Here is a question that should have an obvious answer and does not.
Why would anybody pay more for groceries?
Groceries are the most price transparent thing you buy. A gallon of milk is a gallon of milk. The same national brands sit on every shelf in America with the price printed right there.
There is no mystery. No information gap. No salesperson.
And yet there is a grocery chain in Northern California that charges more than the discounters, sits in markets where cheaper options are a five minute drive away, and has customers who will not go anywhere else.
They are not confused. They are not rich enough to stop caring. Many of them are retirees on fixed incomes who count carefully.
So what exactly are they buying?
The answer turns out to be one of the most useful things you will read about how money actually works.