Tropes that deal with objects having different worth in different situations, cultures and technological levels.
Subtropes include:
- Better Off Sold: Video game items that players sell because better items are readily available.
- Beautiful Condemned Building: A character falls in love with a derelict building.
- Down in the Dumps: Rubbish tips and scrapyards can often hide some pretty useful and/or valuable goods for those willing to search through them.
- Dumpster Dive: Fishing useful items out of the garbage can.
- Edible Treasure: A treasure hoard turns out to be food.
- Excalibur in the Rust: A powerful or legendary sword that only appears to be in poor condition.
- Grail in the Garbage: A priceless object is on sale for cheap at the flea market.
- Kids Prefer Boxes: A child ignores a valuable item and prefers the box it came in.
- Mundane Luxury: A character is overjoyed at small, simple pleasures.
- Mundane Object Amazement: A character finds an everyday object amazing.
- Mysterious Cube of Rubik: A character is confused and intrigued by a Rubik's Cube.
- Mundane Solution: Simple solutions to complex problems.
- Not Rare Over There: Something is scarce in one place but common in another.
- Priceless Paperweight: A precious object is used for an incredibly mundane purpose.
- Shop Fodder: Video game items whose only purpose is to be sold for money.
- Solid Gold Poop: A living creature's bodily waste is a precious substance.
- What a Piece of Junk: A vehicle that looks shoddy but works surprisingly well.
- What Do You Mean, It's Phlebotinum?: A normal Earth substance is valuable Applied Phlebotinum to aliens.
- Worthless Yellow Rocks: A valuable substance is discarded as worthless by those not in-the-know.
