What are non-linear costs?

Non-linear costs are when paying for something doesn’t always go up by the same amount each time.

Imagine you're buying candy from a vending machine. Each piece of candy costs 1 coin. If you want 2 pieces, that’s 2 coins, simple and fair. That's like linear costs: the more you buy, the more you pay, in equal steps.

But now imagine this: The vending machine has a special deal. For every 5 coins you put in, it gives you 6 candies instead of 5. So if you want just 1 candy, that’s still 1 coin, same as before. But when you get to 5 candies, you only need 4 coins, because the 5th one is free!

That's like non-linear costs. Sometimes, paying for more doesn’t always mean paying a lot more, it can be cheaper in big steps or even skip some prices altogether.

Think of it like climbing stairs. Each step takes the same amount of effort, that’s linear. But if you jump over every other step now and then, your effort feels different, sometimes less, sometimes more, that’s non-linear!