. Some laws prevent you from taking it from them under cover of darkness—or by force.

What are you to do in this situation?

Wait. You have an idea. You have something of value that you would be willing to exchange for the object of your desire. If the person who has what you want would trade what they have for something they value equally (or more), an exchange is possible. Maybe even likely.

This is sales. It is the free exchange of value between willing parties. Neither party is compelled or forced to make an exchange of the value they possess or create, regardless of how much another party may want or need it.

Both parties are capable of influencing the other party to believe there is more value in what they have, with one side building up the value and offering what they have for a certain price, the other side working to suggest that it isn’t worth the asking price and offering less to obtain it.

Who determines what something is worth? It may be true that the person possessing a thing being sold sets the price based on what they are willing to accept. However, it is equally true that the buyer sets the price because they have the power to choose not to pay the asking price and walk away or find an alternative.

Where more value is created, more value is captured. Where less value is created, less value is captured. Value is in the eye of the possessor and the beholder, which means I may believe something is valuable that you think is worthless. What is important enough for you to spend a great fortune to obtain might be something that wouldn’t move me to act at all.

When people believe that the word “sales” has a negative connotation, recognize that none of us would have anything that we want without these fundamental ideas being in place as far back as when Grok had two woolly mammoth steaks, and Glub could make a fire.