10/07/2026
Price transparency time!
I was doing price changes this evening and came across what one could only define as obvious corporate greed, and what I can't help but assume is happening in every single market right now.
A 1" MPT × copper adapter used to cost us $2.34. We sold it for $6.49, which kept us right around or just above the big box stores. Our new cost is $4.38. We're maintaining our normal margin. That takes our retail from $6.49 to about $12.
Here are the rough prices for the same item at big-box stores.
Home Depot: $13
Lowes: $14
Ace: $16
Us: about $12
There's absolutely nothing wrong with maintaining margin when costs rise. Businesses now have higher expenses, too. The problem is when costs are already WAY up and corporations increase their margins on top of that. Those two things compound.
A higher cost already produces more gross profit at the same margin. Increase the margin percentage at the same time, and the customer gets hit twice: once by the higher underlying cost, and again by the retailer taking a larger cut of that already inflated price.
So even after our wholesale cost nearly doubled, maintaining the same margin leaves us cheaper, which is not typical unless the competition is paying more than us (doubtful) or they are inflating their margins to take advantage of the compounding effects of increased margins and cost. They are expecting you to just blindly accept these new prices under the guise of "everything costs more these days." Sure, things cost more for various reasons. But is one of them greed?
And if that isn't what's happening here, I would genuinely love to know what is. How does a small independent hardware store maintain the same margin through a massive cost increase and suddenly end up cheaper than corporations with vastly greater purchasing power?
Are they paying more than us? Did their operational costs increase at a greater rate than ours? Very curious!
When you're wondering why basic everyday items have gotten so expensive, don't assume every dollar of that increase is simply being passed through from suppliers. "Everything costs more" is more than just a general statement these days. Higher costs are real. So is margin expansion. And when corporations do both at the same time, consumers get squeezed from both directions.
They do it intentionally.
--
Thanks for reading! See you tomorrow!
