"It's A Scam, Plain And Simple": People Are Sharing Subtle Or Very Specific Things That Should Be Way Cheaper Than They Actually Are

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Considering inflation in the US is at a 40-year-high, it's fair to say that your complaints about the high price of things right now are extremely valid.

cash being put into a cash register
Fertnig / Getty Images/iStockphoto / Via Getty Images

Not to be a bearer of bad news, but thanks to a recent Reddit thread I found where u/madmart07 asked: "What should be at least 5x cheaper than it is?", I learned about even more not-so-obvious things that seem way more expensive than they should be. Buckle up for some of the responses.

1."Graphing calculators."

A graphic calclator

2."Printer ink."

—u/bruinblitz

"It's a scam, plain and simple. The manufacturer has special cartridges that only work for a handful of printers. They are the only ones who can make them, and they can charge whatever they want."

—u/N00N3AT011

3."Transaction fees."

NBC / Via giphy.com

—u/BadBadGrades

"Looking at you, Ticketmaster..."

—u/PinkyandzeBrain

4."An EpiPen. Something that could potentially save a life shouldn’t cost that much. Some people even carry an expired EpiPen because they can’t afford to get a new one."

—u/xiaom1ng

5."College textbooks. They are charging wild prices and switching the required books often."

a stack of textbooks

6."Female sanitary products."

—u/carrotisgross

"Yes, absolutely! They are too expensive for needing them every month."

—u/turwiethel

a woman sitting on a toilet holding a period pad
Vadzim Kushniarou / Getty Images/iStockphoto / Via Getty Images

7."Sunglasses. Pieces of plastic with 1000% markup."

—u/Flatoftheblade

8."Phones these days. Like, damn. I don't even pay that much for a capable laptop."

A hand on a smartphone

9."Soft drinks in restaurants. Because they are at least five times their original prices."

—u/BlueMonkey35

10."Parking. I recently left the car in a paid parking lot for two hours (the price was not indicated). I ended up paying $32."

parked cars in a garage

11."Saline solution for contacts."

Saline solution

12."Popcorn. A $10 bucket of movie theater popcorn costs 50¢ to produce."

popcorn on a seat in a movie theater

13."Fees for printing tickets at home. The fee should be non-existent."

—u/Voidg

14."High-end mountain bikes. I REALLY don’t feel like paying $6-10k for a bike that I still need to pedal."

—u/BL1860B

15."Mattresses. Bunch of cheap, man-made material."

a bare mattress in a store

16."Anything gluten-free."

—u/Significant_Switch53

17."Pasta dishes in restaurants. It’s so cheap to make, and the mark-up is beyond."

a pasta dish on a table next to a fork

18."College applications. I only applied to two and had to pay well over $200."

a college application on a table

19."WiFi/phone data. Biggest markup for a tool that is becoming more and more vital for everyday work and leisure."

—u/undercovertiger

Is there anything not on this list that you think should be included? Let me know in the comments below!