Things that are inexplicably expensive (1 Viewer)

[godgers12]

or patio furniture, whatever lol

 

[GroveDiesel]

Coke & Pepsi regularly sell for $1.99 in supermarkets around me , 3 for 5 is hot deal nowadays 

The price just went way up in Philly where they now charge a 1.5¢ per ounce sales tax on sugary drinks. So a 2 liter of Coke now costs an extra 57¢ just in tax.

 

[HellToupee]

The price just went way up in Philly where they now charge a 1.5¢ per ounce sales tax on sugary drinks. So a 2 liter of Coke now costs an extra 57¢ just in tax.

Does that apply to Coke Zero etc too?

 

[GroveDiesel]

Does that apply to Coke Zero etc too?

Yes. The original proposed tax would have been 3 cents per ounce on sugary drinks. A "compromise" was made that cut it in half but also applied it to drinks with artificial sweeteners as well.

And the math I used above was bad (got it from a news article where the writer apparently can't do math.) The tax on a 2 liter of soda is $1.00. So a $1.00 bottle of soda is effectively doubled in price. For a typical 12 pack of soda at the grocery store, it will be about $2 more for a 12 pack.

The tax also applies to sport drinks, a bunch of teas, fruit drinks that are less than 50% actual fruit juice, etc.

 

[CurlyNight]

The soda tax passed in some areas here too (Berkeley, Oakland, SF). I don't see how that's going to deter people from buying it if they really want it. Hopefully they do put the money toward combating diabetes and such and not in the general fund to be used for whatever.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Candy Bars.

 

[Spike]

soda pop

Not for me.  I drink Diet Pepsi (don't give me grief - it's my version of coffee).  I wait until the local super market has them at 4 12-packs for $12.  Works out to $0.25 each.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

So Verizon will now charge $30 for a "new device upgrade fee". Up from $20.

Why does that cost ANY dollars?

 

[saintfool]

The prices for these are often crazy. But if you buy them from the bulk spice kiosks that they have at a lot of grocery stores, they are a lot less expensive.

Example: Bay leaves. A jar of bay leaves (containing a whopping 0.12 oz. of those little babies) costs $3.50 at WalMart and $4-$6 at a regular grocery store.

My wife recently bought a bag of bay leaves that was more than enough to refill our old jar in the bulk section and it didn't even register on the scale at the check out counter. The checker put her thumb on the scale lightly to get it to register any weight at all. Final cost: $0.17.

Savings: 95%.




 

spices

 

[adonis]

Arrangement of flowers.

 

[saintfool]

Arrangement of flowers.

The arranging part is always the most expensive part. The flowers themselves are really inexpensive. You can find plants and flowers just everywhere.

 

[CurlyNight]

The arranging part is always the most expensive part. The flowers themselves are really inexpensive. You can find plants and flowers just everywhere.

Like in your neighbour's backyard...

 

[Ditka Butkus]

In the market for a new mattress. Why on earth are these things thousands of dollars?  I'm just talking about regular mattresses without all the sleep number memory foam bells and whistles. 

Also, printer ink. 

And glasses frames. 

The duration between buying is the only thing I can think of....If you were the only guy buying one it would be minimum 6 to 8 years before the guy would sell another mattress..

 

[msommer]

Yes. The original proposed tax would have been 3 cents per ounce on sugary drinks. A "compromise" was made that cut it in half but also applied it to drinks with artificial sweeteners as well.

And the math I used above was bad (got it from a news article where the writer apparently can't do math.) The tax on a 2 liter of soda is $1.00. So a $1.00 bottle of soda is effectively doubled in price. For a typical 12 pack of soda at the grocery store, it will be about $2 more for a 12 pack.

The tax also applies to sport drinks, a bunch of teas, fruit drinks that are less than 50% actual fruit juice, etc.

WIf you Americans can manage metric for drinks now, then why not go the rest of the way

 

[General Malaise]

The prices for these are often crazy. But if you buy them from the bulk spice kiosks that they have at a lot of grocery stores, they are a lot less expensive.

Example: Bay leaves. A jar of bay leaves (containing a whopping 0.12 oz. of those little babies) costs $3.50 at WalMart and $4-$6 at a regular grocery store.

My wife recently bought a bag of bay leaves that was more than enough to refill our old jar in the bulk section and it didn't even register on the scale at the check out counter. The checker put her thumb on the scale lightly to get it to register any weight at all. Final cost: $0.17.

Savings: 95%.

HUGE fan of bulk spices.  Only way to go, IMO.  Excellent example of bay leaves.  So dumb how much more they cost in a jar vs bulk.  IT'S A BAY LEAF!

 

[Jayrod]

WIf you Americans can manage metric for drinks now, then why not go the rest of the way

Base 10 calculations are too confusing for our simple redneck minds.

 

[CurlyNight]

feminine products

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Not sure this is the right thread for it, but here is an interesting and/or terrifying read about "cost disease."