The Rip Offs Of Our Time

I believe in paying for good food, good service, and for a good product. ( And by "paying", I mean making my BF pay for it... LOL.. Kidding lah!)

But there are somethings of our time that I feel are just absurdly over priced!

Razor Blades
I'm glad I don't shave. It's like freaking 20 over dollars for a pack of 4 refills?

Printer Ink
Doesn't it baffle you that you can buy an whole new printer with the ink it it for as low as 70bucks! When the time comes to get new ink to keep that cheap printer running, it will cost you $40 - $50 JUST FOR THE INK!!!! It's just a few drops of ink! Why does it have to cost its weight in gold?!

Concert Beer
$10 a beer in a small plastic cup! And then you can't bring it in to the concert itself. You have to glug it down while standing around the concession stand.
Salads
A salad consisting of cheap lettuce, scrappy bits of chicken and a fraction of a measley tomato costs about $5 at a fast food joint while a burger can cost a mere $1 plus.

Bottled Water in Restaurants
Why pay for premium priced bottled water when tap water is so clean in Singapore.
What are some other stuff you find are rip offs too?

Comments

  1. Anonymous2:10 pm

    more interesting , is why the same razor blades are one third of the price in other countries - in UK tesco said they wouldn"t stock gillette if they didin"t reduce the price - Need some consumer power and real competition in singapore - which you don"t get when everything is sold through dairyfarm outlets

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  2. Anonymous3:27 pm

    that's not true, besides dairy farm there's ntuc fairprice and also sheng siong as well as small supermarkets like Prime/ MCP supermarket etc. I think there is competition - but consumers are willing to pay, that's the problem?

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  3. I find The Economist really really expensive! (But I suppose its a luxury product). I also find things like curtains etc so expensive - i mean its a piece of cloth isn't it.

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  4. Anonymous3:32 pm

    Bedsheets and duvets and good towels are over priced in SG too.

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  5. This is a good post! I have so many gripes about over-priced things in sg, cant list them all but here are the ones i think of offhand:

    -snacks and drinks at movie theatres. Major rip off la. Go buy at ntuc and smuggle in.

    -beverages at restaurants in general. I paid 8 bucks for orange juice. Ridiculous. Thats not counting the gst and service charges yet.

    -Massages/facials/spa services.

    -Golf. And anything to do with it including the accessories and apparel.

    -Parking at malls. I add this in on behalf of my bf.

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  6. Anonymous4:39 pm

    Facials are over priced! 70bucks for someone to just spread cream on my face and wipe off with a damp cloth? hello???!

    And yes Parking in malls also OVER PRICED. But not all malls. You should keep a list of all the cheaper ones and boycott the over priced ones! I parked at Lido Shaw for like 2 hrs plus, and I had to pay $9! shitty dirty cramp lots.

    -GDX

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  7. Anonymous5:33 pm

    anon 3.27 , that's not real competition , if you go to town centre every prime site is taken by D/f or watsons (d/f too ) , so that's why u pay so much - take a look at US or UK and see what real competition does to prices and quality - Ok , i agree singapore is small etc , but a tesco , asda , sainsbury , would transform the market and drive prices down for all

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  8. Anonymous9:23 pm

    for razer blades, I buy safety razors at mustafa's. 10 blades for the grand total of $2.

    men shaved with straight razors and doubled edged safety razors for a long long time. we don't need multi-bladed overpriced crap.

    and you don't need overpriced canned shaving foam or gel. a tube of shaving cream and a brush will last a long time at a fraction of the price of a single can.

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  9. Anonymous10:02 pm

    I hate restaurants which don't serve tap water. Singapore should impose a law that requires restaurants to serve free tap water when asked, just like in the UK.

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  10. Tampons are ridiculously expensive.

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  11. CelesTina8:03 am

    Snacks at cinema is indeed freaking expensive! In fact, even canned drinks selling in coffee shops/food court is over priced too. C'on, 1 canned drink can cost $1.5, its really more than double.

    I knw u will say but 'aiya its jus $1.5, its too negligible lah!' but the fact is, it is over priced by double!

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  12. Anonymous8:30 am

    Public Transport fares are also getting bloody expensive.
    I find it cheaper to buy makeup/lotions/toiletries at places such as spring beauty or venus rather than watson or guardian which tend to be more pricy.

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  13. Anonymous12:07 pm

    Just thought id add my two-cents onto what the people above me have mentioned.

    Car-Parking in Australian Malls / Shopping centre's are mostly free for the first 3hrs. Places to park in the city cost $4 an hr.

    Canned drinks here, EVERYWHERE cost at least $2.5. But with that said , when you buy a 2L bottle that isnt refrigerated it would cost you $3.

    Public Transport. A train to your destination that would be 2 stops away will cost an adult $9.60. A 30min cab ride from the city to your doorstep will cost you $45-70.

    @ Anon , In Aus it is illegal to not serve (free) tap water if you are having alcohol.

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  14. @ the Australian above... I hear ya.

    and ur movies (cinema) are more expensive than in SG too.

    BUT... at least your cheeses, hams, bacon, lamb, salami..... is muuuch cheaper than in SG.

    SOO expensive here...

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  15. CelesTina5:18 pm

    In addition to @ the Australian, the price for cars & housing are much cheaper than in Sgp... I however do knw that taxation there is much higher than in sgp

    Education is free I heard for the citizen there (correct me if i'm wrong).

    Ahh... I forgot about petrol!! I dun own a car, but i feel for the drivers here. See the petrol price in Msia? they are subsidized! Necessity such as cooking oil, sugar etc are heavily subsidizised by their government too...

    Wat can we say?!.....

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  16. Anonymous9:59 pm

    Okay... there are some really quite brainless people posting.

    1. The invitation is for items which are overly priced. Not one to bitch about expensive items. They are not the same.

    When a country produces oil (Malaysia) or dairy products (Aus) then charges a premium for it, that's over-pricing. When these products are cheaper, it is simply just due to lower costs of production.

    2. Defending Dairy Farm group too is dumb. The point the anon was trying to make is that there is no real competition in Singapore. Singaporeans ARE willing to pay for premium goods, but that is not the issue here. The issue is paying more than what a product is worth.

    K, I'm exhausted. Pointing out logical gaps on an entertainment blog is quite meaningless too.

    Haha!

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  17. Well, I think in Singapore the prices are rather marked up...

    for razor blades:
    I got them in Monoprix (which is like the most expensive supermarket around)in Paris.. Actually I got a packet of 10 shavers for about 4SGD. And they have aloe vera + vit e on the strips somemore.

    printer ink:
    I just buy the compatible ink. My previous printer died after 3 years of using compatible ink.. but hey, the printer only cost 98sgd. it's more worth it than buying the original ink anytime!

    concert beer:
    I don't like beer, but after I came back to Sgp I don't drink wine as much as I did in Paris.. after all it's only about 4sgd a bottle over there.

    Salads:
    I'm used to growing my own veggies, parsley, mint, basil etcetc but I don't do it here anymore. Anyway it's so much cheaper if you were to go to the supermarket to get the ingredients, dabble some olive oil and you're good to go!

    bottled water:
    I had a funny experience in Barcelona once. The tapas + paella buffet was 7euros, but we got thirsty halfway and asked how much were the drinks.. It's 6euros per small bottle of evian. can you imagine paying 12sgd for that??? Anyway the boss told us (jokingly) that they earned by charging people for the drinks, not the food! Lol! We got ourselves 2 cups of fruit juice from the famous market just opposite in the end... 2 for 2sgd only!

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  18. Anonymous1:56 pm

    hookers. i really think they should start absorbing the gst.
    Mr. Jello says wassup

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  19. Anonymous11:34 pm

    freaking public transport!! It sets me back a lot especially when my workplace is far!

    And clothings..topshop and other more high-end street brands are way too bloody ex, especially when the quality are the same as blogshops. Thank god for blogshops!

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  20. I so agree with bottled water! They even charge for a glass of TAP water, even without lemon/cucumber!!

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