Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Describe The Most Overpriced Things They've Ever Seen

People Describe The Most Overpriced Things They've Ever Seen
Million Dollar Price Tag Vector Clipart image - Free stock photo ...

From the seller's perspective, the best price is the highest one possible that people would still buy. Usually, that's a careful game: supply and demand are balanced and the ideal figure is honed.

But sometimes, the price seems to come way out of left field.


A recent Reddit thread asked folks to discuss the most cartoonishly ridiculous prices they've ever laid eyes upon.

Often the culprits were the peddled products of niche internet companies or high end brand stores. But some truly weird examples from the furthest corners of commerce also made appearances.

For anyone who has ever been taken for a ride, this is a thread you'll empathize with.

Thic_water asked, "What's the most overpriced thing you've seen?"

Amazing Picture

"There's a 50,000 dollar HDMI cable on Amazon" -- BiscuitMiscuit

"I once read a review of an 'audiophile' grade ethernet cable. This guy actually claimed changing the ethernet cable from his router to his PC made his music sound better." -- ConspiratorM

"I heard that it is easier to change the list price of an item instead of make the item unlisted So sometimes you'll see an item listed for an absolutely absurd price because it is out of stock"

"I went to buy a $30 item once and the price changed to $10,000" -- Yomommassis

As High As They Go

"In a downtown consignment shop, an oil painting of sheep grazing in a meadow had a price tag of $18,700."

"It was by an unrecognized artist. When asked why it was priced so high, the shopkeeper said 'because someone will like it and buy it.' " -- Back2Bach

"My high school art teacher told me your piece is worthless until you have a buyer. Same idea." -- Solobotomy

INFUSION

"That $6 asparagus water Whole Foods sold a couple years ago; it was a 16oz bottle of water with 3 stalks of asparagus."

"Also, everything from goop."

-- Ahhh_Ahhh_Ahhh

The Ethical Underbelly

"Insulin. Discovered over 100 years ago and is now synthetically produced and still is being sold for hundreds or thousands of dollars in many cases."

"The drug companies decided they were going to make their gigantic profit margins off life-saving medicine."

-- t1runner

The Highest Stakes Party of All

"Weddings."

"I don't disagree with wanting the day to be special and memorable, but the industry jacks up the prices if they know it's a wedding, and there are way more affordable options while still getting to celebrate love and the future."

"No reason to break the bank. Use the money saved for even more memories."

-- The_Tell_Tale_Heart

Paying for the Name

"A few years back Nordstrom was selling a rock in a leather pouch for $85." -- Happy_Fun_Balll

"Neiman-Marcus used to put out the most hilarious Christmas gift catalog."

One year they offered his and hers Lear jets. No kidding. Just about anything in that catalog was wildly overpriced. More recently, they offered in their Christmas book, as a potential gift, a Boeing Business Jet for the wonderfully affordable price of 'north of $35 million.' " -- dramboxf

A Fitness Boom

"Literally any pair of dumbbells during the Covid lockdown." -- Nicod27

"I managed to walk into a Dick's Sporting Goods as they were offloading 300 lbs. Barbell sets. When they were helping me load the set into my car the employees said some guy had driven from Chicago (~5 hours) and bought a pallet of them."

"I know that motherf***er must have made a killing flipping them on CL." -- frankhaith4missouri

But It's So Cool Looking...

"Bottle service at bars is f***in stupid... I'll just go to a corner liquor store and buy the '4000$ bottle' for like 40..." -- Lone-Oak

"Bottle service seems great when I'm blacked out and my friend orders it... when he venmo requests me the next day it does not seem great" -- Sleepy_Tortoise

People We Trust

"Celebrity line of products."

"Companies hike the prices of products by hundreds of dollars just because the name of a celebrity was on it."

-- PianistCryuff

Out of Whack

"College" -- Universal_MJ

"That's the USA for you 'Don't wanna pay minimum wage? Get $100,000 in debt for school and some papers' " -- Thic_water

"Its sad when people say $30k of college debt is not too bad" -- ijustneedanametouse

Value Added Products

"A couple of years ago, Mark's and Spencer Food, a high end supermarket in the UK, tried selling 'Cauliflower Steak' which was a thick slice of cauliflower for £2.50. It was covered in plastic"

"You could literally buy a whole cauliflower in the same row a bit further down for 40p."

"They were crucified for it, it was hilarious"

-- patchyj

GOLD STUFF

"When I was in Dubai 2 years ago there was a cell phone store in the mall that sold phones that ranged from $30k -$120k. They were basically phones covered in diamonds and gold."

"That's $100k for something that is probably already obsolete."

-- holla09

The Internet of (Overpriced) Things

"The $700 Juicero. As if a Wi-FI connecting juicer was even necessary, let alone worth the price point." -- brownsheepinasweater

"'Juicer' since it didn't even actually juice anything, just squeezed bags of premade juice." -- Ninjachibi117

"There's an alcoholic version of this called the bartesian. It literally just mixes alcohol with pods of pre-mixed cocktail juice. It's $350 and for some reason people have been going crazy over it. It was sold out for a while. Such a marketing gimmic" -- Plumrose333

Bad, and Worse

"You know, for the longest time I was amazed that the company behind Epipen would charge a whole $100 on their product up here in Canada."

"Then I found out they sell the same product for over five times that in the US."

"Y'all seriously need better governments."

-- A_Person_13

Price-Gouged Basic Needs

"As someone who is half blind, glasses. I get the dirt cheap ones, and it still costs over $100 for the privilege of being able to see." -- TheRealHirohikoAraki

"Also wheelchairs. The basic ones are usually pretty reasonable, but if you need any sort of custom support they can routinely cost more than most luxury cars." -- rachaek

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Donald Trump; Martin Luther King Jr.
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic/Getty Images; Jack Sheahan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Trump Ripped After Forcing National Parks To Drop Free Entry On MLK Day And Juneteenth For Infuriating Reason

President Donald Trump was criticized after the National Park Service announced it will be dropping Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth for next year's calendar of free-entry days and adding Trump's birthday, which happens to fall on Flag Day, on June 14.

Last month, the Department of the Interior unveiled changes to what it now calls its “resident-only patriotic fee-free days,” expanding the calendar to include new dates like the Fourth of July weekend and President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday, while dropping others that had honored the department itself, including the Bureau of Land Management’s anniversary.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Juanita Broaddrick's tweet overlayed against a picture of the J. Crew sign
@atensnut/X; Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

MAGA Is Melting Down Over A Pink J. Crew Sweater For Men—And Our Eyes Can't Roll Hard Enough

MAGA fans are melting down over a $168 men's sweater from J. Crew with a fair-isle collar, claiming, in yet another example of the idiocy of the culture wars, that only liberals would actually wear it.

We know what you're thinking... Really?!

Keep ReadingShow less
Robert Garcia; Marjorie Taylor Greene
WWHL/Bravo; Daniel Heuer/AFP via Getty Images

Dem Rep. Has An Idea For A New Line Of Work For MTG After She Leaves Congress—And It Would Certainly Be Something

California Democratic Representative Robert Garcia was elected in November 2022 and even before being sworn in, he was locking horns with one-time MAGA darling and Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

For years, MTG was best known as the QAnon conspiracy theory-spewing, State of the Union heckling, crossfit hyping, Trump ride-or-dying, anti-LGBTQ+ racist MAGA minion from Georgia.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump Jr.
Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images

Don Jr. Sparks Outrage After Startup Company He Backed Scores Massive Contract With Pentagon

Donald Trump Jr. is facing criticism after The Financial Times reported that Vulcan Elements, a startup he backed, scored a $620 million government contract with the Department of Defense.

The company said the deal falls under a broader $1.4 billion collaboration with the federal government and ReElement Technologies aimed at scaling up U.S. magnet production and strengthening the domestic supply chain.

Keep ReadingShow less

People Describe The Deepest Internet 'Rabbit Hole' They've Ever Fallen Down

Who amongst us hasn't wasted HOURS of life surfing the web for things we couldn't help being intrigued by?

Going on the internet for one quick look at a sale, then staying up until sunrise trying to uncover a 50-year-old unsolved murder mystery is totally normal.

Keep ReadingShow less