£20 for a cable? Acer, you must be joking!

http://www.acerspareparts.co.uk/index.php?main_page=page_2

 Seriously? £20 for a cable? It's probably worth hashing my own together for that. Is it that much to ask that they just use a normal cable in their laptops? Really?

 Sorry, that made me want to rant. 

@reply to post: after buying a blu-ray player, I asked for a HDMI cable for it. It was only when I got home and saw £35 on the receipt.

I think it best to shop on the internet for most things

What's the optimal price for people who don't ask the cost?

I think retailers need some way to check what's the maximum they can get away charging with from the card used, in order to optimally price items for such customers.

@reply to post: Vesuvius -- HDMI is a common con.  The Gadget show did a test and couldn't find any noticeable difference between the cheapest and the most expensive ...

Herbie

@reply to post: I do usually ask the price, but I never thought a piece of cable would cost that much. I did return to the store a week after to ensure the cashier has not made an error, the salesman that served me the week before avoided me by speaking with another customer for ages and ages. If I had not thrown the packaging in the bin, I would have returned it.

Expensive (overly so) cables is nothing new. I bought a KVM switch back in the 90s from Best Buy for $50. I was shocked when I got home and found out it didn't include any cables. Went back to Best Buy to purchase the cables. A *single* pair cost $50, so buying cables for the KVM was going to cost me twice as much as the KVM itself! Returned the KVM and replaced it with another brand that came with cables for the same $50. It's fairly common to buy a device that comes with cables for one price to find that when you need to replace the cables the cost for just the cables is higher than the cost for both the cables and the device had been.

I can't believe anyone would buy this HDMI cable. I love the reviews.

Personally, I'm happy with my $3 cable from monoprice.

@spivonious: Return of the Wolf Shirt, in HD!

@reply to post:When I see things like that I assume someone must have entered the price wrong!

2 days ago, vesuvius wrote

@reply to post: after buying a blu-ray player, I asked for a HDMI cable for it. It was only when I got home and saw £35 on the receipt.

I think it best to shop on the internet for most things

Even going to the other end of the aisle from the Monster Cables to make your selection is likely to save you a bundle.

I remember once going to a CompUSA (before they went out of business) to pick up a Molex 4-pin Y-cable. $14 US. I laughed in the door guy's face on the way out when he asked if I found what I needed.

The best buy HDMI cable cost about the same. I know it is overpriced, but, I don't want to drive a long way to Frys and I don't want to wait for online shipping.

I know a guy who used to run a computer parts store and he told me that on printers for example the mark-up was like 3-5%, depending on the product. Sometimes even he sold the printers at a loss.

But on cables the markup was like 1500% and around 500% on the ink. That is where he made his money ...

@Zeus - my buddy used to work at Circuit City. The employees got everything at cost, so you could see what the markup was.

Car stereo with CD player, retail $140, cost $25. (560% markup)

Car speakers, retail $100, cost $30. (333% markup)

Xbox (original), retail $199, cost $250. (sold at a 20% loss)