Two shrubs. Same variety. Same size pot.
One costs eighteen dollars at a big box garden center. One costs thirty two at Pike Nurseries.
The eighteen dollar one looks fine. Maybe slightly tired, but fine.
Buy it, plant it, and there is a meaningful chance it is dead by August.
Buy the other one and there is a much better chance it is thriving in three years.
So which one was cheaper?
That question is the entire business model, and it happens to be one of the most useful financial questions you can ask about almost anything.
Not what does this cost. What does the result cost.
Let me walk through why plants are such a perfect illustration.