I bought a new mailbox. One that has a package receptacle with a key.
The mailbox came with 2 keys, but I really need at least 3. I went to Ace, and they didn’t have the correct blank. I was able to find a couple of places on-line that would cut a key for $9, but they had $4+ shipping.
I then went to Amazon, and was able to find a two-pack of locks (2 locks with 2 keys each), keyed-alike, for $9, with free overnight shipping. So, that’s what I bought.
It’s insane.
A lot of those small oddball locks need blanks that real locksmiths carry but that Ace and the bog box guys don’t.
There are still lots of old-time locksmiths out there to service commercial buildings. You might be surprised how cheaply they could have set you up with more keys.
Or not. At which point you get into the cascade of no user serviceable parts inside and having to buy matching new locks as you did. Uggh.
As my brother often says, these are goods designed for sale, not for use. They can save money overall by not having any provision for any service tail at all.
Well, it’s like the question of what do you have repaired anymore? Anyone?
Personally the only things I ever have professionals repair are my vehicles and my house. Overwise if I can’t repair it myself I discard and replace.
That’s about it. Some things where I can remove and replace entire sub-assemblies. E.g. new keyboard / cover for an old tablet. But the sub-assembly is replaced as a unit, not repaired.
Here’s another absurdity:
The past three times we’ve had prescriptions filled for my Dad at our local Walgreens, we’ve opted to have them delivered. All three times, the pricing was:
Same day: Free
Next day: Something on the order of $3
We’ve opted for the free option each time.
As for another absurdity, I mentioned this in a different thread. I take a biologic for my RA. For years I was on the name brand and paid $5 for each refill. A few months ago, my insurance decided everyone on the med would be switched to the generic version. I now pay $35 for each refill. I don’t know how the hell having to pay more for a generic is not absurd.
A shipping cost absurdity, I was buying a little roll of “Made in USA” stickers from Uline and clicked on the Shipping out of curiosity. One of the options was “Motor Freight - Estes - $183.24.” I normally see Estes freight on pallets. I almost want to pay $183.24 to see if they attach a roll of stickers to a 4-foot pallet and deliver it that way.
Back in the early days of buying tickets online, Ticketmaster used to charge you extra if you wanted to print your tickets at home, using your own ink and paper. But they would mail you your tickets for free, printed on their card stock and them paying for postage.
I made a bunch of chocolate toffee bark and sent ot to friends and relatives for Christmas. At Whole Foods, the two-pound bag of almonds cost more than twice the one-pound bag.
Normally, when you buy the larger container, it of course costs more than the smaller container because it has more product, but the per unit of measurement cost is less. For example, a 2-liter bottle of coke costs more than a 1-liter bottle of the same, but you pay less per ounce if you buy the 2-liter bottle.
Not so with Tide detergent from the local commissary (grocery store on a military base). For several months now, I have noted that the 64-load bottle has a lower per ounce cost than the 100-load bottle. It’s like that Rick and Morty strip club scene (The Creepy Morty in Ricklantis Mixup). 1 for 10, 2 for 25. No thank you—and bad math.
Some friends of ours just got back from Cabo where they had bought a couple pieces of art. One was maybe 2’x2’ and the other maybe 1’x1’. They didn’t spend a lot but when they got them back to the states they took them to Michael’s to be custom framed and mounted. The Michael’s price before any discounts or coupons was $1500.
I once was about to order the “special” at DD one morning. I stopped when I added up the prices, and it was a nickel more than each item ordered separately. Which is how I ordered it - NO SPECIAL!
Once I wanted to buy four fried chicken thighs at a Safeway. They were having a special on an 8-piece bucket, four thighs and four drumsticks, which was cheaper than the four thighs separately. I asked if I could buy 4 thighs for the special price. The clerk said no, the price was only for the 8-piece bucket. I pointed out the absurdity of that, but she didn’t budge. Finally I said that if they didn’t give me the 4 pieces for the 8-piece price, I would just buy the 8-piece bucket and throw away the 4 drumsticks. She grumbled a bit at that, but finally grudgingly gave me 4 thighs at the special price.
The absurd part is that most big grocers routinely post unit prices (yay them), which makes these inversions obvious, yet many shoppers seem to pay little attention to them.
Wild guess. They no longer cover the generic, hence the switch.
I think they realized that since we expect the bigger package to have a lower unit price, they can increase the unit price on the bigger package and no one will notice.
Scumbags.
I live on a piece of property with a lot of trees on it, which sometimes fall in storms or drop big branches. So I have need to use a chainsaw pretty often.
I used to go to a place to get my chainsaw chains sharpened, but when I got a job at a company that sold appliance and outdoor power equipment parts online, I got a wholesale employee discount. So it became cheaper to just buy new chainsaw chains whenever one got dull. I no longer work there, and man, I miss that employee discount.
I did end up buying a chainsaw chain sharpener gizmo from Harbor Freight, which would have paid for itself after just a handful of sharpenings, but it fell apart after like two uses.
My liquor store sells a fifth of Famous Grouse scotch for $27.99, and a handle (over twice as much) for $29.99.
So, more than two fifths. Two-and-a-half fifths, maybe?
I’m guessing they already have a decent markup on the handle, but fifths sell way more often, so they can get away with a huge markup on that.
Reminds me of, I think it was a story on NPR about how retailers handle cost / benefit analysis. There are stores like TJ Maxx or the original incarnation of overstock [dot] com where they purport to sell surplus or very slightly irregular stock of big-name brands. The consumer benefits from the manufacturers’ mistake! But the reality is, there are people who will pay top dollar for stuff and will never be caught dead in a discount store; then there are people who will never pay top dollar for stuff and love to shop in a discount store. It’s all about squeezing every dollar out of every demo.