Things that are a rip off

[cdrazic93]

Originally Posted by pushrod

Insurance

This car costs more to insure (for me) than an s2k ironically.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

Whoa whoa whoa.. Hold on, I'm not letting you off that easy! You're one of the fun (and reasonable) ones. I mean c'mon.. think about it. What in the world that you know other people buy and you don't because you're like.. "that's a ripoff". Do you buy $50 t-shirts? No?! Why not?.. Oh yeah because that's a rip... you finish the rest.

I think "what the market will bear" is too simplistic of an economic viewpoint because markets can be manipulated, monopolized or saturated so what they will bear in terms of cost is irrelevant to taking into account their actual value. Just because the market will "bear" the high cost of diamonds for example doesn't mean diamonds have much intrinsic value (They don't). They've been monopolized so their price is wholly devoid of their intrinsic value. Diamonds... are a "rip off".

We really haven't defined rip-off yet but from reading some of the things in this thread that are considered a rip-off we can safely assume that it means:

1) significant increase in cost without a significant increase in value is something most people would consider a rip off. There's a sucker born every minute, just because that sucker will pay a suckers price, shouldn't exclude something from being considered a rip-off.

2) Something we have to pay for that's way over priced because we have to meet a social obligation. Flowers on mother's day are a rip off because they're much cheaper when it's not mother's day. Diamonds for an engagement ring are a rip off (because diamonds have almost no intrinsic value because they are not rare). Having to buy an engagement ring to get married is a rip off because before the 1920's that didn't occur but thanks to advertising creating a social norm in the 1920's, engagement rings are now a social requirement. Sorry fellas. I say fuck it, bring back the dowry!

3) The same thing is offered almost anywhere else for significantly less but when purchased at venue where it's 2 to 10 times the cost, it's a rip off.


My latest ripoff: I paid $100 for a Richard Sherman jersey and it simply ain't worth that much intrinsically but I still wanted it enough to pay that price.. That, however doesn't mean it's not a rip off. It's still a rip off. Most things that are licensed are and don't get me started on religion.



So there I need to add a few to my list:

-Sports Jerseys
-Diamonds
-Just about anything with a famous person or famous team on it.
-Most things that are "licensed".
-Religion/tithing (if you're spending money on it)
-Social obligations where the expenditure of money is required to fulfill a social contract: Easter, Christmas, Valentines day, and BS like that. AKA the social taxes.

I will respond to this one!
You nailed it in what is one person's "rip off" is one person's perfectly acceptable. There is not one single way to have a discussion on this topic without being so subjective it is meaningless.
No matter how much something is marked up nor if not one single cent of value is added the very fact that somebody is willing to pay the price means they do not think it is a rip off and that is indeed the price the market will bear.
There is no such thing as a product or service that is truly a "rip off". If something is grossly over priced people will simply no longer pay it for any reason and the company will either lower the price or go away. Companies are out to turn as big a profit as possible and to expect them to charge less than people are willing to pay is ludicrous.
What would you say if your employer came to you and said "People think or product costs too much so we are chopping our price and cutting your wage in half"? You going to say "Oh OK I thought we were ripping people off anyway"?
The simple solution is that if you think something is a "rip off" don't buy it. If enough do that then the price will drop or it will just go away.


Damn it I knew I should have stayed away from this topic. It is one of my hot buttons.

[pche]

Cell phone insurance. Always buy it, never used it.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Soda. Cents to make, yet sold with crazy profits.

[Choco]

Microfiber wash.

[vividracing]

I don't know why I started with this first but...

-Discount Tire. I hate those guys, they say they're cheap but NOT REALLY. They sell garbage wheels with huge profit margins.

-Everything to do with sporting events. $5 for a hot dog that I can get a dozen for on my own with buns for the same price?

-Sporting tickets, my policy on buying tickets is unless it's the Superbowl or Final 4 or something, if the ticket is ABOVE the TV cameras, I won't buy it, if I can't afford it below the cameras, I don't buy it.

-Sports jerseys

-Shoes (Nike) made in China for $2, sells for $90

-Movie theaters. I know the theater makes almost no money from ticket sales, they depend on concessions, but still. I just theater hop when there's a couple movies WORTH WATCHING (I protest bad movies by saying to myself "I wouldn't see that even when I can sneak into it.")

-Buying music (I haven't bought a song for over a year but I still got dozens more songs in that same time.)

-Premium station gas, like the Shells and Chevrons and their fancy "additives", when by law they have to add them to gas anyway.

-Cell phone rate plans in the US. In Europe they're a good 30-40% cheaper per month! A $100/mo plan in the US costs more like $70 in Europe and has less restrictions and more access.

I'll add more as I get to it.

-RyanG

[Atticus808]

Originally Posted by Kaotic Lazagna

Soda. Cents to make, yet sold with crazy profits.

I always think that. a can of whatever is like 0.0001% of the big giant batch just made.

Originally Posted by Choco

Microfiber wash.

yup, I just put in some vinegar in the rinse cycle.

[Atticus808]

Originally Posted by vividracing

I don't know why I started with this first but...

-Discount Tire. I hate those guys, they say they're cheap but NOT REALLY. They sell garbage wheels with huge profit margins.

-Everything to do with sporting events. $5 for a hot dog that I can get a dozen for on my own with buns for the same price?

-Sporting tickets, my policy on buying tickets is unless it's the Superbowl or Final 4 or something, if the ticket is ABOVE the TV cameras, I won't buy it, if I can't afford it below the cameras, I don't buy it.

-Sports jerseys

-Shoes (Nike) made in China for $2, sells for $90

-Movie theaters. I know the theater makes almost no money from ticket sales, they depend on concessions, but still. I just theater hop when there's a couple movies WORTH WATCHING (I protest bad movies by saying to myself "I wouldn't see that even when I can sneak into it.")

-Buying music (I haven't bought a song for over a year but I still got dozens more songs in that same time.)

-Premium station gas, like the Shells and Chevrons and their fancy "additives", when by law they have to add them to gas anyway.

-Cell phone rate plans in the US. In Europe they're a good 30-40% cheaper per month! A $100/mo plan in the US costs more like $70 in Europe and has less restrictions and more access.

I'll add more as I get to it.

-RyanG

I'll still buy music if it's worth it, just to support the artist even though they make millions.

[dem00n]

I never understood why people don't wanna pay for music. They have no idea the amount of work it takes to create music that's good. It's far more difficult than any type of engineer work I've done. I understand the disgust for the artists who make millions, but that's still below 1% of working musicians. You have to support your artists that you like. Most people who steal music have never created anything in their life of artistic or actual value, hence the ignorance.

The only thing i think are a rip off are TMPS sensors. This is an extremely simple device and are soon due for an update...

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I will respond to this one!
You nailed it in what is one person's "rip off" is one person's perfectly acceptable. There is not one single way to have a discussion on this topic without being so subjective it is meaningless.
No matter how much something is marked up nor if not one single cent of value is added the very fact that somebody is willing to pay the price means they do not think it is a rip off and that is indeed the price the market will bear.

Yes, this is absolutely subjective! It's the General discussion forum on the interweb!

I argue that these things are not mutually exclusive, just because someone is willing to pay the price doesn't mean that person doesn't also think what they just about isn't a rip off. I know I've made several purchases in my life where I said to myself: "Goddamnit, this a rip off... but oh well."

There is no such thing as a product or service that is truly a "rip off". If something is grossly over priced people will simply no longer pay it for any reason and the company will either lower the price or go away.

But you know this isn't true, economists know this isn't true. It simply isn't true. I'm blown away you would even say it. This Ayn Rand wet dream you speak of doesn't exist everywhere or in all "markets", especially ones that are monopolized, disciplined or legally protected.

3 examples (there's way more than 3) and these examples have an underlying theme of "at great cost" or "at great inconvenience".

1: Pharmaceuticals or medical procedures. In many cases an operation or a specific drug is the only option (monopoly) and option of going without it is great suffering or death (infinite demand) so the market will "bear" just about any price and unfortunately it often does in this case. This is definitively a rip off and part of the reason why a lot of people think that health care shouldn't be subservient to "market forces" such as a consumer product/service.

2a: Social norms. Many men know that diamonds are a rip off and so are engagement rings but current social protocol dictates their necessity and a BS global monopoly dictates their (false) price. For many fellas, the option of marriage proposal without these things is a non-starter.. Not being able to get married to your love because you avoided the social norm rip off (this "market"), would come at "great inconvenience".

2b: Education could fit under social norms because without it pursuing a certain career, interest, income level or even saying you attended whatever college, is imperative to many people. Not having that degree, not getting a career in that field, being the only one that didn't attend such and such college can come at "great inconvenience" and therefore the price goes WAY up even though the value, the content, the offering of the education doesn't go up in lockstep. So many people, myself include, know it's a rip off, but paid for it anyway.

3: Addiction. Legal or illegal is irrelevant. Alcohol is so much more expensive when consumed in a bar, but bars don't let you bring in you're own, therefore drinking in a bar is a rip off but it's a commonly accepted rip off because it's better than drinking alone. My co-worker who smokes had the conversation with me just the other day about how much of a rip off cigarettes are (and ecigs) but she's tried so many times to quit and can't.. she said, "it is what it is." Yup.. It's a rip off that there's a market for. I think Cable TV falls under addiction as well.

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Companies are out to turn as big a profit as possible and to expect them to charge less than people are willing to pay is ludicrous.

That's exactly right! You're making my case!!!

Originally Posted by Tcoat

What would you say if your employer came to you and said "People think or product costs too much so we are chopping our price and cutting your wage in half"? You going to say "Oh OK I thought we were ripping people off anyway"?

My employer has done this to me and in many aspects I did feel that some product lines and pricing models were a ripoff to their customers who didn't know better or didn't have another option in the market.

[TheVoiceOfReason]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

2b: Education could fit under social norms because without it pursuing a certain career, interest, income level or even saying you attended whatever college, is imperative to many people. Not having that degree, not getting a career in that field, being the only one that didn't attend such and such college can come at "great inconvenience" and therefore the price goes WAY up even though the value, the content, the offering of the education doesn't go up in lockstep. So many people, myself include, know it's a rip off, but paid for it anyway.

This is my favorite to be angry about. Some social norms are becoming so wasteful. On one hand, I don't think it's a ripoff to leave college with 30k-40k in debt with a degree in something like engineering, computer science, chemistry, etc. It will pay for itself even if it costs more than that. On the other hand, some people leave college with a degree in something like international studies with 80k+ in debt and no job due to having to have the "college experience." They likely could have advanced further into a career not requiring college while actually working those 4 years than they gained by going to school.

On a separate note, it annoys me when people say "product X only costs 5 cents to make, but they sell it for $2, what a ripoff!" While yes, that may be true, just because ONE of them only costs that to make NOW that they mass produce them, doesn't mean that it was free for them to set all of those processes to create them so cheaply in the first place. Example: plastic models can often cost over $60 when they are likely only made of a few cents worth of melted styrene. People of course complain about this but don't think about the injection molds can that can cost upwards of $100,000 to make them in the first place. This of course is not the case for everything (like shoes and official merchandise).

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Damn it I knew I should have stayed away from this topic. It is one of my hot buttons.

No. You would have denied the rest of us the benefit of a truly cogent response. I get it. I fucking hate Comcast but I'm still paying for it.

I get it.

[jdmblood]

What's pho??


and buying new cars is a rip off

[zman]

Dunkin donuts $5 for a sandwich is a rip off


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