Why are local stores charging 40 to 80 dollars for 6ft HDMI cables when you can buy them online for 5 bucks?

Question

The cheapest I've seen locally was at Walmart for 26 dollars. The same cable is available online for 5 dollars and change.

Why are stores charging so much for these cables?

Answer 1

Because corporate America only considers its customers only as fools.

Answer 2

Because most of their customers don't even look on line. My husband asked a young man a question the other day & he was surprised that this young man didn't know the answer. Most of the young people we know can answer these questons easily. I said this guy works for Walmart so he probably isn't around people that have alot of high tech devices...so I think they have a demand for these products so they can get the price but you have probably saved me money cause I need something that I will now check on line for first.

Answer 3

There are alot of people who need them now and cannot wait. They pay xtra for that

Answer 4

Because they pay more for them.  Not everyone shops on line, so there is a market for them in retail stores.

On line sellers may be able to buy them real cheap directly from foreign sources.

Answer 5

There are lots of places online to get reasonable priced HDMI cables:

6 footers on this site are around $10:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdep...

I agree it is a racket right now.  They may come down at local stores after they become common.

Answer 6

It'a all about corporate greed.  Monster made a fortune taking advantage of the uninformed.  Granted they make good products, but they way overcharge for them.  As long as people are willing to buy them, they will continue to make them.

You were smart in buying online. When you buy online, you don't have to pay for the middleman costs, the stores overhead costs and advertising costs, hence why online they are 5.00

As mentioned they are just as good as Monster brand, but you the consumer wins out by not paying "inflated" prices.  I tell people all the time, when looking for speakers and subwoofers to check out internet brands, because they have higher quality, and greater sound for less money.  Granted there are store bought speakers and subs that sound great, but will cost you five times as much than the same quality at sites like AV123.com, SVSound.com and Hsuresearch.com  I have demo'ed subs costing 5,000 in stores that were easily beaten by a 500.00 sub via the internet.

But people are hesitant to buy online because they can't physically touch the item, but those willing to take a chance on a reputable internet brand, make out like bandits.

Answer 7

kinda shows the markup. Also if you cant wait for the 5 or so days to have it shipped people will pay a little (lot) extra. I get them through work for free. They are a no name brand and they work just as good as monster cable. I think they cost my company $3 each.