The phrase "idea of cost" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in a variety of contexts to refer to a concept or notion of what it will cost to purchase or accomplish a task or goal. For example, "We need to get a better idea of cost before moving forward with the project."
The idea of cost is a metaphor that has long since detached itself from the concept of value.
The upshot of this merchandising aspect is that craftspeople are probably more savvy about business than arts people, and have a better idea of cost.
To give you an idea of cost, if you book and pay locally for a hard sleeper from Beijing to Xian, it will cost in the region of £30 one-way.
Within the idea of cost as a benefit, however, there are tons of different options.
"… we in the United States are so averse to the idea of cost effectiveness that when the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the body specifically set up to do comparative effectiveness research, was founded, the law explicitly prohibited it from funding any cost-effectiveness research at all.
Comparison of health-care visits gives only a limited idea of cost effectiveness.
The emergence of newly monied Manchester City had made the idea of cost-effectively qualifying for the Champions League a pipe dream.
This paper proposes a theoretical model of water rights trading with transaction costs according to the idea of costs minimization.
The prime minister's spokeswoman said: "That reflects the fact that we have now gone through the design phase, we've got a better idea of costs and timescales.
Colis Prive is a strategic bet for Amazon in a couple of ways: one of its two depots in the country happen to be right next to one of Amazon's biggest French warehouses (playing up the idea of cost-reduction).
The idea of cost-benefit analysis has been spreading internationally for centuries — at least since an American named Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter in 1772 to his British friend, Joseph Priestley, recommending that Priestley weigh the pros and cons of a difficult decision in what Franklin dubbed a "moral or prudential algebra" (Franklin 1772) (more on this letter below).
