Items that are scandalously priced.

NIMAN

I know we have all heard about stuff like printer ink, perfume etc being way overpriced, but anyone else got anything they have seen recently that shocked them in terms of just how much they were charging?

I'll start with replacement heads for my Philips Sonicare tootbrush. These are the ones that fit my model
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3306237/Trail/searchtext%3EPHILIPS+SONICARE.htm
€44.99 for 4 plastic heads, probably made in China for a Euro. Shocking. And I'll not even get into the price for some of the toothbrushes themselves.

Secondly, the price of electric shavers for men.
Look at this one, €473 !! For a shaver!
http://www.boots.ie/electrical/male-grooming-tools/shavers/philips-s9031-26-shaver-9000-with-smartclean-system-10176603
Now I know that its a decent bit of kit, but its hardly costing Philips a fortune in R&D, as they have been more or less unchanged in technology in a few decades. You could buy a 2nd hand car for that money.

So what other prices make you do a double-take when you see them?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

You'll always get overly expensive items, like a lamp for €3500 in Brown Thomas but there are reasonably priced items too. My electric razor does everything a razor needs to do and was €65.
We could be here all year listing expensive items. Look in the Gloss magazine any month for hundreds of suggestions.

Sam Kade

NIMAN wrote: »

I know we have all heard about stuff like printer ink, perfume etc being way overpriced, but anyone else got anything they have seen recently that shocked them in terms of just how much they were charging?

I'll start with replacement heads for my Philips Sonicare tootbrush. These are the ones that fit my model
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3306237/Trail/searchtext%3EPHILIPS+SONICARE.htm
€44.99 for 4 plastic heads, probably made in China for a Euro. Shocking. And I'll not even get into the price for some of the toothbrushes themselves.

Secondly, the price of electric shavers for men.
Look at this one, €473 !! For a shaver!
http://www.boots.ie/electrical/male-grooming-tools/shavers/philips-s9031-26-shaver-9000-with-smartclean-system-10176603
Now I know that its a decent bit of kit, but its hardly costing Philips a fortune in R&D, as they have been more or less unchanged in technology in a few decades. You could buy a 2nd hand car for that money.

So what other prices make you do a double-take when you see them?

Just buy a normal toothbrush and use elbow grease.

Wang Kerr

You see people paying 12k for a handbag in Brown Thomas....And you have to wonder a little

drunkmonkey

STRAWBERRIES

davo10

I find these kind of threads strange, as if all items which do the same thing should cost the same, everywhere. If there is a cheaper alternative which does the same thing, all you are paying extra for is either branding or possibly quality and reliability. But at the end of the day, nobody is forcing you op to buy the more expensive item.

EndaHonesty

New Childrens' Hospitals

Oops69

Avocados a nd you have to watch them until they're ripe As well , and don't tell me they're "cheap in Lidl" ,mush pulp and cardboard in Lidl/Aldi.

Delacent

Certain items are priced to be sold on promotion.

Electric shavers and electric toothbrushes would be classic examples - you will ALWAYS find a couple of models at "half price"

Within fmcg goods dishwasher tablets, laundry powders, conditioner, shampoos, toothpastes, deodorants etc are all "priced up" so that frequent "offers" can be made.

coylemj

Electric toothbrushes are a classic case of a basic item that does a simple task which the marketing people have puffed up with totally useless 'features' in order to extract more money from mugs, it's similar to the pseudo-technical jargon they use to sell TVs.

I buy the basic Oral-B model which gives a little wiggle every 30 seconds and a longer alert after two minutes, every other feature I see on the box I know is basically BS to push the price up for no added benefit to me.

With electric shavers, the price goes up exponentially for models with a superthin foil, every extra 0.1mm they shave off costs you about €100. I have a cheap battery Philips model which cost me €20, it gets me by in an emergency.

ger vallely

I read there yesterday about a brand of vodka. It wasn't selling very well so they slimmed down the bottle and almost doubled the price and now it is a top seller! I can't remember the name but it looked familiar in the picture. Quite a risky marketing strategy but it worked. As for other things over priced- tea and coffee in cafes and restaurants. Way overpriced. The profit on these drinks must be massive.

Equium

Beer, either in supermarkets or pubs. It costs me less than 60c per pint to home-brew my own. Economies of scale suggest that it costs a fraction of that for a brewery to produce a pint.

Considerable tax is paid on the sale of alcohol and pubs have to cover their costs, but charging the guts of €6 for a pint of beer is crazy.

Jan_de_Bakker

What type of person spends 12k on a handbag ?

Morally repugnant ... even if I were a millionaire I wouldn't be spending that much on a bag.

sick

BeardySi

Equium wrote: »

Beer, either in supermarkets or pubs. It costs me less than 60c per pint to home-brew my own. Economies of scale suggest that it costs a fraction of that for a brewery to produce a pint.

Considerable tax is paid on the sale of alcohol and pubs have to cover their costs, but charging the guts of €6 for a pint of beer is crazy.

Of course, breweries don't brew in plastic buckets in back rooms

My last batch cost €0.53/500ml and had it been payable, duty would have been €0.67.

But then I don't have to pay for staff, a brewery, power, premesis, storage, shipping, retailer markup or apply VAT.

While the price of a pint in pubs (particularly for anything non-macro or bottled) can be daft, I can't quibble with an average of €3 for a bottle in the shops...

griffdaddy

Treadhead wrote: »

Of course, breweries don't brew in plastic buckets in back rooms

My last batch cost €0.53/500ml and had it been payable, duty would have been €0.67.

Of course I don't have to pay for staff, a brewery, power, premesis, storage, shipping, retailer markup or apply VAT.

While the price of a pint in pubs (particularly for anything non-macro or bottled) can be daft, I can't quibble with an average of €3 for a bottle in the shops...

You can get 24 bottles from anywhere between 6 or 7 and 12 quid in many countries in Europe, probably cheaper still in some places

BeardySi

But yet we don't live there... I could get a beer for 65cents in Vietnam - that's about as relevant.

Equium

Treadhead wrote: »

Of course, breweries don't brew in plastic buckets in back rooms

My last batch cost €0.53/500ml and had it been payable, duty would have been €0.67.

But then I don't have to pay for staff, a brewery, power, premesis, storage, shipping, retailer markup or apply VAT.

While the price of a pint in pubs (particularly for anything non-macro or bottled) can be daft, I can't quibble with an average of €3 for a bottle in the shops...

With that €3 you could buy a decent bottle of wine in many European countries.

I bought three 660ml bottles of beer in a supermarket next to one of the biggest tourist traps in Rome before Christmas for just over that price. You can get a litre of quality beer in Germany for just over the price of a pint in many Dublin pubs. The same money would buy you four 500ml beers in a bar or restaurant in Prague.

Again, I know the differences are mostly down to duty and tax. That doesn't make me feel like I'm being any less ripped off.

Mountainsandh

Nicorette products are severely overpriced as they can be got via gp like medication I think, and NHS in UK. As a side effect to the opportunistic pricing from Nicotine replacement products manufacturers, some people seem to have a thriving resell business on eBay (ie, get it free from GP, resell it for full profit).
Win win, except for users who would prefer to purchase without gp prescription.

Former Former

Equium wrote: »

Beer, either in supermarkets or pubs. It costs me less than 60c per pint to home-brew my own. Economies of scale suggest that it costs a fraction of that for a brewery to produce a pint.

Considerable tax is paid on the sale of alcohol and pubs have to cover their costs, but charging the guts of €6 for a pint of beer is crazy.

Beer in pubs here is cheaper than nearly every other developed country in the world.

vicwatson

Sanitary towels are a scandalous price

L1011

Former Former wrote: »

Beer in pubs here is cheaper than nearly every other developed country in the world.

Erm. No it isn't. We'd be in the top five or so for countries that actually have any real level of pubs. Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Switzerland and us I'd guess.

US is cheaper, Canada is cheaper; pretty much the entire EU bar Sweden (and London) are cheaper. Australia would be marginally cheaper

If you are comparing to airport, 5* hotel and tourist trap prices you'd be on to something as they charge maybe +20% over normal prices here and sometimes +150-200% abroad. But remember - you don't drink in those here, so why would you compare to them abroad?

davo10

L1011 wrote: »

Erm. No it isn't. We'd be in the top five or so for countries that actually have any real level of pubs. Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Switzerland and us I'd guess.

US is cheaper, Canada is cheaper; pretty much the entire EU bar Sweden (and London) are cheaper. Australia would be marginally cheaper

?

Coincidently I've traveled extensively to the US, Canada and the U.K over the last 12 months, I don't know where you have been drinking but in all three I found beer, spirits and food to be more expensive than here. Small town prices will always be cheaper than city pubs no matter which country you are in.

razorblunt

L1011 wrote: »

Erm. No it isn't. We'd be in the top five or so for countries that actually have any real level of pubs. Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Switzerland and us I'd guess.

US is cheaper, Canada is cheaper; pretty much the entire EU bar Sweden (and London) are cheaper. Australia would be marginally cheaper

If you are comparing to airport, 5* hotel and tourist trap prices you'd be on to something as they charge maybe +20% over normal prices here and sometimes +150-200% abroad. But remember - you don't drink in those here, so why would you compare to them abroad?

I've been to the US and Canada a lot over the last 18 months and I live in the UK, the beer is nowhere near as cheap in any of them.
You can say Tennants is cheap in Scotland but so is Beamish in Cork.

L1011

davo10 wrote: »

Coincidently I've traveled extensively to the US, Canada and the U.K over the last 12 months, I don't know where you have been drinking but in all three I found beer, spirits and food to be more expensive than here. Small town prices will always be cheaper than city pubs no matter which country you are in.

Non-tourist pubs are that ~20% cheaper in Dublin too - in other countries its vastly more. Restaurant/hotel food in Ireland is very competitively priced compared to other countries (and without any reliance on tips to pay staff either) though.

I'm in Brighton quite a bit and I can either drink in a touristy/trendy city centre pub that I like where most pints are £4.75+ or another less trendy city centre pub that I also like where they're £3. Same choice in Dublin - two ends of Amiens Street is a great example, €4.50/€6

People always compare the tourist/guidebook places prices away to where they go locally. The comparison tourist trap for Dublin would be the Oliver St John Gogarty.

jonon9

Primary school uniforms are just stupid priced, reason I say that is because the quality is ****e cheap material but price went up.

Also that new Dyson hair dryer with prices starting at €400 what in the world!! Well Dyson products in general. Marketing ****

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

dudara

I'd like to remind posters that this is not AH. Off topic posts deleted

dudara

5rtytry56

The scandalously overpriced affects the Model Business as well: Affecting some brands more than others, even though the products, especially in the case of model railway rolling stock from 2 different brands may well be made in the same factory.
Also scalextric track 'vehicles'. I mean I've seen a Star Wars Speeder bike with an Ewok (the little teddy bear like creature) riding it on sale in a certain large toy store.... for €60 euro.
Yes, I own the Star Wars Battle of Endor Scalextric pack. If I have an Ewok in it, the Ewok will be .....wait that's going off thread topic now.

Samuel T. Cogley

Apple .... Obviously!!!! :pac:

Freddiestar

Ferrari 488s are a rip off

Delacent

SKY tv.

€360 a year for channels that are mostly free to air and have almost 15min of advertising an hour.