10 Outrageous Markups
Where does your money go with these unbelievable markups on common products?
Know before you spend. A few helpful calculations:
1. Bottled water: 4,000 percent markup
2. Text messages: 6,000 percent markup.
A typical text message costs you 20 cents and the phone company 0.3 cents to transmit, according to the Chicago Tribune. If the phone company applied text-message rates to a short phone call, you’d pay $120 for the call.
3. Movie theater popcorn: 1,275 percent markup
4. Brand-name drugs: 200 to 3,000 percent markup
5. Hotel minibar: 400 percent markup
6. Coffee on the go: 300 percent markup. A $3 cup made by a barista costs 25 cents at home.
7. Wine at a restaurant: 300 percent markup
8. Greeting cards: 200 percent markup
9. In-room hotel movies: 200 percent markup
10. Precut produce: 40 percent markup
PLUS:
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Riskiest Places to Disclose Your Social Security Number
8 Things to Pay For No Matter What