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Let's imagine, for a moment, what an admittedly strange world without consumer surplus might be like. Suppose our consumer goes to buy used movie tapes in such a world. In this world, the clerk knows her exact marginal willingness to pay (MWP) for each tape, given in the table to the right along with total willingness to pay (TWP).
Our consumer finds a video she likes. When she brings it to the register she's told the price is $8. Since that's her exact Marginal Willigness to Pay (MWP), she buys it. After she's already bought it, the clerk tells her that she can buy another one for only $7. After she purchases and 2nd tape he offers her a third for only $6, and so on. Previously, when the price was $3 for all tapes she bought 6 for a total cost of $18. In this strange world she might also buy 6, but her total cost would be $33 and she would receive no consumer surplus whatsoever.
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Utility for Videos
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| Q | TWP | MWP |
| 1 | 8 | 8 |
| 2 | 15 | 7 |
| 3 | 21 | 6 |
| 4 | 26 | 5 |
| 5 | 30 | 4 |
| 6 | 33 | 3 |
| 7 | 35 | 2 |
| 8 | 36 | 1 |
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