"It's A Scam, Plain And Simple": People Are Sharing Subtle Or Very Specific Things That Should Be Way Cheaper Than They Actually Are

    "They are too expensive for needing them every month."

    Considering inflation in the US is at a 40-year-high, it's fair to say that your complaints about the high price of things right now are extremely valid.

    cash being put into a cash register

    Not to be a bearer of bad news, but thanks to a recent Reddit thread I found where u/madmart07 asked: "What should be at least 5x cheaper than it is?", I learned about even more not-so-obvious things that seem way more expensive than they should be. Buckle up for some of the responses.

    1. "Graphing calculators."

    A graphic calclator

    2. "Printer ink."

    —u/bruinblitz

    "It's a scam, plain and simple. The manufacturer has special cartridges that only work for a handful of printers. They are the only ones who can make them, and they can charge whatever they want."

    —u/N00N3AT011

    3. "Transaction fees."

    4. "An EpiPen. Something that could potentially save a life shouldn’t cost that much. Some people even carry an expired EpiPen because they can’t afford to get a new one."

    —u/xiaom1ng

    5. "College textbooks. They are charging wild prices and switching the required books often."

    a stack of textbooks

    6. "Female sanitary products."

    —u/carrotisgross

    "Yes, absolutely! They are too expensive for needing them every month."

    —u/turwiethel

    a woman sitting on a toilet holding a period pad

    7. "Sunglasses. Pieces of plastic with 1000% markup."

    —u/Flatoftheblade

    8. "Phones these days. Like, damn. I don't even pay that much for a capable laptop."

    A hand on a smartphone

    9. "Soft drinks in restaurants. Because they are at least five times their original prices."

    —u/BlueMonkey35

    10. "Parking. I recently left the car in a paid parking lot for two hours (the price was not indicated). I ended up paying $32."

    parked cars in a garage

    11. "Saline solution for contacts."

    Saline solution

    12. "Popcorn. A $10 bucket of movie theater popcorn costs 50¢ to produce."

    popcorn on a seat in a movie theater

    13. "Fees for printing tickets at home. The fee should be non-existent."

    —u/Voidg

    14. "High-end mountain bikes. I REALLY don’t feel like paying $6-10k for a bike that I still need to pedal."

    —u/BL1860B

    15. "Mattresses. Bunch of cheap, man-made material."

    a bare mattress in a store

    16. "Anything gluten-free."

    —u/Significant_Switch53

    17. "Pasta dishes in restaurants. It’s so cheap to make, and the mark-up is beyond."

    a pasta dish on a table next to a fork

    18. "College applications. I only applied to two and had to pay well over $200."

    a college application on a table

    19. "WiFi/phone data. Biggest markup for a tool that is becoming more and more vital for everyday work and leisure."

    —u/undercovertiger

    Is there anything not on this list that you think should be included? Let me know in the comments below!