A Friday thread; Th...
 

  You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more

[Closed] A Friday thread; Things that are unexplainably expensive...

114 Posts
93 Users
0 Reactions
366 Views
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Viagra 😆


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 7:12 am
Posts: 7121
Free Member
 

Metacam (ibuprofen equivalent for pets).. £50 for 100ml.
I spend the best of £500 year on it. By the time the dog dies it will be about £3k on the stuff


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 7:38 am
Posts: 23277
Free Member
 

Longleat entry prices. £23 for a child!!!!


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 7:42 am
Posts: 5626
Full Member
 

Hifi leads.


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 8:29 am
Posts: 22922
Full Member
 

Hifi leads.

Hifi leads you can almost get because there is a performance benefit between door bell wire and something that actually has some copper in it - you can then start adding material and complexity of manufacturing complexity for spurious benefit.

Less easy to get is expensive HDMI leads (even cheap ones are expensive). A data lead either does or doesn't work. It can't be better than functional.


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 8:44 am
Posts: 5559
Free Member
 

You are right a digital signal can either work or not work but analogue really depends on the material used to work #snakeoilsalespitch


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 8:47 am
Posts: 3344
Full Member
 

Beer in Australia. I live next to Cascade brewery in Tassie & it's beer is significantly cheaper in NZ.


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 8:53 am
Posts: 5720
Full Member
 

Metacam (ibuprofen equivalent for pets).. £50 for 100ml.
I spend the best of £500 year on it. By the time the dog dies it will be about £3k on the stuff

Cloudnine. You could try him on Flunixin. It is another NSAID but works out about 30% cheaper. Not sure if it is licensed for dogs though. It is what our sheep get if they need painkiller/anti inflam.


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 8:56 am
Posts: 17
Free Member
 

Lol kiwi, just supping a 12$ pint and just about forgotten it was expensive, and at least it's not cascade though I am thankful for their trail hosting... What gets me is that fancy wine it's all just grape juice isn't it 😉


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 8:59 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Fish and Chips anywhere south of Stoke.
Theatre/Show tickets.
Engine oil.
Train travel.
Muc off products.
Wheels in my lbs


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 9:22 am
 kcr
Posts: 2949
Free Member
 

If you think these things are inexplicably expensive, you should go into business and supply them at a lower price. Either you will make your fortune or you will find out that the prices are not so inexplicable...


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 9:57 am
Posts: 8669
Full Member
 

[s]Memory in [/s]iPhones.


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 10:08 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Makita Batteries!!


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 10:13 am
Posts: 2671
Full Member
 

Metacam (ibuprofen equivalent for pets).. £50 for 100ml.
I spend the best of £500 year on it. By the time the dog dies it will be about £3k on the stuff

Cloudnine... I'm (very) reliably informed that you are massively overpaying...


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 1:25 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Glasses frames. Over £100 quid for a bit of plastic or metal!
Cheaper ones are available, but generally look crap (or are not to my taste to put it politely).


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 2:16 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Inner tubes. But hey, it's probably to cover the costs of keeping the LBS going, so that's ok.

Probably the highest markup in bike shops. Sold for a fiver, trade price is under a quid. Buyers don't really have a choice, so.....


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 2:54 pm
Posts: 587
Free Member
 

Anything to do with housing is a rip off, one big gravy train.


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 3:09 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

[quote=konabunny ]All of these things are just examples of "things that I think are expensive", but none of them is inexplicably expensive.

What I was thinking, but give us an example of something which is...

[quote=kiwijohn ]Beer in Australia. I live next to Cascade brewery in Tassie & it's beer is significantly cheaper in NZ.

is about the closest - though is this down do differing duty rates?

My suggestion would be Schwalbe tyres in the UK (when comparing with prices in German shops). Plenty of other bike parts you could apply this to, but those have the largest difference I'm aware of.


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 4:25 pm
Posts: 10315
Full Member
 

socks. it seems quite normal to pay 15 EUR/pair now. when did that happen 🙁


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 4:59 pm
Posts: 9491
Full Member
 

Specusuk - I knew someone would bring up curtains.
No they are aren't just bits of material hanging off a pole.
The fabric has to be designed, woven, measured, cut (this is a skill), joined on an industrial machine, lining made and lined in, pressed, squared off to correct length, heading tape sewn on (or fancy hand finished heading)
If these are made to measure, then add on time going out and measuring (this is a free service in my business).
A couple of days later you'll have a pair of curtains.

To save money why not buy your own fabric and lining and just see how much time it takes. Also hard work if you don't have a proper workroom.

Bunnyhop - a professional curtain maker who is fed up with everyone thinking that curtains are expensive, then spend thousands on a 'pushbike'.


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 5:01 pm
Posts: 0
Full Member
 

Shower gel, in French Pharmacies..


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 5:08 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Weddings


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 5:10 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Anyway, digital subscriptions. What's the markup like on those? 😈


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 5:28 pm
 ojom
Posts: 177
Free Member
 

Probably the highest markup in bike shops. Sold for a fiver, trade price is under a quid. Buyers don't really have a choice, so.....

Anything else you would like to make up whilst you are at it? Certainly there will be a tube or two like that but you write it like it's the norm.

It isn't.


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 7:36 pm
Posts: 8527
Free Member
 

Tea.

Lots of places charging over 2 quid for a teabag and some hot water. Bonkers.


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 7:45 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

muppetWrangler

Weddings

This times a billion - if you phoned up B&Q and said "Hi there, I'd like to book an entire store for a day and night, all of it, don't worry I'll give you 12 months notice, I will fill it to the gunnels with my nearest and dearest who will be the best customers you've ever had, they'll buy EVERYTHING you sell, honestly everything." I'm sure they say "that sounds great, tell you what - I'll give you 10% off everything for such a huge amount of business". Not "ooo I know we're a shop, and you want to bring 300 shoppers to my shop, but that sounds like a hassle - tell you what, give me £5000 and I'll charge you 3 times as much for everything - how does that sound?".

As for the rest of the Wedding Mafia - get in the ****ing Sea, £200 for a single bunch or flower or £200 to rent a Bay tree with a sticker on the back to say it cost £100 to buy,


 
Posted : 07/11/2015 9:50 pm
Posts: 3344
Full Member
 

mikewsmith - Member
Lol kiwi, just supping a 12$ pint and just about forgotten it was expensive, and at least it's not cascade though I am thankful for their trail hosting...

You're drinking at the Winston I assume.
What gets me is that fancy wine it's all just grape juice isn't it

Pretty much grape juice that's gone off a bit.


 
Posted : 08/11/2015 10:02 am
Posts: 1318
Full Member
 

Beer at the Wahington Wizards basketball $12 a pint (at least it was good beer and not the crap they sell for £6 St the MEN)

A pub on the way home from my local loop charges over £2.50 for Soda and Lime. This is a discrace. I don't mind paying the same mark up as they make from beer but not double. We don't go there any more.


 
Posted : 08/11/2015 10:45 am
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Suncream


 
Posted : 08/11/2015 11:01 am
Posts: 13356
Free Member
 

socks. it seems quite normal to pay 15 EUR/pair now. when did that happen

It happened when they saw you coming!

£4 for 5 pairs at Morrissons. Unless you wear 'posh'socks that only you see.


 
Posted : 08/11/2015 11:01 am
 DJTC
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

underpants! i hate paying lots of money for pants, cheapest ones are too uncomfortable.
tea in restaurants. can buy boxes of hundreds for the same price.
nandos. that is expensive chicken and chips. especially when compared to the harvester.

i love this thread. a proper english moaning thread.


 
Posted : 08/11/2015 1:26 pm
 aP
Posts: 681
Free Member
 

Clothes that are made in countries with known issues of exploitative labour, that cost nearly as much as those made in the UK, or in Western Europe, where there are useful things like Health & Safety regulations etc...
Any professional services (until you work out how much it costs to actually employ people and keep an office running).


 
Posted : 08/11/2015 2:10 pm
Posts: 1130
Free Member
 

Hotel breakfasts.

£15 quid for a bowl of cereal?


 
Posted : 08/11/2015 2:16 pm
Posts: 405
Free Member
 

Fuel at a motorway service area. £1.09 at local petrol station, not supermarket, £1.22 at services on M40.


 
Posted : 08/11/2015 2:23 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Popcorn at the local multiplex, mental.


 
Posted : 08/11/2015 9:00 pm
Page 2 / 2

6 DAYS LEFT
We are currently at 95% of our target!