Sunk Cost

A sunk cost refers to money that has already been spent and which cannot be recovered. In business, the axiom that one has to spend money to make money is reflected in the phenomenon of the sunk cost. A sunk cost differs from future costs that a business may face, such as decisions about inventory purchase costs or product pricing. Sunk costs are excluded from future business decisions because the cost will remain the same regardless of the outcome of a decision.