# Items where packaging is more expensive than the contents. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211 "2012-06-05T22:32:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/1 "2012-06-05T22:32:21Z")
I’m trying to compile a list (don’t ask why, I don’t have a reason) of items that we purchase where the packaging costs more than the actual contents. Some of my ideas are like those tiny salt and pepper packets. Ketchup might be too. I would guess that many dried spices in those tiny glass bottles would qualify as well. Bottled water almost certainly qualifies. This might not have factual answers but IMHO didn’t seem quite right either. At any rate, it won’t bother me if it gets moved. ---
**Author:** ![Rain\_Soaked](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rain\_Soaked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rain_Soaked)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/2 "2012-06-05T22:37:22Z")
Bottled Water ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/3 "2012-06-05T22:44:23Z")
> [@Rain\_Soaked](#): > > Bottled Water Related:soda. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/4 "2012-06-05T22:45:17Z")
Was bottled water mentioned yet?😉 And of course, the retail price is many magnitudes greater than the cost of water + purification + bottle. When you get a fountain soda, the most expensive part is the cup. Might most bottled or canned drinks cost less to produce than their container? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/5 "2012-06-05T22:49:26Z")
I think that this might be true for perfumes and other cosmetics. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/6 "2012-06-05T22:59:25Z")
Nearly anything where what you are actually buying is intellectual property on a physical medium: Music CDs, DVDs, Books, Software, etc. The design or performance of the content may well be expensive, but once it is created, it costs essentially nothing to make the next umpteen copies. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/7 "2012-06-05T23:33:17Z")
Those cheap plastic or rubber cell phone skins. They’re almost as big a scam as printer ink, which would be another items of that kind. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/8 "2012-06-05T23:36:35Z")
Almost any pressurized canister- anything from bottled oxygen to air freshener. > [@Chimera](#): > > Those cheap plastic or rubber cell phone skins. They’re almost as big a scam as printer ink, which would be another items of that kind. It’s not the packaging that you are paying for. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/9 "2012-06-05T23:36:38Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > When you get a fountain soda, the most expensive part is the cup. Cite please? I looked into the costs of post-mix drinks a long time ago, and (at small volumes in my location) the cost of the cup was substantially less than the mix and gas. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/10 "2012-06-06T00:13:45Z")
Maybe, maybe not. I have heard it, this [old thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=530087) is mixed. It looks like it does depend somewhat on whether you consider the cost to be the retail price sold at the restaurant, or the production cost that Coca-Cola, Pepsi, et al. paid. [Here](http://www.eddieoneverything.com/deals/how-much-does-a-fountain-soda-pop-like-coke-actually-cost-a-restaurant.php) it says 1 cup’s syrup costs “$0.000052, or .0052 cents.” See also, the very indirect Newsweek link, and they did the math from there. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/11 "2012-06-06T00:20:48Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > Cite please? I looked into the costs of post-mix drinks a long time ago, and (at small volumes in my location) the cost of the cup was substantially less than the mix and gas. For small volumes having a soda fountain can be more expensive then buying the 2L bottles, up to 2x as much, though I have heard that the price for high volume is pretty insignificant. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/12 "2012-06-06T00:37:22Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > Cite please? I looked into the costs of post-mix drinks a long time ago, and (at small volumes in my location) the cost of the cup was substantially less than the mix and gas. I sell at medium volume…Telly is correct. Check current pricing for “bag in the box”…if you don’t know what that means then Google it!~ The check NUCO2 pricing… tsfr ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/13 "2012-06-06T01:08:49Z")
[QUOTE=thelurkinghorror;15136889[Here] ([http://www.eddieoneverything.com/deals/how-much-does-a-fountain-soda-pop-like-coke-actually-cost-a-restaurant.php](http://www.eddieoneverything.com/deals/how-much-does-a-fountain-soda-pop-like-coke-actually-cost-a-restaurant.php)) it says 1 cup’s syrup costs “$0.000052, or .0052 cents.” [/QUOTE] That’s several orders of magnitude different from the costs I’ve seen. Perhaps they’re talking about the manufacturing costs. The Reddit quote that mentions 13 cents a glass is somewhere in the ballpark of the figures I came up with years ago (ours were higher, but for larger cups). CO2 costs were about the same again IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/14 "2012-06-06T01:35:16Z")
A lot of small hardware items are unnecessarily packaged. Screws, washers, nails were sold bulk by the pound or per item (a nickle for a small wood screw, nut, or washer). Now they are packaged. 5 small screws in package. Does the package cost more than those 5 cent screws? probably so. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/15 "2012-06-06T02:58:27Z")
Premium vodka. (I mean, look at [some of these](https://www.google.com/search?q=vodka+bottles&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Jwm&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1070&bih=679&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=z8bOT9mKIIXk0QH9-YG3CA&sqi=2&ved=0CHgQsAQ)!) It’s freaking _grain alcohol_! ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/16 "2012-06-06T03:14:07Z")
Electronic components, at least for some (the smaller, the worse), has to be one of the most blatant examples of overpackaging; I have bought parts where the actual parts are probably outweighed by at least an order of magnitude by the packaging, which includes unrecyclable materials (like those aluminized plastic static shielding bags). This includes parts that may cost less than a cent (the minimum order of 100 typical of such parts may seem to offset some of the packaging, but only for the bag they are in, as the parts are individually packaged in a plastic/paper tape-like strip). Oh, and for those (manufacturers) who buy parts in bulk quantities (thousands), they additionally use reels to hold the tape the parts are in ([example](http://www.smdcarriertape.com/photo/pl233823-smd_smt_capacitor_carrier_tape.jpg)). ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/17 "2012-06-06T03:23:46Z")
Regular iodized table salt. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/18 "2012-06-06T03:31:42Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > Premium vodka. (I mean, look at [some of these](https://www.google.com/search?q=vodka+bottles&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Jwm&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1070&bih=679&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=z8bOT9mKIIXk0QH9-YG3CA&sqi=2&ved=0CHgQsAQ)!) It’s freaking _grain alcohol_! Hey! It’s _watered down_ grain alcohol! While I agree with you that vodka is more or less the same, there is a diminishing return with price, e.g. a $25 bottle might be better than a $10 bottle, while the $50 bottle won’t be that much better. I still want a bottle (it can be empty) of the _Crystal Head Vodka_. > [@Odesio](#): > > Regular iodized table salt. But the non-iodized kind is horribly expensive? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/19 "2012-06-06T04:14:46Z")
Pet rocks. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211/20 "2012-06-06T04:19:56Z")
I’ve sent refund checks to clients written out for less than the cost of postage (including one for 1¢), to say nothing of the cost of the actual check or envelope. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-where-packaging-is-more-expensive-than-the-contents/624211.md?page=2)