Things that are just bafflingly expensive

cant believe you guys are such framing haters

dont hate the player hate the frame

Soundmen. The kind that "operate" a mixing board.

"cell phone service is needlessly expensive."

Yes! I was talking to this guy who was in said business and he said starting up was expensive but once that stage had passed, profits were ridiculously high. Belgium is one of the most expensive btw. :-(

The Rev. you have like no hair! How is shampoo a big expense? Are you like an Aveda groupie or summat?

― How to Make an American Quit (Abbott), Wednesday, March 10, 2010 10:47 PM Bookmark

the length of my hair tends to vary quite a bit. and it's curly, thus longer than it looks. thick, too.

besides, I didn't say I go through a ton of it, just that it's bafflingly expensive

HDMI cables

bay scallops (the little ones)

NY TIMES home delivery (never understood why subscribing costs MORE than buying the paper everyday)

I found through dedicated study that if you spend $10 on one of those giant bottles of "salon" shampoo it will last longer. Even Mane and Tail. Whereas the VO5 is used up in two weeks. Perhaps I am wrong, but it seems if you spend more you get a product with a stronger concentration.

I am too old to spend like a college student. Not complaining though.

Soundmen. The kind that "operate" a mixing board.

― Josefa, Thursday, March 11, 2010 8:33 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Priceless if they're good. Scum of the earth if not.

the big value size tub of head and shoulders I bought last september is still going strong

um the times home delivery is WAY cheaper than buying the paper daily! I'm paying thirty bucks a month.

dry cleaning

actually dry cleaning is pretty rad if you read about it, it requires all sorts of specialized machines and detergents and trucking stuff away to dry cleaning factories and stuff. I'm surprised it doesn't cost more than it actually does

HDMI cables are cheap online.

and monster cabels are a ripoff btw

Beer in Singapore.

Paid SEVEN POUNDS for a pint the other night.

HDMI cables are cheap online.

i paid less than $10 online for one that radio shack sells for 79.99!!

eyeglasses.

It seems in all these cases we are baffled by markets we don't fully understand.

It seems in all these cases we are baffled by markets we don't fully understand.

Well, if you boil it right down, there's not a lot to understand. They charge a lot because you will, for one reason or another, pay that amount. Maybe the thread should be called "things I spend a baffling amount of money on".

Yeha, but unless there's a monopoly, these items' prices ar also subject to downward pressure from competition. If the prices are baffling there's something about the supply or demand we aren't taking into account.

I don't understand why there isn't some non online store that sells hdmi cables for $10. It seems like there would be a market for that kind of thing.

Soundmen. The kind that "operate" a mixing board.

yeah, it's rough when they're making way more than anyone in the band and doing a shitty job, but it's also a pretty thankless gig. if you do a good job, you usually don't get props, but everyone hates you if the sound is bad. and i would hate to have to show up early, deal with bands, and be the last one to leave. it's like all the worst parts of being in a band without getting to play any music.

AMERICAN COLLEGE TUITION

re: the parts we aren't taking into account -- You mean the baffling part? Who buys monster cables? I know who supplies monster cables... those brigands!

I, for one, would purchase a pair of the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, which are made by Monster. They are REALLY expensive. But I have no need as the ones I have currently are doing just fine.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the association with Monster, and has EVERYTHING to do with its association with Dr. Dre. The amount of joy that man and his music have brought into my life is kind of extraordinary when you consider that I have never, nor will I probably ever meet him.

re: the parts we aren't taking into account -- You mean the baffling part? Who buys monster cables? I know who supplies monster cables... those brigands!

Please see
Awesome Audiophile Snake Oil

sports illustrated subscriptions

it's a weekly

$200 for a paisley dress shirt made in China? Fuck you Michael Kors.

every time I give any serious thought to how the fashion industry works it just makes me want to stab

violent rage seems like a p reasonable solution to overpriced sweaters, sure

entertainment weekly is a weekly and it's about 1/5 the cost

A new turbo for my bloody car! Cost = 1/5 of what I paid for the car (4 y.o)

$200 for a paisley dress shirt made in China? Fuck you Michael Kors.

Remember your option not to buy. (Or is the brand/print/cut that apppealing?)

entertainment weekly is a weekly and it's about 1/5 the cost

EW's like 20 bucks, SI 40 bucks, both at Amazon, what are you talking about?

Remember your option not to buy. (Or is the brand/print/cut that apppealing?)

oh I didn't buy it I'm not gonna contribute to that douchebag's 2000% profit margin

Norway

I think what's annoying me about this is not that I'm not consumer oriented but that I'm also producer oriented. Michael Kors' profit margin will or won't be sustained by the market. 2000% profit margin in a wildly speculative aesthetic market doesn't strike me as excessive - you don't need to buy (I assume this is for your wife, otherwise be prepared for extensive alteration) it and he could fail spectacularly (or even just fail point, tout court) at recouping his expenditures in a business plan that includes multifarious obligations world-wide. If you're buying Kors, it's because of the zeitgeist, the specific quality or design or tailoring. Nobody buys such temporally topical shit unless they really, really want to and the economics thereof are going to be different from, I dunno, say, Carhartt or whatever. Get over your sense of entitlement, we're lucky to be clothed, frankly. I can't weave or cut fabric or sew.

we're lucky to be clothed

uh what? we are? or do you mean "we are lucky enough to be able to afford clothes and houses, etc."

Well, yes.

as mentioned elsewhere i just wear voluminous black court robes everywhere

they arent the expensive i make them out of curtains

CANT BELIEVE THINGS COST MONEY

CLOTHES ARE JUST MADE OF THINGS

It's a very dashing look, Lamp, but you night weant to try some more henna in your hair for added flash.

GOING TO COLLEGE IS JUST TALKING TO AN OLD PERSON AND LIVING IN A PRISON CELL WHY DOES IT COST FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS

prison costs way more than 40k!

uh, I don't know about your college years but mine were emphatically NOT a weird mashup of visiting yr grandparents at the home and doing time

Renting a car to drive from Portland to San Francisco. (One-way, alas.) $450 for two days!