comment: >
  
  When I worked for now nearly defunct big box mall store famous for its catalog in shipping and receiving, I had an inventory control device that allowed me to see both the wholesale price that the store paid for items along with the retail price that they were sold for. Markups are obscene.
  My favorites were the sunglasses. The generic ones cost the store about a dollar each and sold for $20-40. They were shipped in the same box, from the same factory, as the fancy designer ones "made" by vacuous reality TV women. They were almost indistinguishable except for the logos. They cost the store $2-5 and sold for $80-300. It boggled my mind.
  Also, no matter how crazy on sale something is, it's never less than the store paid.
context: This is a friendly reminder to read our rules.
  Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!"
  (For an explanation of what a "showerthought" is, please read this page.)
  Rule-breaking posts may result in bans. >
  
  Before Payless Shoes went out of business they opened a fake “Paylesi “ and “sold” their $12 shoes as luxury products for a commercial. And people fell for it.
  Look for fit or quality or durability in products. Don’t fall for luxury branding alone >
  
  I'm having a hard time picturing how Crocs could ever be made to look luxury.  But people still seem happy to pay $30-50 for the things despite them obviously being about 8¢ in injection-molded, recycled foam rubber, so clearly I'm missing something. >
  
  Picture them being sold as a limited edition collection in a varnished mahogany box with the gold engraving no. 20/55.
  Price tag $5k 
  Guarantee you those limited edition crocs sell out. >
  
  Oh you're absolutely right, but that mental image is still absurd.  Anyone who thinks that Crocs are luxury is fooling themselves, and a fool and their money are soon parted. >
  
  This is the entire Grey Goose business model. It's been spectacularly successful.