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Why do diet and fitness doohickies cost so much?

amusedmonkey
amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
A while back I wanted to buy resistance bands. The guy wanted me to pay 50 dollars for them! No thank you. I got some 20 cent rubber string, the kind used in pants. 4 meters (about 13 feet) of it cost me less than a dollar - I bought 10 of these to experiment with. I cut it into the lengths I wanted and braided it to give it even more resistance, then ran it through plastic tubes I had to make handles before tying the ends. I made 3 strengths, a braid of 3, 6 and 9 strands and I still had more than half of what I bought unopened. The 9 strand ones made me push myself much more than the highest strength ones at the gym.

Water bottles: Normal water bottles, the fancy kind - $5. Almost the same "Fitness" water bottle - $20. Why? Just because it has "sporty" colors? I'd rather have an empty bottle from bottled water with a screw on for less than a dollar.

100 calorie bar - $1. A regular candy bar, which just happens to have 100 calories - $0.3.

"portion control" containers: 60 dollars + shipping. Any dollar store different size containers that just happen to be portion controlled: $5 for a whole bunch.

Fitness DVDs: $10-$120 plus shipping. Youtube or fitnessblender workouts: Free.

Flipbelt: $30. My old spanks were getting too big, so I cut the waist band off, made diagonal cuts in it to form a pocket and stitched around them so they don't unravel. There you go, a secure belt for my phone when I don't have pockets.

Fitness sliders: $30 dollars for two. THE DAMN EXACT SAME furniture sliders: $10 for four.

Yoga cork brick: $20. A cork sheet cut up and glued together to form 2-3 bricks: $5.

and the list goes on...

Replies

  • chadya07
    chadya07 Posts: 627 Member
    easy answer. because people pay it.
  • jkesler4
    jkesler4 Posts: 2
    convenience and coolness. And because some of us are not creative and talented enough to make stuff for ourselves. :)
  • sarahsedai
    sarahsedai Posts: 273 Member
    easy answer. because people pay it.

    +1
  • shabaity
    shabaity Posts: 792 Member
    Here's a quick tip in place of a yoga mat you can get a mat used for working under a car the exact same size and material for half the cost.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Why is acetone so much more expensive in the nail polish aisle than it is at Home Depot?

    Because people will pay it.

    The folks who sell fitness have convinced people that they can lose more weight by purchasing their products. If only you could buy weight loss! Oh, I wish!!
  • LeonXC
    LeonXC Posts: 68
    Weight Watchers membership with online diet tracker - $19.95/month

    MFP membership with online diet tracker - free.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    easy answer. because people pay it.
    This is true about the price of pretty much everything, not just fitness equipment and food.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    There's always going to be people making money out of other people's fears, desires, weaknesses and wishes.

    That's why I don't read adverts, papers, magazines and have thrown my television out.

    They still get to me though, dating books, estate agents, pension companies, grrrrrr.

    I'm glad I don't have to lie in my job, that I'm thankful for!
  • MaidensAndMonsters
    MaidensAndMonsters Posts: 89
    You can actually find a lot of this at the Goodwill or similar thrift store because people buy them and don't stay dedicated. Just a thought :)
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    People do pay more for 'specialty' items that they think are made especially for their problem or hobby or situation. One comb might be ten cents in a hardware store, $3 on a pet supply site and $5 on a baby supplies aisle.

    Drugs have some interesting pricing. This same OTC pill can be 2 cents or 11 cents.

    https://www.truthinadvertising.org/excedrin-migraine-pain-relief/
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    easy answer. because people pay it.
    This is true about the price of pretty much everything, not just fitness equipment and food.

    Yep.


    However, OP, I actually think that this is a good idea for a thread - how people can make workouts more cost effective by using everyday items, free stuff or non-specifically marketed items.
  • Chevy_Quest
    Chevy_Quest Posts: 2,012 Member
    Weight Watchers membership with online diet tracker - $19.95/month

    MFP membership with online diet tracker - free.

    ding, ding, ding - Post of the day! :drinker:
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    A while back I wanted to buy resistance bands. The guy wanted me to pay 50 dollars for them! No thank you. I got some 20 cent rubber string, the kind used in pants. 4 meters (about 13 feet) of it cost me less than a dollar - I bought 10 of these to experiment with. I cut it into the lengths I wanted and braided it to give it even more resistance, then ran it through plastic tubes I had to make handles before tying the ends. I made 3 strengths, a braid of 3, 6 and 9 strands and I still had more than half of what I bought unopened. The 9 strand ones made me push myself much more than the highest strength ones at the gym.

    Water bottles: Normal water bottles, the fancy kind - $5. Almost the same "Fitness" water bottle - $20. Why? Just because it has "sporty" colors? I'd rather have an empty bottle from bottled water with a screw on for less than a dollar.

    100 calorie bar - $1. A regular candy bar, which just happens to have 100 calories - $0.3.

    "portion control" containers: 60 dollars + shipping. Any dollar store different size containers that just happen to be portion controlled: $5 for a whole bunch.

    Fitness DVDs: $10-$120 plus shipping. Youtube or fitnessblender workouts: Free.

    Flipbelt: $30. My old spanks were getting too big, so I cut the waist band off, made diagonal cuts in it to form a pocket and stitched around them so they don't unravel. There you go, a secure belt for my phone when I don't have pockets.

    Fitness sliders: $30 dollars for two. THE DAMN EXACT SAME furniture sliders: $10 for four.

    Yoga cork brick: $20. A cork sheet cut up and glued together to form 2-3 bricks: $5.

    and the list goes on...
    I like you. I love bargains as well.

    How you made your resistance bands is amazing.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member

    I like you. I love bargains as well.

    How you made your resistance bands is amazing.

    If you want to make them get the corded kind, and make sure it's the kind that has a good stretch, not the kind that turns into a solid cord after a being stretched a couple of inches.

    I just think specialty items are not worth it in most cases. In some cases they are (like good fitting shoes), but in others there are either cheaper makeshift replacements or "used" ones that are still new. For example, I got my fitbit on ebay for $15 new in a sealed package and only because I was curious. I got lucky too because most go for $30 something (still better than $60).
  • Remo_Williams
    Remo_Williams Posts: 73
    Go buy something for a party = $

    Go buy the same thing for a wedding = $$$$$
  • Dgydad
    Dgydad Posts: 104 Member
    In a word: marketing. The retail reality is an item is worth what the seller can get you to pay for it....
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    Any niche product is going to cost more.

    Things like the water bottles do seem to be expensive because people will pay partly.

    There's no way that I could have replicated my resistance band set and spent much less - I did look into it. Further, mine have an exterior sheath (some have similar inside) that stops you over stretching them and if it does break, prevents it from hitting you in the eye.
    Being sold for this purpose the company will have done a variety of research into it and will likely have public liability insurance to cover them if there are any problems with the design - if yours snaps and blinds yourself or someone else when the elastic hits their eyes, it's you the buck stops with.

    Health 'bars' are likely to have different, more expensive ingriedents.
    Of course we know 'cico', but the 'clean-paelo-vegan' types will push for all sorts of stuff without any commercial interests too.

    However, don't take that to mean I do spend money on stuff - my water bottles have either been received from competitions (I actually won a mountain bike race a couple of months ago and got some goodies - thanks to being the only one in my class, but free stuff). Normally I just use an empty soft drinks bottle that someone else has left. For a trail ultramarathon I did they said to bring a mug, so to keep it light weight I just cut off the bottom of a 1l bottle and used that.
    All my weights are second hand, as is my weights bench. I made my own power rack out of wood I had lying around.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    What's 'worth it' is different for everyone. I buy my electronics from authorized resellers because to me the ability to return things that don't work is worth a lot.

    Other things I'll happily cobble together at home. Though usually my cobbled version winds up costing twice as much and working half as well as if I'd just gotten the 'real thing'.

    I balk at $10k+ watches and $50k+ cars but to a lot of people, they're worth it. I think they're worth it to them more as a status symbol than as a timepiece or as transportation but the image factor is what's being sold, too.

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