32 Products with the Highest Markup

Society has been trained not to blink an eye when paying two bucks for a bottle of water, or shelling out ten dollars for a bucket of movie theater popcorn that would cost next to nothing when made at home. However, a bottle of water typically only costs five cents to make, and the wholesale price of popcorn is about 35 cents. When we pay astronomical prices for such products, we are often paying more for convenience, experience, inflation, and societal pressures than we are for actual materials or labor. Products that are rip-offs are aplenty, but with the knowledge offered by this visualization from Swagbucks.com, we can become more savvy and informed consumers:

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We appreciate the simple and striking data visualization, which is easy to interpret quickly while having a bold emotional impact. The proportional bubbles used to convey percentages do an excellent job in capturing just how monumental these product markups are. Sometimes it makes sense to pay more for the enjoyment and experience (for example, buying a mixed drink at a restaurant), but many of these are infuriating. A funeral casket costing $1,295 often goes for around $325 wholesale. Even in death, it is impossible to escape price-gouging. Also, why is printer ink so expensive? Turns out, many printing companies use an outdated “razor-and-blades model”, where they sell printers cheaply at a loss and attempt to make up for it with ink sales. They also purposely program their printers to prevent the usage of more affordable third-party cartridges by using microchips and firmware updates. Even more reason to be angry when your printer suddenly stops functioning again.

Here are the top 5 products with the biggest markups:

1. Text messages (without an unlimited plan) – 6,000%
2. Bottled water – $4,000%
3. Brand-name prescription drugs – 200-3,300%
4. High school ring – 1,329%
5. Movie theater popcorn – 1,275%