Speaking of Overpriced Gear...
Jun 10

Speaking of Overpriced Gear...

…did you know that you could spend more on a power cord than you would for a brand new Gateway 510 System? Or throw in another $55 and you could get a brand new eMac.

Yes, it’s true. $744 for a friggin power cord. A “Cardas Golden Reference Power Cord with Built-in Filtration” no less, but still, a power cord.

Does the U.S. Army know about this outfit? Via Gizmodo..

by Dave   June 10, 2004 11:45 AM    |   Follow Gadgetopia on Twitter

Comments

Boyink Boyink
by Boyink,   June 10, 2004 12:04 PM  

"you'll notice an immediate upgrade in sound quality"

Yeah right.

Just like when you plug in those thick gold-plated RCA patch cables.

Deane Deane
by Deane,   June 10, 2004 1:29 PM  

Speaking of cables: when I worked at Best Buy one Christmas season years ago, I learned that the profit margin on computers is razor-thin, like 2%.

There were situations when I sold someone a complete system and we made more money on the printer cable than EVERYTHING ELSE in the sale COMBINED. Printer cables, it turns out, have an insane margin -- we paid $4.80 or something then sold them for $30.

Joe Joe
by Joe,   June 10, 2004 2:24 PM  

Amen to that: USB Cable at Best Buy: $25 USB Cable at newegg.com: $5, including shipping.

So I guess that means that the $744 power cord only cost the retailer $89.

Boyink Boyink
by Boyink,   June 10, 2004 2:38 PM  

I spent 4 years in retail consumer electronics, working through college. Our average margin on the "big stuff" (at a local, mom and pop TV store before the chains came to town) was around 16%. All the various cables, connectors etc were marked up 100%, but at that time if you bought a $500 component and needed a $5 cable or connector to get it working, we were free to throw it in. Oh...no commission either....;)

Anonymous
by ,   June 11, 2004 10:54 AM  

$744 is nothing. Check out this one that retails at $3,500

http://www.jpslabs.com/aluminata.shtml

Deane Deane
by Deane,   June 11, 2004 12:43 PM  

You have got to be kidding me. Do people actually buy this stuff?

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