17 common products that cost way more than they should

The reasons for steep mark-up prices depend on the product. It could be that the item is in high demand, is difficult to make, or holds a great amount of symbolic value.

Here are 17 popular products with incredibly high mark-up prices.

Note: For this story, we looked at various popular US brands, but price mark-ups are often similar for competing brands.

Popcorn at movie theaters

Smartphones

Text messages

Price you pay per text via Verizon and AT&T: $0.20 on average (without an unlimited plan)

By making pay-as-you-go plans expensive, carriers like Verizon and AT&T can herd customers into longterm, multi-year plans, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Greeting cards

Cost to make a standard birthday card:About $1 to $2

Price you pay for a Hallmark card:About $3 to $7

High-grade paper (and labor costs from making Hallmark cards in the USA lead to price hikes. As The Atlantic notes, consumers are also

Designer jeans

Cost to make a pair of True Religion Super T Jeans:$50

Price you pay:More than $300

True Religion's jeans are made in the USA, where manufacturing costs are much higher compared to overseas. The price mark-up also covers designer brands' big marketing budgets, and the costs of running stores, headquarters, shipping, and other overhead, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Graphing calculators

College textbooks

Cost to print "Introductory Algebra, 4th Edition:"$10.75

Price you pay:$100

The giant mark-up for college textbooks largely comes from author royalties, editorial production, marketing, transportation, and the cost to pay employees at bookstores. According to The College Board, $1,200 per year

Wedding dresses

Price for 25 yards of silk satin to make a Badgley Mischka wedding dress:$2,500

Price you pay: Upwards of $7,000

With wedding dresses, brides are not just paying for the fabric. They are paying for the stitch, the fit, but most of all the emotion tied to the wedding dress itself.

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Diamond rings

Average wholesale price for a one-carat diamond:Around $1,000 to $3,000 (depending on the cut and style)

Price you pay at Kay Jewelers and Jared:$4,000 and up

On average, stores like Kay and Jared will institute a 100% to 200% price mark-up on diamond jewelry. The demand for diamonds in the US is largely a marketing invention.

HDMI cables

Printer cartridges

Cost to make one black printer cartridge: About $4 to $5

Price you pay for an HP cartridge:$14 to $50 (depending on your printer)

Electronics manufacturers like HP are able to sell you inexpensive printers (which they make little profit from), because they know you will pay a premium for ink. HP also argued

Wine at restaurants and bars

Wholesale price for a bottle of standard table wine:Around $10 to 20

Price you pay at Olive Garden:Around $30 to $48

You pay a lot more for wine bottles when you eat out (at Olive Garden as an example), because of each restaurant's and bar's operational costs.

Beer at restaurants and bars

Wholesale price for a bottle of Budweiser: $0.85

Price you pay at an average bar:$4 to $6

Like wine, the price hike of beer at bars and restaurants comes from

Bottled water from convenience stores

Price to make:$1.50 for 1,000 gallons of purified water

Price you pay for a 16.9-ounce bottle of Aquafina or Dasani: $1 to $3

Soda from convenience stores

Price to make one can of soda:About $0.16

Price you pay for a can of Coke or Pepsi: $0.50 to $1.50

Transportation and marketing costs as well as Coke and Pepsi's brand-name dominance allows them to charge you way more for a can of soda than it costs them to make it.

Prescription eyeglasses

Price to make an average Luxottica pair of frames and lenses:$30

Price you pay:Around $300

The Italian eyewear firm

Epinephrine auto-injectors

Cost to make a two-pack of EpiPens:A few dollars

17 common products that cost way more than they should

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