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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2480 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 11, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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What are some products that are a really good deal or overly expensive?

Good deal:

Fairlife Nutrition Plan, 30g Protein Shake. This is mostly just milk that's been filtered. It has 150 calories and 30 grams of protein. It costs like $2 a pop at costco. Tastes like milk. No crazy amount of additives. I'm just not gonna mess with protein powder so this is an easy way to get closer to my macro goals.

Good product, way too expensive:

Those 3M command strips for hanging pictures. They're somehow like $1 a piece when it feels like they should be 10 cents. It's just velcro and tape.

Bad deal: Fancy carbonated waters (SpinDrift, eg) are super tasty, but that shit is pretty much the same price as a mass market micro beer (New Belgium, eg). Just way too expensive. If they could get their act together and scale manufacturing, I would drink these all the time.

Good deal: Video games. Do you guys realize that cartridges (Final Fantasy, etc) that cost $60 in the early 90s translate to ) like $150 today?

There's a small community of people making their own clones, copying soda flavors, or working on new soft drinks. It's obnoxious per batch, but you end up with the cost of a sodastream and some chemistry gear getting you to <10 cent or even <1 cent drinks depending on batch size and amount of flavor.

Which, unfortunately, shows where the cost is.

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