Suppose that Juanita is deciding whether or not to buy a pair
of sneakers that she has been researching online, and also
the best place to make her purchase. Three different stores
in the area sell the sneakers she likes, but some stores are more convenient for Juanita to reach than others. One option is her local shoe store located only 15 minutes away from
where she works, where they charge a marked-up price of $112 for the sneakers:
Marked-up price
Discounted price
Juanita's office
Original price
Travel Time Each Way (Minutes) Price of a Sneakers (Dollars per sneakers) Store
Local Shoe Store 15 112
Different Neighborhood in Town 30 103
Rural Outlet 60 73
Juanita earns an hourly wage of $58 at her job. In order to purchase her sneakers she will have to take time off work, so each hour away from her job costs her $58 in lost income. Assume that Juanita's travel time is the same each way (to and from the store) and that it will take her 30 minutes once she reaches a store to complete her shopping. Assume throughout the question that Juanita incurs no additional costs other than the sneakers, such
as gas.
Complete the following table by computing the opportunity cost of Juanita's time and the total cost of shopping at each location.
Store Opportunity Cost of Time (Dollars) Price of a Sneakers (Dollars per sneakers) Total Cost (Dollars)
Local Shoe Store 112
Different Neighborhood in Town 103
Rural Outlet 73
Assume that Juanita considers both her opportunity costs and the price of sneakers when making her shopping decision. Juanita will minimize her cost of buying the sneakers if she shops at the