Stuff that costs more than you think it should....

[Cupramax]

RobinBanks said:

Marine. Anything marine is stupidly expensive!
Clarion Marine head unit? The same as in your car, but twice the price!

Dont think so, the pcb's are Pelgan or Humisel coated to protect them and the better ones are also salt/fog/uv resistant.

[Blown2CV]

Chris Type R said:

Dartford crossing, which is increasing to £2.50 - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2824651/Mi...

Should have stopped charging in 2003. Since Nov 2008, the price will have increased from 1.50 to 2.50 a 65% increase.

why should they have stopped charging in 2003?

[StuntmanMike]

Blown2CV said:

Chris Type R said:

Dartford crossing, which is increasing to £2.50 - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2824651/Mi...

Should have stopped charging in 2003. Since Nov 2008, the price will have increased from 1.50 to 2.50 a 65% increase.

why should they have stopped charging in 2003?

From memory, it was only there to pay for the bridge, then they privatized it.
Could be wrong though.

[Blown2CV]

StuntmanMike said:

Blown2CV said:

Chris Type R said:

Dartford crossing, which is increasing to £2.50 - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2824651/Mi...

Should have stopped charging in 2003. Since Nov 2008, the price will have increased from 1.50 to 2.50 a 65% increase.

why should they have stopped charging in 2003?

From memory, it was only there to pay for the bridge, then they privatized it.
Could be wrong though.

weird. Still need to pay for upkeep surely. There is a toll bridge over the manchester ship canal near me that's 12p to cross! 25p for an unlimited day pass.

[Chris Type R]

We pay for the upkeep of most of the road system without direct charge.

[Thankyou4calling]

Concert tickets.

I remember back in the day when a gig was at Hammersmith or Wembley Arena. I used to go to quite a few and it wasn't something you had to really budget for or book months ahead.

Now, the big stars play the O2 or a similar venue in the UK and it's not unusual for a ticket to cost £60 or more. You also have to pay way in advance and pay booking and postage which can add a fair chunk.

I used to love concerts but now they are pricey and the venues are too big for my liking.

[Blown2CV]

Chris Type R said:

We pay for the upkeep of most of the road system without direct charge.

Yes, however a bridge is a large structure requiring extensive maintenance, that happens to also have a road on top of it. A mile long bridge will cost a stload more to maintain than a mile long road. Also, if it's a private company then how do they get funded indirectly or otherwise by us, if it wasn't for a toll?

[Chris Type R]

Blown2CV said:

Yes, however a bridge is a large structure requiring extensive maintenance, that happens to also have a road on top of it. A mile long bridge will cost a stload more to maintain than a mile long road. Also, if it's a private company then how do they get funded indirectly or otherwise by us, if it wasn't for a toll?

It's not a toll, it's a charge. There's some history behind the distinction.

The capital cost was funded under PFI. This investment was calculated to have been repaid in 2002.

The charges from an almost captive audience are now being used to fund other projects like widening the M25, bridge work now Hatfield, plugging the holes in public finances.

So the charge covers significantly more than upkeep.

Arguably the motorist pays a significant amount in motoring related taxes already.

So, keeping the observation on topic, it's a charge for something which in my view is significantly higher than it should be.

[PurpleTurtle]

Thankyou4calling said:

Concert tickets.

I remember back in the day when a gig was at Hammersmith or Wembley Arena. I used to go to quite a few and it wasn't something you had to really budget for or book months ahead.

Now, the big stars play the O2 or a similar venue in the UK and it's not unusual for a ticket to cost £60 or more. You also have to pay way in advance and pay booking and postage which can add a fair chunk.

I used to love concerts but now they are pricey and the venues are too big for my liking.

Ah, this is because 'the business model'(tm) of the music industry has supposedly moved, from the acts making a bigger slice of their income out of live performance rather than recorded music. I'm sure somebody can make the maths stack up to support that, but I'm also pretty sure the costs of getting a downloaded album to market are far less than physical albums/CDs, so even at a lower retail price there should mean more money going to the artist due to lower physical distribution and retailing costs. That doesn't seem to stack up though, the general argument put forward is that artists nowadays make a lot less from recorded music.

I don't so much mind the increased ticket prices, or the booking fee. What I do mind in the age of the e-ticket is a 'delivery charge' for me printing a ticket at home using my own printer, paper and ink - fk off!

[Bullett]

The Physical cost of a CD is buttons in relative terms. The recording, mastering, marketing and promotion are all the same regardless of the media that is actually purchased.
Even for virtual sales you will have hosting and distribution costs.

I just checked and I can get 500 CD's in a jewel case with full colour printing for about £500. Big runs obviously cheaper, so major artists and going to be looking much lower costs.

[irocfan]

PurpleTurtle said:

Thankyou4calling said:

Concert tickets.

I remember back in the day when a gig was at Hammersmith or Wembley Arena. I used to go to quite a few and it wasn't something you had to really budget for or book months ahead.

Now, the big stars play the O2 or a similar venue in the UK and it's not unusual for a ticket to cost £60 or more. You also have to pay way in advance and pay booking and postage which can add a fair chunk.

I used to love concerts but now they are pricey and the venues are too big for my liking.

Ah, this is because 'the business model'(tm) of the music industry has supposedly moved, from the acts making a bigger slice of their income out of live performance rather than recorded music. I'm sure somebody can make the maths stack up to support that, but I'm also pretty sure the costs of getting a downloaded album to market are far less than physical albums/CDs, so even at a lower retail price there should mean more money going to the artist due to lower physical distribution and retailing costs. That doesn't seem to stack up though, the general argument put forward is that artists nowadays make a lot less from recorded music.

I don't so much mind the increased ticket prices, or the booking fee. What I do mind in the age of the e-ticket is a 'delivery charge' for me printing a ticket at home using my own printer, paper and ink - fk off!

seeing as we're on this live events whinge... how is it that at 1 nano-second past the announcement date of a gig I get 'all sold out' yet ing touts get all the tickets they want???? fking boils my piss

[PurpleTurtle]

irocfan said:

seeing as we're on this live events whinge... how is it that at 1 nano-second past the announcement date of a gig I get 'all sold out' yet ing touts get all the tickets they want???? fking boils my piss

Mainly because a large portion of them have been shifted to Viagogo et al in advance, artifically inflating demand.

Further on that note, I got four tickets through this morning from Ticketmaster for a gig at the O2 later this month.

They dropped onto the mat in an expensive cardboard wallet when a plain old envelope would have sufficed.
How grateful I was, when seeing "Costs of tickets £136.00 Service Charge £21.00".

I don't mind paying for secure delivery, but I really don't need to be paying for expensive packaging that spent three seconds in my hands before going in the recycling bin. fkwits.

[oyster]

Davey S2 said:

Fresh fruit, especially berries.

The wife eats loads of rasberries, blueberries and blackberries and the price is astronomical. A smallish punnet of rasberies is usually £3

Blackberries are free aren't they?

[irocfan]

PurpleTurtle said:

irocfan said:

seeing as we're on this live events whinge... how is it that at 1 nano-second past the announcement date of a gig I get 'all sold out' yet ing touts get all the tickets they want???? fking boils my piss

Mainly because a large portion of them have been shifted to Viagogo et al in advance, artifically inflating demand.

Further on that note, I got four tickets through this morning from Ticketmaster for a gig at the O2 later this month.

They dropped onto the mat in an expensive cardboard wallet when a plain old envelope would have sufficed.
How grateful I was, when seeing "Costs of tickets £136.00 Service Charge £21.00".

I don't mind paying for secure delivery, but I really don't need to be paying for expensive packaging that spent three seconds in my hands before going in the recycling bin. fkwits.

sooooo touting is illegal? Except (obviously) if you're in the music bizz. s - and then they wonder why people d/l music etc

[TokyoSexwhale]

Anything I sodding tend to like!

Stuff I can build/tinker with/engineering type stuff I.e Lego/mecchano/anything with moving parts.



It then tends to make keeping the wife happy more expensive as she gets pissed with me dismantling and (usually) breaking things I shouldn't be taking apart. So I have to take her out for a meal.

[All that jazz]

Pans. How the fk can it cost TWENTY THREE POUNDS for a small frying pan from Sainsburys . I was expecting maybe a fiver, a tenner at the most. TWENTY THREE POUNDS! Needless to say I will soldier on with the ones I inherited from other family members.

[KingNothing]

All that jazz said:

Pans. How the fk can it cost TWENTY THREE POUNDS for a small frying pan from Sainsburys . I was expecting maybe a fiver, a tenner at the most. TWENTY THREE POUNDS! Needless to say I will soldier on with the ones I inherited from other family members.

Their pans are pretty good, I only bought them when they were greatly reduced though, I wouldn't pay full price for one.

[TokyoSexwhale]

KingNothing said:

Their pans are pretty good, I only bought them when they were greatly reduced though, I wouldn't pay full price for one.

We love a good kitchen trinket too! Preferably a bit more manly than a pan though!

[Bullett]

That sounds pretty cheap to me.
Quality kitchenware is expensive.

[shakotan]

rumpelstiltskin said:

Getting a car painted,or even just the price of paint itself for a car is ridiculous.

Automotive paint isn't expensive, and the bilk of cost in a car repaint is in the prep. The paint finish is only as good as the surface preparation. You think someone just wheels the car into a booth and sprays some paint on?