Quote:
Originally Posted by haertig
You are under the false assumption that things are priced based on what they cost to produce. That is incorrect. They are priced based on how much the seller can get a buyer to pay, regardless of what it cost to produce the product.
How else could a restaurant charge $3 for a glass of iced tea? Or $6.75 for a slice of pie for dessert? These restaurant prices make about as much sense as eBook prices. Yet, there you have them.
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Ah but you aren't just paying for the iced tea or pie, but the use of the space, the service of the waitress, etc. as well. Remember the wait staff doesn't work for free, they have bills to pay as well. And if you are occupying space in a restaurant then that's a seat that other patrons can't use while you are there. Plus there is the expense of buying the food and having it transported to the restaurant as well. Not to mention even restaurants have gas, water and electric bills to pay as well as taxes. There are a lot of costs that the customer doesn't think about that have to be accounted for when a restaurant sets their prices. Even competition plays its part. If I go to McDonalds for example then I'm not going to KFC or Wendy's etc. so that I'm putting $ in the pocket of the owner of the McDonalds franchise holder but not in that of their competition. And in the case of the fast food restaurants there is also the cost of advertising and paying for coupons to be printed which they hope will bring in business.