health insurance, is the most obvious i recently have to buy it with some subsidies. and alot of plans dont cover most things until you paid OOP and deductibles, pretty much a scam. unless you have a good job with employee insurance its really almost barebones.
this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
42 points (97.7% liked)
Ask Lemmy
37677 readers
1706 users here now
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com.
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
iPhone. I haven’t found another smart phone that I actually like.
Water
5 bucks for a ton of water seems pretty cheap to me
Heating.
In all seriousness, imported snacks: hot sauces from Mexico, beers from central Europe and fruit from South America.
I don't know anyone that does their own protein powder and it ain't even that expensive if you make the calc for each serving. Going for the trouble to search up all the ingridients one by one and mixing them is way too tidious and a useless time sink.
As for your question: It's probably a flagship phone once in a while. Why do I think it's overpriced? Because I use like at most 10% of what the phone has to offer and pay for the 90%. Why do I do it anyways? Because I buy a phone once all 5-6 years or so. So having the newest tech of 5 years ago isn't that bad. Lower end phones don't hold that long.
I don’t know anyone that does their own protein powder
I'm probably old and out of touch, but this used to be called "cooking"
It's not really cooking tho more like mixing stuff. To make your own protein powder, you need to mix almond flour, flaxseed flour and other high protein flours (pea or coconut etc). Sounds super easy, but than you are still lower in protein (but have higher fiber) than mosts protein powders. To come close to the stuff you can buy, you have to add some other type of protein concentrate (whey / soy protein etc) and if you add costs of all items you get around the same price as the protein powder (almond flour alone is super expensive)... so you have to ask yourself these question: is it really that much more healthy than the protein powder you can get? Is it worth the time I spend perfecting the ratio? Is it really cheaper than getting an average protein powder?
Why does it have to be powdered? Why can't it be real food?
Because the powder is in most cases a supplement to the food and not the food itself. Having a protein drink after workout does not exclude eating a well rounded (to your needs) meal. It is complementary to it. Yeah you could chug 10 egs or so after the workout, but that isn't that fun.
Why don't people just eat a decent diet? Protein powder is bullshit.
My last phone I got immediately after the preceding years model. I wanted the experience of staying up to date just once in my life.
But before that? I've only had 9 phones total, and the first 3 weren't even smartphones. So in 23-24 years I've had 9.
So I average a little less than your 5 years, but I did hit 5 once between Pixel 2 and 7.
I immediately jumped to 8, and it's already 3 now, but other than some battery degradation it runs like new still. That's the main reason I left the 2 finally. Charges would last like 3 hours and newer versions of apps were struggling on the pokey hardware. The cracked screen didn't even matter too much to me, but when both cameras died it was finally time. I still have it, occasionally pop out out to be a lil cat TV.
In your defense, even the 10% becomes obsolete pretty fast with most apps failing to support “old” mobile OSs after a few years.
Insulin. Or rather the insurance plan so I don't have to pay a car down payment on insulin
I'm vegan but really missed ice cream so I started getting Ben and Jerry's almond milk version when it's on sale. It irks me that they charge for a pint what I could get a gallon of the dairy ice cream for, but there isn't much selection for dairy-free. For whatever reason vegan versions of foods are pretty much always priced like premium brands. I'd be happy to buy generic brands of stuff in bulk, but instead I look at the price of something and often decide I don't need it after all.
If it's any consolation, the same is true for non-vegan Ben and Jerry's, too. But quality is wayyy more important than quantity with ice cream.
If you (ok, not *you personally" as a vegan) want high quality ice cream that doesn't require a mortgage, your best bet is a local creamery. Wisconsin, unsurprisingly, has a ton of great ice cream shops
I purchased 2 sticks of ram yesterday. Even used, like the ones I purchased, it's overpriced.
No shade at the other answers, but I feel this is the only answer to the actual question concerning "overpriced" items. Even OP's example, they are getting something for their extra expense: convenience. The others are things that people are buying even though there are less expensive alternatives available, but I don't think anyone would say they aren't at least getting a perceived value for the extra cost.
On the other hand, we have historic RAM prices to get an idea of true value, and it is only speculation that is driving up the cost. The RAM hasn't gotten any better, it's not even new, it cost you more than it should, but you need it, so you have to suck it up and pay a premium while getting nothing extra in return.
Thx. Looks like We're on the same lane :)
Internet. I prefer the underdog, not giant corpo owned ISP... and by paying more, it's only be ause those bs 'sales' the major ISPs put on to their plans that make you fight every 2 years or change provider to the other big corpo.
anytime I ask what the REAL price is, it's shocking higher then what I'm paying...those promos can be cancelled at anytime, without prior notice becAuse terms and conditions those major ISPs use.
I refuse to play that game and would rather have constantly priced invoices from my ISP so I 'pay more'.. plus, the rare time that I call from issues, I talk to someone who actually understands networking and doesn't have a script. my calls last maybe 20, vs the big corpo where it takes me 20-40 minutes to even get a human
coffee--gotta be gourmet, none of that $5 (or however much folgers etc. costs now) powdered shit in a can
Ya. It turns out I'm a coffe snob. Only local and freshly roasted beans for this guy.
Yup. Coffee beans have to be decent and from a roaster
Can’t resist an fun processed single origin, just pops the old tongue buds
I dont have a product that I buy that I know is over priced per se but I do shop at a particular liquor store and grocery story that I know are more expensive than others.
Both are just so convenient to my drive home, so if I need to grab a few thins I will hit those.
I dont buy groceries or booze from them for scheduled shopping.
Snacks at the movie theatre. Costs a lot more than it's worth but I like to have popcorn and soda at the theatre
Buying protein in bulk saves a lot over the supplement store.
I buy iPhones. I’m not sure they’re overpriced but they sure are pricey.
iPhones are overpriced when compared to manufacturing cost point of view - Apple has crazy high margins.
Also you are the product from data collection, the device's planned obsolescence/inability to be repaired, surcharges for in-iOS transactions, and so on, but I guess that's not the exact framework of this question.
Also you are the product from data collection, the device's planned obsolescence/inability to be repaired, surcharges for in-iOS transactions, and so on, but I guess that's not the exact framework of this question.
Better. Than. Android.
But the margins are obscene for sure.
The majority of the planet disagrees with you. Also hello from GrapheneOS, which allows me to control my phone as I wish, unlike your precious iOS.
Yeah, I just don’t have the time or interest to spend weekends messing around with the device I need to stay in touch with work and family. It’s just not worth it. De-googling android is just way too much work.
The majority of the android base are dirt cheap phones in third world countries serving as data collection and advertising platforms to communities that can’t afford anything else.
Romano Cheese is up to $18 a pound here. Still buy 1-2 pounds a month. Its so much better than parmesan and zero carbs.
Eggland Organic Eggs.
I could go back to store-brand eggs if I had to, but these really do look and taste so much better. It's a little luxury I treat myself to.
food
Turbinado sugar. It’s considerably more expensive than processed white sugar, but it’s nice in coffee and when used in certain cheesecake crusts (it doesn’t dissolve and leaves a sweet crunch).
I’m going to grow my own sugar beets this year and try making my own. I know it won’t be the same but as long as I end up with something “close enough”, I’ll be happy.
I tried a hatch salsa this week. It was $7 but it’s so flavorful. Would recommend. I also got some Whole Foods guacamole with it, so dinner is good this week.