Mar 16 2008
Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff: 80% Markups
This post appears on a blog called: The Consumerist the author’s post sheds some light on the extremely high mark-up of Monster Cables.
In some cases the mark-up is as high as 80%. Some of the post appears at the bottom.
I have never used nor have I purchased Monster Cables. I have a 50 inch DLP TV and I do use thicker cables, but I must ask the question: are Monster cables that much better than other cables? and If so, are they worth what people are paying for them?
Please share thoughts… Thanks!
——– The Post ——————————-
Some cables, like the 19ft HDMI-DVI cable, have markups as high as 80%. Retail: $179.99. Wholesale, $99.40, a profit of $80.54. Or consider the 16 ft S-Video cable, which Radio Shack buys for $61.24 and sells for $114.99. We found non-name brand versions of both on Meritline.com for under $20. It’s not just limited to Radio Shack, Best Buy charges the same retail price, and, presumably, gets them for a similar wholesale price.
Here’s the thing: digital cables, by definition, have no signal loss. A cable is either digital or it’s not. As long as its built to HDMI standards, the only difference between a “fancy” digital cable and a no-name one is the price…more
About six or seven years ago we got a big new flat screen TV. A few days after bringing that big box home, I was strolling through Best Buy and figured I might as well pick up a pair of Monster cables and see how big of a difference there is between those $90 cables and the ones that came with the TV.
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting a huge difference but when I plugged those Monster cables in I couldn’t tell any difference at all. I tried switching the cables back and forth and just could not notice any difference at all.
Needless to say, those Monster cables went back to Best Buy within a few days and I put that $90 back in my pocket where it belonged. Never even thought about spending a lot of money on cables ever again.