I think you fundamentally fail to understand how economic consumer choice works.
The fact of the matter is that the "cost of production" is almost totally irrelevant in consumer choices.
Say, for instance, you were dying of a disease that could be cured instantly by a certain pill. That pill retails for $100, but in actual fact the materials and labor that went into manufacturing it cost only $0.10.
Would you really feel you were being "ripped off" by the drug maker? That his one million percent profit was somehow obscene or immoral?
Or would you, instead, focus on the fact that the amount you paid ($100) was FAR, FAR LESS than the value you put on your continued existence on this mortal plane (infintite, or at least a lot more than a hundred bucks..)
Conversely, think of a luxury house built adjacent to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. That house COST a couple of million dollars to build (its got marble bathrooms and granite countertops in the kitchen.) Do you think you are getting a good deal if you can buy it for "only" $1 million? That the seller is doing you a service by letting you buy it for a low price?
Its the same thing with Accessories, or indeed virtually any good or service. Consumers will pay what they feel the product is worth it to THEM.
I know what you are saying, and yes if a $100 pill that cost 1 cent would save my life then I would pay $100 for it of course.
I'm fully aware everything costs a MASSIVE amount more than it costs to physically make, I also understand you don't just pay the factory costs, you have to pay towards the R&D and store markup etc etc.
I just have my own personal sense of what it "Resonable / Acceptable" and what is really taking the Pi$$
If something has had a fair amount of work put into it, some assembly, some electronics etc etc, then that fine. There has been a lot of work been done to get this product working, put together and into the marketplace.
I also use other stores and similar products to set the levels of what I feel is a fair price.
For example, I will go back to the iPhone Bumper.
It's a loop of moulded rubber. It's worth practically nothing.
It's the type of thing you would see for sale in a UK "Pound Shop" (2 dollars)
So, instantly I know it's got no real worth, but OK, it's Apple and it's moulded well, but still, I know it's pretty much got no value and costs practically nothing to make, given they are being make probably in the 100's per hour on just one automatic moulding machine.
You can buy 3rd party copies for say £3 ($5)
And let's say, I felt $5 was a good price, but because it's Apple, I'd shrug my shoulders and think, ok, well the Apple one is $10, so I know it's a ripp off, but hey it's Apple, so I'll spend $10 on it.
But there;s just no way I could pay over $40 for one.
It's just my build it, "I can't stand being screwed over meter" that kicks in.
