― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 12:56 (nineteen years ago)
― g-kit (g-kit), Thursday, 18 August 2005 12:58 (nineteen years ago)
― Diddyismus (Dada), Thursday, 18 August 2005 12:58 (nineteen years ago)
― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Thursday, 18 August 2005 12:59 (nineteen years ago)
― Ste (Fuzzy), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:00 (nineteen years ago)
(beginning to see the nut connection)
― Ste (Fuzzy), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:01 (nineteen years ago)
― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:02 (nineteen years ago)
― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:02 (nineteen years ago)
― mookieproof (mookieproof), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:02 (nineteen years ago)
― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:03 (nineteen years ago)
― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:04 (nineteen years ago)
― nathalie starts to cry each time we meet (stevie nixed), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:04 (nineteen years ago)
― Diddyismus (Dada), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:04 (nineteen years ago)
― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:05 (nineteen years ago)
I assume the rest of the cost is to cover promotion/marketing, but I don't know nuthin about this business of business.
― Laurel (Laurel), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:06 (nineteen years ago)
― N_RQ, Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:06 (nineteen years ago)
― Ste (Fuzzy), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:06 (nineteen years ago)
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:07 (nineteen years ago)
― N_RQ, Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:07 (nineteen years ago)
― not-goodwin (not-goodwin), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:07 (nineteen years ago)
Ridiculous. But she seemed so happy I didn't have the heart to make a snarky comment.
Anyway, the question is not why are things expensive but why would anyone would buy them?!!!
― Roz (Roz), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:08 (nineteen years ago)
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:09 (nineteen years ago)
― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:09 (nineteen years ago)
― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:10 (nineteen years ago)
― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:10 (nineteen years ago)
― Ste (Fuzzy), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:10 (nineteen years ago)
― Diddyismus (Dada), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:11 (nineteen years ago)
― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:11 (nineteen years ago)
― Win A Lie-Down, Mrs. Davies (kate), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:14 (nineteen years ago)
― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:15 (nineteen years ago)
fucking tell me about it!
― N_RQ, Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:15 (nineteen years ago)
― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:16 (nineteen years ago)
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:17 (nineteen years ago)
Please note that I am a sample sale junkie & haunt places like Century 21 & TJ Maxx -- even with the points above I can't justify paying FULL price for stuff.
― Laurel (Laurel), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:17 (nineteen years ago)
― Roz (Roz), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:17 (nineteen years ago)
― Win A Lie-Down, Mrs. Davies (kate), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:18 (nineteen years ago)
― Lupton Pitman (Chris V), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:19 (nineteen years ago)
― N_RQ, Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:19 (nineteen years ago)
― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:19 (nineteen years ago)
― g-kit (g-kit), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:20 (nineteen years ago)
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:20 (nineteen years ago)
I don't eat "ready to eat" things, if I can help it
― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:20 (nineteen years ago)
― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:20 (nineteen years ago)
professional software hell yes. everything else, nay.
― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:20 (nineteen years ago)
Neither do I RJG. I find them a little creepy.
― Anna (Anna), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:21 (nineteen years ago)
― Ste (Fuzzy), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:21 (nineteen years ago)
― mookieproof (mookieproof), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:21 (nineteen years ago)
http://www015.upp.so-net.ne.jp/gracha/images/chelsea/ticket.jpg
― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:22 (nineteen years ago)
― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:23 (nineteen years ago)
I am far too lazy to wash and chop mine own vegetables at work. I want to pay Tibetan orphans in sweatshops to do it for me. But not with chemicals. :-(
― Win A Lie-Down, Mrs. Davies (kate), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:24 (nineteen years ago)
― nathalie starts to cry each time we meet (stevie nixed), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:27 (nineteen years ago)
-can cds. even before the remasters.
― N_RQ, Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:27 (nineteen years ago)
― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:32 (nineteen years ago)
― N_RQ, Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:34 (nineteen years ago)
Over to the inexpensive thread with you...
― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:34 (nineteen years ago)
― NickB (NickB), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:34 (nineteen years ago)
― Laurel (Laurel), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:37 (nineteen years ago)
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:37 (nineteen years ago)
― Maria (Maria), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:45 (nineteen years ago)
― Britain's Jauntiest Shepherd (Alan), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:45 (nineteen years ago)
― Slumpman (Slump Man), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:50 (nineteen years ago)
Spices.
― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:50 (nineteen years ago)
― Outsider Enter Port City (sexyDancer), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:52 (nineteen years ago)
also, chicken.
― strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:53 (nineteen years ago)
― Maria (Maria), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:54 (nineteen years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:54 (nineteen years ago)
― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:55 (nineteen years ago)
In one of my Publication Specialist classes, the instructor rather gleefully admitted that publishers often produce new editions of textbooks more to exploit their relatively inelastic market, and less because the subject has changed all that much.
Parking lots. The lot near this one venue in Chicago was asking $25!
That's at least partly a function of scarcity of space in a fairly built-up city. But I would like to know what sort of profits parking garage operators make on top of their costs of doing business (space, salaries, etc.)
I'd also like to know what it "really" costs Starbucks and its competitors to produce a single cup of coffee. Especially the costs of a cup of drip coffee versus a Frappucino or other drink that requires a greater amount of labor and individualization.
― j.lu (j.lu), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:01 (nineteen years ago)
Quality food is just plain expensive. I find that I'm spending more of my budget every month on decent food rather than any other necessity new clothes. It keeps me feeling balanced and reasonably healthy. But it does irritate me.
Council tax - £120 a month for our wee 2 bed flat just because it's in the city centre.
― elisabeth k, Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:02 (nineteen years ago)
1) Competing with the enormous multinational factory-scale food factories -- small producers don't have the big comapnies' resources or economies of scale.2) There presumably are costs associated with converting farmland that previously has been used for "conventional" production to organic, and costs for getting official verification that their operations are organic.
― j.lu (j.lu), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:08 (nineteen years ago)
― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:09 (nineteen years ago)
Also, goat cheese is pricey. We need more goats.
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:12 (nineteen years ago)
― M. V. (M.V.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:15 (nineteen years ago)
― sgs (sgs), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:17 (nineteen years ago)
― Win A Lie-Down, Mrs. Davies (kate), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:17 (nineteen years ago)
― -rainbow bum- (-rainbow bum-), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:20 (nineteen years ago)
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:20 (nineteen years ago)
― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:22 (nineteen years ago)
1) Rent or mortgage payments for the facility.2) Facility upkeep. Locker rooms with showers and swimming pools are going to require certain types of maintenance.3) The equipment. A company presumably can depreciate those costs over the equipment's useful life, but if something breaks down the customers are going to expect repairs or replacement as soon as possible.4) Labor -- trained and accredited athletic instructors are professionals and expect to be paid accordingly. Plus the gym requires janitors to meet public health requirements, and some sort of administrative staff to handle membership fees and other paperwork. 5) Insurance. If customers trip over a mat or work themselves into a heart attack, even if they signed waivers they're probably going to try to sue the gym.
― j.lu (j.lu), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:26 (nineteen years ago)
― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:36 (nineteen years ago)
― superultramega (superultramarinated), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:50 (nineteen years ago)
― JohnDSinclair, Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:52 (nineteen years ago)
― oops (Oops), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:54 (nineteen years ago)
― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:55 (nineteen years ago)
especially, because i am assuming you only get to use them once?? what a rip!!
― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:58 (nineteen years ago)
― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:59 (nineteen years ago)
― mookieproof (mookieproof), Thursday, 18 August 2005 15:10 (nineteen years ago)
Also, fines at the Maryland DMV. arrrrgh..
― dar1a g (daria g), Thursday, 18 August 2005 19:42 (nineteen years ago)
― The Ghost of Dean Gulberry (dr g), Thursday, 18 August 2005 19:46 (nineteen years ago)
my thing: chairs. chairs are realyl expensive!
― ambrose (ambrose), Thursday, 18 August 2005 19:49 (nineteen years ago)
Although Amtrak isn't actually all that expensive -- I went cross country for $300, which is about how much it costs to fly, and it was a much more pleasant and beautiful experience on the train (although of course it took 6 days total instead of 2).
Artisan bread is expensive because it takes a lot of time for a person to make it. The ingredients are usually pretty cheap, but the human time is a bit long. Yet people aren't willing to pay more than, say, $4 for a loaf of bread -- which makes sense, I guess, but it still makes selling hand-crafted bread a bitch. (There is no high end bread market like there is for, say, wine, and yet you can craft a bread just as carefully and create a flavor just as complex as any wine -- but it's a huge timesuck and there's no market for it.)
― Casuistry (Chris P), Thursday, 18 August 2005 19:50 (nineteen years ago)
― cozen (Cozen), Thursday, 18 August 2005 19:58 (nineteen years ago)
― M. V. (M.V.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:30 (nineteen years ago)
― oops (Oops), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:33 (nineteen years ago)
― The Milkmaid (of Human Kindness) (The Milkmaid), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:34 (nineteen years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:35 (nineteen years ago)
― oops (Oops), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:38 (nineteen years ago)
― M. V. (M.V.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:40 (nineteen years ago)
― $1000, Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:41 (nineteen years ago)
― walter kranz (walterkranz), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:42 (nineteen years ago)
― mookieproof (mookieproof), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:42 (nineteen years ago)
― oops (Oops), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:43 (nineteen years ago)
― walter kranz (walterkranz), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:45 (nineteen years ago)
In America there's just not the volume sold, cos people have been brought up on soft sugar bread, and kind of get use dto it, I suppose...
― paulhw (paulhw), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:45 (nineteen years ago)
― Casuistry (Chris P), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:48 (nineteen years ago)
― paulhw (paulhw), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:50 (nineteen years ago)
― Chris H. (chrisherbert), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:53 (nineteen years ago)
CELL PHONES: I think the retail prices of the phones are set at a ridiculous artificial high so that service providers can offer massive discounts with their packages. The usual sign-up package seems to offer a $250 phone (retail) for, say, $40 (with two-year contract). It needn't even require collusion between the phone manufacturers and the service provides; possibly Motorola could sell you the phone for $60 flat-out, but there's not really a market for that kind of direct selling, and the service provider can always just say you need to have one of "their" phones to use their network.
― nabiscothingy, Thursday, 18 August 2005 21:06 (nineteen years ago)
There's a phrase that's frequently used to describe the business model employed by both razor makers and wireless carriers: razors and blades.
Which is to say, list things that seem inexplicably cheap:- razors (when you buy that starter kit that comes with one blade)- cell phones (when you first sign up with a carrier)- printers
In each case, the initial product is offered at close to cost, if not at a loss, to acquire a customer for the highly profitable and predictable long-term business.
Until recently, the Motorola RAZR went for $599 unlocked, but only $199 when you signed up for a two-year contract with Cingular. While Cingular made nothing on the handset, it ensured a steady flow of new subscribers valued at $300-$1200/year. Not bad.
Similarly, Gillette makes pretty much dick selling TEH MACH 5 TURBONITRO VIBRATING WHISKERDOOM razors for five bucks a pop, but each buyer will spend about $200 a year on refill blades, and Gillette reaps a nearly 40% margin in that $5bil+ blade market. So yes, n/a, they defend those patents jealously. James Surowiecki, who now writes the weekly New Yorker business column, wrote a fantastic piece on this in the June 15, 1998 issue. It's reprinted here, with odd margin notes: http://www.mnlincs.org/abeonline/economics/less10.htm
And it worked as a nice piece of pre-release promotion for Gillette's Mach III, too...
― adamsmithxico (rogermexico), Thursday, 18 August 2005 21:47 (nineteen years ago)
― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Thursday, 18 August 2005 21:47 (nineteen years ago)
Asparagus and avocados might be the same: a short season and the plant just sits there doing nothing for the rest of the year. Though if you live close to the producers occasionally there's gluts and prices come way down.
― isadora (isadora), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:09 (nineteen years ago)
No, everyone knows that real estate currently is so pricey due to low interest rates and, in overheated markets, lots of money and demand chasing after a limited supply. Therefore real estate is expensive, but not inexplicably so.
― j.lu (j.lu), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:12 (nineteen years ago)
Almost anything from Lush is pretty expensive, compared. But you do get a product not tested on animals, carefully composed, quite unique in 'flavour'. I think buying Lush products means paying for *care*. All products are made with care. Which is legit for me, I'm willing to pay for that (as I do).
― Gerard (Gerard), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:15 (nineteen years ago)
― ambrose (ambrose), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:17 (nineteen years ago)
― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:24 (nineteen years ago)
― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:27 (nineteen years ago)
― M. V. (M.V.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:31 (nineteen years ago)
― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:31 (nineteen years ago)
The needle and first taste are free; after that, the heroin's at market price.
― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:40 (nineteen years ago)
― walter kranz (walterkranz), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:46 (nineteen years ago)
― mikef (mfleming), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:55 (nineteen years ago)
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 18 August 2005 23:26 (nineteen years ago)
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 18 August 2005 23:28 (nineteen years ago)
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 18 August 2005 23:29 (nineteen years ago)
thank you mike, please tell this to my wife the next time you see us because she badgers me daily about not having sunglasses and these are my reasons for not getting any.
― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 18 August 2005 23:34 (nineteen years ago)
http://www.colgateprofessional.com/ColgateProfessional/Home/US/EN/Products/ProductItems/images/heros/360_hero.jpg
rather than this:
http://www.lww.com/static/covers/W5355.jpg
and are they really doing a better job?
― jed_ (jed), Friday, 19 August 2005 00:12 (nineteen years ago)
― wombatX (wombatX), Friday, 19 August 2005 00:31 (nineteen years ago)
xpost
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 19 August 2005 00:57 (nineteen years ago)
vinyl in the uk is now up to about 5-8 pound per 12". im paying 8 pound for grime abotu 6/7 pound for house.
― ambrose (ambrose), Friday, 19 August 2005 00:58 (nineteen years ago)
Unbeatable answer, administrators please lock thread.
― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Friday, 19 August 2005 07:43 (nineteen years ago)
Anyway - on the Lush bathbombs, I don't care, they're worth every penny.
― Win A Lie-Down, Mrs. Davies (kate), Friday, 19 August 2005 07:45 (nineteen years ago)
― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 19 August 2005 07:50 (nineteen years ago)
I recently had some work done on the garden and am now faced with the prospect of having to buy about 10 bags of topsoil. That's around £300 on dirt. Every time I'm about to go to the garden centre I think of the CDs/books/wine this could get me & resign myself to another month of staring at an empty garden.
― bham, Friday, 19 August 2005 08:24 (nineteen years ago)
― willdabeast, Friday, 19 August 2005 10:32 (nineteen years ago)
― N_RQ, Friday, 19 August 2005 10:35 (nineteen years ago)
Plus grapes are more labour intensive to grow than wheat/hops etc.
― I Dream Of Sleep (kate), Friday, 19 August 2005 10:35 (nineteen years ago)
― N_RQ, Friday, 19 August 2005 10:36 (nineteen years ago)
spirits are extortionately priced in bars. especially shooters.
― ken c (ken c), Friday, 19 August 2005 10:39 (nineteen years ago)
― mjfan, Friday, 19 August 2005 10:55 (nineteen years ago)
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/deals/index.php#buy-pizza-get-a-blackberry-7100g-118112
― adamsmithxico (rogermexico), Friday, 19 August 2005 21:40 (nineteen years ago)
― Chris H. (chrisherbert), Sunday, 21 August 2005 00:54 (nineteen years ago)
I hate you, CompUSA.
― Laura H. (laurah), Sunday, 21 August 2005 03:32 (nineteen years ago)
― Chris H. (chrisherbert), Sunday, 21 August 2005 04:27 (nineteen years ago)
― I'm Hi, Jared Fogle (ex machina), Sunday, 21 August 2005 05:46 (nineteen years ago)
― Bob Six (bobbysix), Sunday, 21 August 2005 07:20 (nineteen years ago)
― CMB, Sunday, 21 August 2005 07:51 (nineteen years ago)
― kephm (kephm), Sunday, 21 August 2005 11:24 (nineteen years ago)
― I'm playing it cool but it's terribly cruel / Kate (papa november), Sunday, 21 August 2005 11:56 (nineteen years ago)
Alcohol - it is a drink, a liquid. Then why so damn expensive? (yes I know, it's a rhetorical question.)
A taxi from Toulouse Blagnac airport to the Toulouse Blagnac Ibis Hotel less than a kilometer away - 15 Euros, wtf?!?!?!
Train tickets in Britain. Those sponging cunts take up to 30% of commuters' wages so that they can have the pleasure of being jostled about for half an hour and then missing work cos the fucking thing is late. Please don't get me started on WAGN, please.
― dog latin (dog latin), Sunday, 21 August 2005 12:38 (nineteen years ago)
― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 21 August 2005 12:47 (nineteen years ago)
Train tickets might be hugely expensive, but trains are very, very expensive to run, and very few rail routes run at a profit.
― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Sunday, 21 August 2005 13:03 (nineteen years ago)
― dog latin (dog latin), Sunday, 21 August 2005 13:06 (nineteen years ago)
If they kill anybody, they get as much time off as they want before returning to work. Which is entirely reasonable.
― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Sunday, 21 August 2005 13:08 (nineteen years ago)
It's the cord and AC adapter for the Inspiron 8100. I found it for around $50 online, but it still seems like a lot since I'm getting a new computer soon.
― Laura H. (laurah), Sunday, 21 August 2005 14:18 (nineteen years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 22 August 2005 02:15 (nineteen years ago)
― I Dream Of Sleep (kate), Monday, 22 August 2005 07:38 (nineteen years ago)
Asparagus is expensive because it is so fucking lush.
Also, asparagus plants only produce once every two years, in a small 1 month window. So, as isadora guessed, for the remaining 23 months it just sits there taking up space.
― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Monday, 22 August 2005 08:33 (nineteen years ago)
― bham, Monday, 22 August 2005 10:48 (nineteen years ago)
― AaronK (AaronK), Monday, 22 August 2005 11:20 (nineteen years ago)
― oops (Oops), Thursday, 25 August 2005 21:52 (nineteen years ago)
-- bham
i do, if they're bound well. and since paperbacks are all like $12 now it doesn't seem that ridiculous to me in comparison.
― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 25 August 2005 21:57 (nineteen years ago)
― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Friday, 26 August 2005 08:07 (nineteen years ago)
― mullygrubbr (bulbs), Friday, 26 August 2005 08:08 (nineteen years ago)
Inexplicably expensive - somewhere to live.
Marston's Pedigree in London as opposed to, say, Newton Burgoland.
― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Friday, 26 August 2005 08:16 (nineteen years ago)
― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Friday, 26 August 2005 08:18 (nineteen years ago)
Laurel (hi Laurel!), way upthread said: shoes that never need breaking in and don't rub or scratch or pinch anywhere at all (even though they're heels!) and feel like butter inside & out
...and *now* I have my idea for food science day. Mmmmm shoes of butter.
― Tim (Tim), Friday, 26 August 2005 08:50 (nineteen years ago)
― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Friday, 26 August 2005 08:57 (nineteen years ago)
Also, the "you wouldn't drink Dom Perignon out of a paper cup" notion holds sway, where high price tags confer a sense of quality on the items concerned, whether they offer any real benefit over cheap alternatives. So if you dare to connect your high-end SACD player to your high-end amp with $10 Radio Shack/Maplin cables you're clearly "strangling it"; throw some more money at wires with basically the same electrical properties but chunky locking plugs, hose-like insulation, and in a plush box with some pseudoscientific literature, and you're "doing it justice".
― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Friday, 26 August 2005 09:06 (nineteen years ago)
― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Friday, 26 August 2005 09:12 (nineteen years ago)
― Eric H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 08:49 (nineteen years ago)
― koogs (koogs), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 11:19 (nineteen years ago)
― Raston Warrior Robot (alix), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 11:27 (nineteen years ago)
Hm, I don't have numbers handy but a surprising percentage of the cost of a book goes directly to physical production & warehousing, and not into the publisher's pocket.
― Laurel (Laurel), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 12:36 (nineteen years ago)
― Laurel (Laurel), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 12:37 (nineteen years ago)
― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 12:39 (nineteen years ago)
― Tim (Tim), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 12:39 (nineteen years ago)
cashew shells are very toxic, so I expect the costs come in for processing them properly. Also (and I could be wrong on this one) I think pistachios can be grown in more regions.
― teeny (teeny), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 12:51 (nineteen years ago)
― teeny (teeny), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 12:52 (nineteen years ago)
― teeny (teeny), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 12:53 (nineteen years ago)
― n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 12:54 (nineteen years ago)
― Tim (Tim), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:08 (nineteen years ago)
― Slumpman (Slump Man), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:09 (nineteen years ago)
― Slumpman (Slump Man), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:12 (nineteen years ago)
and you forget that they may cost as much as a cd but last a lot longer - a cd takes me an hour to listen to, a book can take me a month to finish 8) more if it has lots of pictures...
comics, now comics are expensive. £2 for 24 pages. every month.
anyone mentioned Cinemas yet?
― koogs (koogs), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:20 (nineteen years ago)
The most common HC size is 6 x 9", so lots of paper stock & presses are configured to this size and can manufacture a 6 x 9" book very efficiently with little waste. But a 5 x 5-1/2" gift book or daily devotional or even a cute little Salinger edition that fits nicely in the hand, say maybe 5 x 7-3/8", can be disproportionately expensive because the size is irregular: maybe paper use isn't as efficient at that size and more trimmed-off edges are thrown away, the binding line has to be slowed down for best quality if the odd size is harder for the machines to handle so the rate of production falls (necessitating more total machine time to finish the run), the jackets are more expensive because the jacket printer had to special order the sheets of jacket stock to get the same number of finished jkts from each sheet, etc etc ad boredom.
And of course smaller publishing houses won't get the same pricing scales or rebates as, say, R4ndom H0use, because they don't have the volume or leverage with manufacturing suppliers. And a smaller print run for a specialty book with limited audience will have to be priced higher because in any print run there are standing costs which are averaged over the whole job -- the more books printed, the less those standing make-ready costs will affect each book individually. So if you're only doing a first printing of 12,000 copies there's really no wiggle room.
Sorry, this is turning into book of its own! Getting the general idea?
― Laurel (Laurel), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:23 (nineteen years ago)
Cinema is cheap, in Peckham.
Heh Laurel I suspect most of the publishers of the books I tend to read would choke on their polenta if they read the words "only doing a first printing of 12,000 copies".
― Tim (Tim), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:26 (nineteen years ago)
― Laurel (Laurel), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:33 (nineteen years ago)
The insurance industry (at least in the U.S.) claims to have studies and records indicating that men under age 25 are statistically more likely to get into accidents, which increases the likelihood that the insuror will have to pay out to meet claims.
― j.lu (j.lu), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:39 (nineteen years ago)
Well, I do now.
― Tim (Tim), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:40 (nineteen years ago)
― Ste (Fuzzy), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:43 (nineteen years ago)
The instructor of my publications management class said that when he was at the Naval Institute Press, he kept a spreadsheet into which he entered the projected number of copies a title would sell, and the projected costs of producing (including printing, marketing, distributing, and other factors) that title. If the final cost per copy was more than the market for that particular title would accept, he passed on the title under review.
― j.lu (j.lu), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:52 (nineteen years ago)
― Ste (Fuzzy), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:55 (nineteen years ago)
yeah, that's the explanation i heard. but i'm a very safe driver, they should know that
― Slumpman (Slump Man), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 13:55 (nineteen years ago)
― Laurel (Laurel), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 14:09 (nineteen years ago)
Get the generic stuff. I pay 2 bucks for a 12 oz bottle. And often it's on a 2-for-1 sale.
― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 19:05 (nineteen years ago)
Except I listen to my CDs all the time, and after I'm done with a book, it just goes on my bookshelf for eternity.
― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 19:09 (nineteen years ago)
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 19:12 (nineteen years ago)
Damn right. But never mind that, many a non-clubbing usually-gigging type was heard to moan verybloodyloudly about FOUR FUCKING POUNDS for a 33ml plastic bottle of lager.
― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 19:20 (nineteen years ago)
― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 19:35 (nineteen years ago)
Not a problem. Its a combination of a few things. Oddly, however, I'll preface it with this: most amusmement parks aren't making their money back on admissions. That $2.50 soda? The $7 hamburger? Yup. That's where they make their money for the season. Anyhow...
1) Labor. This is the chief cost in pretty much anything, but its especially so in the service enviroment of Amusement parks. Kings Island probably employs about 2,000 people, and pays them probably very similarly to Cedar Point up north (about 100 are fulltimers making about $40K on average, and the other 1600 are making about 6.50 an hour, 55 hours a week). Their labor costs are probably around $12-14 million a operating season.
2) Utilities. Electricity to power a park is gargantuan, as is the cost of water and natural gas. I can't even imagine what a large park like Kings Island uses for electricity on a yearly basis. I could ask, but I don't feel like it. Basically, millions upon millions.
3) Maintaining current attractions. There's many, many rides in Kings Island. Lots and lots. Some of them, like Son of Beast, and Beast, have maintenance budgets well into lower 6 figures for yearly upkeep. We're talking probably $2 million or so to keep everything greased and in one piece.
4) New attractions. In the boom years of the late 90s, you could expect a attraction to jump the gate enough to pay for itself in a season. No longer true. General rule of thumb has always been at least 2 seasons. Longer if the maintenance is so intense it becomes a drain (see: Son of Beast). Italian Job may not seem like a giant ride or anything, but given the themeing and the technology of a magnetically launched coaster, its at least a $15 million dollar ride.
5) General upkeep/loans. Trees, grass, parking lots, signage, and whatever banking deals have been done all require vast sums of money. There's also the issue of state and federal taxes, which are all massive.
6) Charge what the public is willing to pay. Now, if Kings Island ran their park with everyone having to pay $30 to get in...they'd probably be okay, though not so positively that they'd be rushing to build new attractions. They charge what the public is willing to pay, and offer discounts as advertising to bring in more people. Discounted tickets through supermarket chains and coupons on Coke cans being some of the more famous ones out there.
In short, some parks charge a lot because they can, but most charge a lot because they have to. Disney relies on the park business to keep them afloat these days. Six Flags tried cutting the gate to create repeat customers...and ended up in 2.3 billion in debt and at a current state of near total collapse. Rides are only getting more costly and large; Spiderman at Universal's Islands of Adventure, for instance, is undoubtedly the most expensive ride ever built, rumored to have cost somewhere between $125-250 million dollars when all said and done.
― Alan Conceicao (Alan Conceicao), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 19:43 (nineteen years ago)
I've never payed for it, but you'd think it'd be free, man!
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 19:52 (nineteen years ago)
it makes no sense.
― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Monday, 5 September 2005 00:21 (nineteen years ago)
I'll take a nice paperback (Vintage or one of those semi-boutique brands in the US) over a hardcover. Cheaper, easier to carry around, less guilt for damaging, often a better size for reading.
― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Monday, 5 September 2005 00:49 (nineteen years ago)
― Bombed Out and Depleted / Kate (papa november), Monday, 5 September 2005 01:08 (nineteen years ago)
― jimmy glass (electricsound), Monday, 5 September 2005 01:10 (nineteen years ago)
― Luminiferous Aether (kate), Monday, 5 September 2005 09:45 (nineteen years ago)
please.
― not-goodwin (not-goodwin), Monday, 5 September 2005 09:57 (nineteen years ago)
― rainy (rainy), Monday, 5 September 2005 10:14 (nineteen years ago)
― minna (minna), Monday, 5 September 2005 12:54 (nineteen years ago)
― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Monday, 5 September 2005 15:21 (nineteen years ago)
― piscesboy, Monday, 5 September 2005 15:23 (nineteen years ago)
kate they're really easy to make!
― ken c (ken c), Monday, 5 September 2005 15:29 (nineteen years ago)
― jel -- (jel), Monday, 5 September 2005 15:38 (nineteen years ago)
Smelt your own copper!
― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Monday, 5 September 2005 15:44 (nineteen years ago)
― Luminiferous Aether (kate), Monday, 5 September 2005 15:45 (nineteen years ago)
greetings cards
― koogs, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 11:07 (seventeen years ago)
bulldog clips. for seriouslies.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 11:10 (seventeen years ago)
Envelopes
― Mark C, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 11:12 (seventeen years ago)
Diamonds, gold, gemstones in general. Hmm, there's a bit of rock.
― moley, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 11:13 (seventeen years ago)
band t-shirts
― Just got offed, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 11:13 (seventeen years ago)
banned t shirts.
― darraghmac, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 11:18 (seventeen years ago)
did anyone ever answer about the mach 3's? it's because they are BLOODY GOOD.
― darraghmac, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 11:25 (seventeen years ago)
I use an old fashioned safety razor. Blades are cheap.
― Jeff, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 11:31 (seventeen years ago)
skin grafts aren't.
― darraghmac, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 11:33 (seventeen years ago)
girls
― max r, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 11:37 (seventeen years ago)
Crazy psychopath exes http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/10/23/mills_mccartney_narrowweb__300x372,0.jpg
― DavidM, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 12:08 (seventeen years ago)
Watch batteries - when the battery in your watch runs down it's cheaper to buy the same watch again rather than just replace the battery.
― snoball, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 12:15 (seventeen years ago)
Getting a key cut. Usually at the same type of establishment or market stall you'd get your replacement watch batteries from.
― aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 12:33 (seventeen years ago)
Also, why do places that cut keys almost always fix shoes? What's the common link?
Eh? Getting a key cut is cheap isn't it?
― Tom D., Tuesday, 16 October 2007 12:33 (seventeen years ago)
Last time it cost me about £6. Seems steep for a small hunk of metal.
― aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 12:54 (seventeen years ago)
dry-cleaning is pretty expensive.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 12:55 (seventeen years ago)
High class escorts. £2,500 for a weekend? Ridiculous.
― Dom Passantino, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 12:55 (seventeen years ago)
You're going to the wrong places then, I think it cost me about £1.50 last time I got a key cut - about a month ago
― Tom D., Tuesday, 16 October 2007 12:56 (seventeen years ago)
fillets of chicken
i might have already nominated this
that's just how strongly i feel about it
― Ste, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 12:57 (seventeen years ago)
What makes them high class other than the price?
xpost to Dom
― onimo, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 12:59 (seventeen years ago)
They listen to indie music. That's about it.
― Dom Passantino, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:01 (seventeen years ago)
Oh, they're trained in burlesque dancing rather than poll dancing, that's easily worth another 2k
xxxxpost-Seems so. Serves me right for going to the tradesman in Sainsburys.
― aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:01 (seventeen years ago)
There's a new music sweeping the world and it's called indie!
Emily is a whore then?
― onimo, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:07 (seventeen years ago)
poll dancing = team cameron circa right now
― Just got offed, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:07 (seventeen years ago)
Cameron stuffing fivers in George Osborne's g-string as we speak
― Tom D., Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:08 (seventeen years ago)
Series on DVD.
― baaderonixx, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:09 (seventeen years ago)
tbh, Emily BB strikes me as a kind of de rigeur nu-escort.
― Dom Passantino, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:09 (seventeen years ago)
They're all at it these days, missus
― Tom D., Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:10 (seventeen years ago)
Waify, blonde, posh, money obsessed. I think escorts are inherently bad people.
― Dom Passantino, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:10 (seventeen years ago)
Waify, blonde, posh, money indie obsessed
― Tom D., Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:12 (seventeen years ago)
gotta make a p, innit.
― max r, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:12 (seventeen years ago)
Pie?
― Dom Passantino, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:12 (seventeen years ago)
p = pound = £
― max r, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:13 (seventeen years ago)
the more i think about it, the less surprised i am that some of my fellow-students have been selling their bodies for cash
― Just got offed, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:18 (seventeen years ago)
breast augmentation
― max r, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 13:25 (seventeen years ago)
Cans of compressed air.
I understand that it's not just air, it's something that becomes liquid under pressure, usually tetrafluoroethane, and can freeze your skin, permanently damage your lungs if inhaled directly, or permanently blind you if sprayed in your eyes. That still doesn't explain why it's like ten bucks a can.
― DSMOS has arrived (kenan), Thursday, 14 April 2011 11:55 (fourteen years ago)
this car
― mari$$a marchant (Pillbox), Thursday, 14 April 2011 11:58 (fourteen years ago)
*cough* Dubai *cough*
― did you notice "you spin me round" was playing in the background? (snoball), Thursday, 14 April 2011 12:02 (fourteen years ago)
xxpost - presumably the number of blindings/disablings would increase if a lower price made the stuff more accessible to more people
― I was bored/trolling one day (Myonga Vön Bontee), Thursday, 14 April 2011 14:22 (fourteen years ago)
Greeting cards.
― Immediate Follower (NA), Monday, 4 May 2015 20:59 (ten years ago)
bed sheets
― marcos, Monday, 4 May 2015 21:00 (ten years ago)
radar detectors
― Sufjan Grafton, Monday, 4 May 2015 22:14 (ten years ago)