Alright heres the article on a website that I frequent:
CLICK ME!
It basically says that people are regularly ripped off by big name brands and retail outlets that sell them. In this case it is by the company "Monster" who makes, what they think are, elite-awesome-super-crazygood-ultimate cables for digital video and audio. The big ticker here is that these types of cables can be bought FAR cheaper, sometimes even less than $6 vs the $80 that their supposedly supreme cables go for. There are multiple tests performed by people all over, go ahead and search for "monoprice vs monster hdmi comparisons" on google and check to see what they say.
No the big economic significance comes in the form of people thinking that spending more means better quality, which is NEVER the deal with consumer products, anyone who believes so can fight me all over and I will stand by my statement. Also the people at the store are not always going to be in the right, don't even consider it a possibility. My family bought a car not long ago and I can assure you that I knew far more about it than the person selling it to us. The consumer is always the target for being ripped off, so you must watch that at all times.
No another deal is that people are very impatient and sometimes what I like to call "retarded" so they will go into a store and buy a cable for $110 instead of waiting a day and only having to pay $15-$20. Of course if you have the money go ahead and buy from Best Ripoff I mean Best Buy, but if your like me, you won't mind saving $90. Getting the product immediately might mean more utility for you or a better incentive; but to most out there, saving money is a far larger incentive.
Also notice that the website I linked has a chart of the wholesale and retail prices for each and every cable that can be bought by Radioshack. Give it a gander and wonder how badly you are being ripped off for those books, speakers, tvs, video games, EVERYTHING! Just food for thought.
Oh and if your in the market for cables of any sort, check out monoprice.com, by far the best value for the best cables.
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6 comments:
Oh and just so you know, their 80% markup is what my problem is, usually for retail chains 40% is about right for a good profit and to cover selling costs. Plus the company Monster is also good evidence of supply and demand, if people want to buy super expensive cables for absolutely no reason, then the company stays around, otherwise they would've been under a LONG time ago.
This is a great article, Tony. Markups are overexploited on everything these days. Obviously poeple buy into it more with more "high tech" things such as cables, radios, etc.; because they do not know everything about the inner workings of them. But even on simple items such as books, and simpler yet food, consumers tend to buy the more expensive brand hoping it will be better. For example, I work at a grocery store and so many people ask for a specific brand of something. Why not buy the other one? It will work just as well. Flour is flour, sugar is sugar. I highly doubt any of these customers are baking for someone who will be able to note the difference. Yes, sometimes the more expensive food does taste better (ex. Oreos), but a lot of the time you can't even tell the difference. And, an added bonus, cheaper generic food is 95% of the time packaged in a more ecologically friendly way, so not only are you saving money, you're saving a tree.
Tony I'm going to have to agree that this is a great article. In your blog you mentioned that your family had just bought a new car and you felt like you knew more about the car than the dealership. Of course :) This just happened to me and my boyfriend the other weekend. The only thing that these sellers actually care about it whether or not you are going to buy the vehicle because they're waiting on a commission check afterwards.
I agree... markups are crazy high sometimes. I don't really purchase cables on a regular basis, but this is like when I bought my car. We bought it from a dealer who was going to put it on the floor for 4000 dollars, but because my mom is good friends with him, I only had to shell out 2000. I would never ever pay 4000 for my beast of a vehicle, but some people do. It's amazing.
I suppose the price the consumer buys is all based on how much they are willing to bargain hunt. Some poeple just don't like the inconvenience of going to Ebay to buy cables, waiting for a good deal on a car, or (in reference to joelle's comment) walking the extra two steps to pick up toastem' popups (I've always been fascinated by the amount of off-brand poptarts there are and the insane names they all have lol) when the poptarts are so much more conveniently placed.
Haha, I just think of Alex Erdman in this article. In jazz band last year he had to borrow a cable for his bass guitar for a large chunk of the year, and he finally got a cable of his own. When he got it he bragged that it was a monster cable so it was "good". He paid way too much for it. I got a 20 foot cable for my guitar, made by a generic brand, for at least half the price that Alex got his. And its longer. Its the advertising and the fancy packaging that gets them the sales. Honestly, its the dumbest thing ever. Great article tony!
Isn't it crazy, what some people will buy? I don't know much about cables, but I know about generics...
An old boyfriend used to work for a pickle canning factory in the summer during college. He'd go home, and they'd be working the line for Vlasic pickles. The Vlasic labels would be used up, and they'd have to switch the jars and label machines, then start the line back up.
Notice, I didn't say they switched the pickle...just the jars & labels...
Crazy. Try the generic. On most things, it's just as good.
Just don't buy the pork chops from Aldi's. I did that once, and they smelled like fish. I refused to eat them, but my dh said they tasted like fish, too.
Nasty.
Sometimes you just have to buy the name brand. Not often, though. :)
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