eli5 How is the economic value of an item determined if different sellers sell it at different prices?

Question

eli5 How is the economic value of an item determined if different sellers sell it at different prices?

In: 1

Answer 1

I would imagine it’s determined by which one actually sells. In a rational world people would just buy from the cheapest. Obviously there may be non price costs such as inconvenience which would I guess be quantified by how much more one was willing to pay when buying from a higher price seller. If people are just randomly buying at all different prices for no reason then it has a range of value?