What physical item has the highest markup on earth?

[SSSnail]

Baseball cards.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

I think that the total costs are not being factored in.

Overall, networking/telecommunications equipment has a 20% margin.

Which is a hell of a level of success for capitalism if you ask me; Show me one government entity that is that amazingly efficient. (assuming the 20% margin is 'waste')

 

[MiniDoom]

hookers and blow

 

[JulesMaximus]

Diamonds? At least if you compare to actual worth as an industrial commodity.

Good luck when you propose to your girl with a diamond coated industrial saw blade.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Printer Ink.

If you bought a gallon of ink via individual inkjet cartridges, it'd cost you like $10k.

 

[JS80]

Truffles. Infinity markup.

 

[mcurphy]

Eyeglasses...single vision lenses and frames cost <$5 to manufacture

Pizza...A basic pizza costs just a couple dollars to produce

 

[SSSnail]

hookers and blow

Blasphemy! Worth every ounce.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

I don't think anything can beat "high end" audio cables.
...

or this 20k 3 meter speaker cable.

http://www.audio-direct.com/p-7618-platinum-eclipse-biwire-speaker-cable-30-meter.aspx

But, but . . . it has free shipping!

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I don't think anything can beat "high end" audio cables.

7k+ for 12 foot speaker wire.

$1500 for a power cord.

or this 20k 3 meter speaker cable.

http://www.audio-direct.com/p-7618-platinum-eclipse-biwire-speaker-cable-30-meter.aspx

They have at least 2 million dollars worth of that cable in stock...

Weird, isn't it?

 

[Lifted]

Why does everyone always repeat that whole "ticket sales go to studios" stuff? If ticket sales go to the studios, then why can I go to a theater locally and watch TWO new releases for $5 total? Do the movie companies really say "hey, you're in NYC, therefore we're charging your theater $8 per person who sees the movie. Oh, and you - you're in a rural area, so we're charging $2 per person who sees this movie."

It's actually a % of the ticket(s). Opening weekend could be 80 - 90% for for the studio, and it drops quickly from there for most movies. Obviously a ticket at a theater in NYC is going to cost more than some rural town as the property costs require it.

I've saved a lot of money at movies once I stopped eating popcorn and drinking sodas/colas (not just in movies). If I buy anything it's a bottle of water for a few dollars.

 

[IronWing]

Tic Tacs
Eye glasses

 

[jagec]

I think that the total costs are not being factored in.

Overall, networking/telecommunications equipment has a 20% margin.

Which is a hell of a level of success for capitalism if you ask me; Show me one government entity that is that amazingly efficient. (assuming the 20% margin is 'waste')

The IRS spends $0.51 to collect each $100 in taxes.

 

[RPD]

Warranties.

 

[Childs]

Printer ink?

Specifically ink jet ink. There is a Popular Science article on it:

Printers are sold using the razor blade business model&#8212;the printers are dirt cheap, but you have to keep buying ink for eternity. And wouldn&#8217;t you know, it turns out that printer ink, especially for photos, is probably the most expensive substance per volume you&#8217;ll ever buy&#8212;more expensive than gold, oil, perfume, even blood in most cases. If you&#8217;re buying name-brand ink cartridges, which typically hold a few milliliters of ink, you&#8217;re shelling out the equivalent of between $3,000 and $5,000 per gallon. (Suddenly, spending $45 to fill your car&#8217;s gas tank doesn&#8217;t seem so extravagant, eh?) Just as an idea of how valuable this particular golden goose is, more than 40 percent of HP&#8217;s $2.63 billion operating profits from last quarter came from it&#8217;s imaging and printing group alone. In other words, ink keeps printer companies in the black.

Its from 2008, and I'm not going to look up gold prices back then. Interesting that they mentioned blood...blood banks must resell it at a premium.

 

[Via]

I saw a story where hospitals were charging over $25000 for the little metal stents (I think that's what they were called) that they put into arteries during bypass surgeries.

These things are less than 2'' long iirc.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

The IRS spends $0.51 to collect each $100 in taxes.

/head explodes

I saw a story where hospitals were charging over $25000 for the little metal stents (I think that's what they were called) that they put into arteries during bypass surgeries.

I would explain the ridiculous R&D costs it takes to get something like that past regulators... but my head done exploded.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Do you mean just in material, or do labour costs count as well? And do you mean associated material used in manufacture, or just the finished product?

What about stamps?

 

[Baked]

Your ex-wife.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Gasoline

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Medication, numero uno. Mattresses are up there also, since they haven't been mentioned yet.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

These:
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-...ly-cost-you-13400-2011-7#16-spray-49999-tie-1

 

[Zorander]

I'll go with any exotic audio cables.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

These:
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-...ly-cost-you-13400-2011-7#16-spray-49999-tie-1

What sort of retard would pay $1000 for "an app for flag football that helps keep track of stats for all leagues?" I can see the legitimacy of most of those apps but certainly not that one.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

What sort of retard would pay $1000 for "an app for flag football that helps keep track of stats for all leagues?" I can see the legitimacy of most of those apps but certainly not that one.

I'm thinking of an app that helps you do regression models for gambling... 1k isn't too much to pay to know the statistical spread for the next cowboys game is it?