Why does a 16 oz. bottle of water cost more than 8 lbs of ice?

[Texacon]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1317472

Snoutport  (1000+ posts)        Fri Jun-17-11 04:57 PM
Original message

Why does a 16 oz. bottle of water cost more than 8 lbs of ice?
 
Edited on Fri Jun-17-11 04:57 PM by Snoutport

I just picked up a 16 oz. bottle of water and an 8 lb bag of ice. The bottle of water was $1.69. The ice was $1.50. Whatever happened to a fair price for a product? My guess is the water bottle didn't cost much more to make than the power bought to freeze the water. Shipping should go by weight so, the ice should cost much much more for shipping.

American business makes me despair sometimes.

People who don't understand free markets make me despair.  Seriously dude.  You truly don't get it do you.

You are irritated by the cost of the bottle of water but YOU STILL BOUGHT IT.  What part of that is so hard to understand?  They will charge what the market will bear.  If you stop buying it the cost will come down.

This brainiac claims to teach kids.  What I don't know but you would think he should have enough basic knowledge and common sense to figure this out.

Scuba  (1000+ posts)      Fri Jun-17-11 04:59 PM
Response to Original message

1. Wonderful observation. I'll speculate...
 ...the reason is that water is mandatory to support life. Frozen water is optional.



Water is the next oil.

Really.  A wonderful observation?  One thing you got right Scuba .... water IS the next oil.

New fire but it's starting to grow.  I imagine a lot of stupid will show up since most DUmmies know nothing of how a market is supposed to work.

KC

[franksolich]

There's governmental regulation involved with the production of bottled water, to be sure it's safe for human consumption.  I'm sure that quite necessary function adds something to cost of bottled water.

Ice, not so much.

[franksolich]

You hit the main one, Texacon, sir, about the market price.  That's the big one.

I'm concentrating upon the pesky little factors.

There's governmental regulation of the production of plastic bottles and their use.

I'm sure that adds another cent or two to the cost.

[franksolich]

The cost of advertising a product can sometimes be 25% the cost of an item (that works with women's shampoos; I dunno what the percentage would be for bottled water).

I don't think ice is advertised much, at least around here it isn't.  It's just here.

[franksolich]

Well, Hell, here's another one.

Producing bottled water is "labor-intensive," meaning payroll costs (wages, benefits, employer share of taxes and social security), all the way through the process, from the manufacture of the plastic bottles to the advertising to the delivery to the retail establishment, and to the payroll costs of the seller involved.

I think one guy, working half a day, can produce and sack 4,000 pounds of ice.

[Chris_]

The cost of advertising a product can sometimes be 25% the cost of an item (that works with women's shampoos; I dunno what the percentage would be for bottled water).

I don't think ice is advertised much, at least around here it isn't.  It's just here.

They don't advertise ice on television.

As far as I know, the only advertising ice needs is a big sign that says 'ICE'.

[franksolich]

They don't advertise ice on television.

As far as I know, the only advertising ice needs is a big sing that says 'ICE'.

That's what I meant, sir.

Just three really big blue letters on the side of the machine, "I-C-E," does the job.

[JohnnyReb]

What is it DUmmie, are you to good to drink tap water? If you read the label on the bottle, that's probably what you're drinking.

This happened a few years back when gas first went over $3 a gallon. A woman stopped at the store and bought gas. She came in the store and saw they had bottled water by the case on special. She bought 3 cases of the water and was just going on and on about what a good bargain it was. Then she lite into the gas companies for charging her over $3 a gallon for gas. They were just robbing people and making obscene amounts of profit.

Me being the DUmbass I am finally spoke up in the defense of the gas company. I said something to the effect that she had just paid a little over $4 a gallon for bottled tap water that had been bottled from the town water system just 60 miles away and thought it was a helluva bargain. But she was complaining about the cost of gas that had to be removed from the ground, shipped half way round the world, refined to a finished product, pumped maybe 1,200 miles through a pipeline, trucked 60 miles to the store and then pumped into her car and she thought she was over charged. I don't remember telling her that the government had made 4 times more profit on that gas than the gas company.

Yeah, she looked at me kinda funny and didn't say anything but unlike the DUmmies, I know it never really all registered in her pea brain....no conversion, no lights came on, nothing...and I've quit trying to explain things like that to DUmb people.    

[Wineslob]

What is it DUmmie, are you to good to drink tap water? If you read the label on the bottle, that's probably what you're drinking.

WRONG!

It's filtered tap water. See?
















 

[franksolich]

WRONG!

It's filtered tap water. See?

Well.

Hell.

That's another thing.

Bottled water is filtered, and filters cost money.  That adds to the cost.

I'm not aware ice, when still water, is filtered, and hence no money spent on filters to add to the cost.

[formerlurker]

Bottled water?  I thought neo-cons were the only people who hated the environment?

[Celtic Rose]

I would wager that most of the DUmmies buy more bottled water than I do, despite being the evil Republican that I am 

I have a nice big Brita filter that I fill and keep in my fridge.  I have a reusable water bottle that I fill if I'm going out, and otherwise I just drink the water from a cup.  Saves me money and I don't use all that unnecessary plastic.   

[I_B_Perky]

OK I got a couple of comments:

Scuba  (1000+ posts)      Fri Jun-17-11 04:59 PM
Response to Original message

1. Wonderful observation. I'll speculate...
 ...the reason is that water is mandatory to support life. Frozen water is optional.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?  That just don't make any sense. I'd figure optional would cost more. then again we are talking about dummies.  

I wonder if the dummy understands that one can take some ice, set it out at room temp, and a few hours later one has water.


Stupid idiots.

Well.

Hell.

That's another thing.

Bottled water is filtered, and filters cost money.  That adds to the cost.

I'm not aware ice, when still water, is filtered, and hence no money spent on filters to add to the cost.

I know a guy that works for a bottled water place. It is nothing more than tap water filtered. I can put a filter on my tap and get the same thing.

Moron dummies.

As an aside... if you would have told me 20 years ago that people would pay for bottled water I would have laughed at you.

[Duke Nukum]

The reason is Global Warming(TM).

[GOBUCKS]

Well, ice requires energy costs for freezing, specialized handling to crush and bag, and some expensive capital equipment. It serves a very clear and useful purpose. So you pay for that, plus a profit.

Bottled water is no different whatsoever from tap water, just bottled and labelled. The only thing that makes sense is the bottle, if you refill it over and over from the tap. It's like organic vegetables, which are no different whatsoever from cheaply produced normal vegetables. You pay a premium price simply for being a dumbass. Dumbasses are always seperated from their money more easily than normal people. It is one of the founding principles of free enterprise.

Paying a premium for bottled water, or organic produce, is no more reasonable than basing your life on a fear of chemtrails. No one has a right to complain about the price, when the only problem is their own dumbness.

[thelaughingman]

There's governmental regulation involved with the production of bottled water, to be sure it's safe for human consumption.  I'm sure that quite necessary function adds something to cost of bottled water.

Ice, not so much.

I used to work at a convenience store that sold its own ice.  Believe me, you would never buy ice from a store again if you knew where it came from.  Our ice machine was a cruddy old junker that probably hadn't been cleaned in eons.  The ice regularly had bugs, dirt and unidentified schmutz in it.  The bags were filled by hand with a scoop while sitting on the dirty floor of the back room.

[GOBUCKS]

There's governmental regulation involved with the production of bottled water, to be sure it's safe for human consumption.

That's true. Just like tap water.

[Texacon]

That's true. Just like tap water.

The small water system I run has regulations upon regulations on top of expensive testing.  It is absolutely amazing what a water district goes through to get the water to the tap.

Even more amazing is how stupid some of the regulations are.  That is a thread unto itself though.

KC

[miskie]

Items in a free market society cost what the marketplace is willing to bear. - There is a higher demand for bottled water (year round) than ice (seasonal) - secondly - most people make their own ice, either with automatic ice dispensers in their refrigerators, or ice cube trays.  Those who buy bags of ice are usually planning on dumping them into a cooler - an occasional event.

[jukin]

As P.T. Barnum said "There is a sucker (DUmbass) born every minute."

[Freeper]

Here's something that will blow their tiny minds, at Publix they have 2 liter bottles of Coke for about a buck and a half. In the front of the store they have 20 ounce bottles of Coke in coolers that cost about a buck and a half.

Why is that they may ask?
It is because you are paying for the convenience of having a cold Coke to sip on while you drive home, and people are willing to pay that money in order to have that.

[Texacon]

Here's something that will blow their tiny minds, at Publix they have 2 liter bottles of Coke for about a buck and a half. In the front of the store they have 20 ounce bottles of Coke in coolers that cost about a buck and a half.

Why is that they may ask?
It is because you are paying for the convenience of having a cold Coke to sip on while you drive home, and people are willing to pay that money in order to have that.

Great example of how the market works.

KC

[vesta111]

Interesting concept here.     Sell colored ice in cubes at twice the price of plain old ice.   

We sell colored water with a flavoring added, why not turn it into ice?  Much can be done with ice to make people pay more for it then bottled water.

Ice is interesting, fill a glass 3/4 full and add ice and due to displacement when the ice melts the glass never overflows.

Some ideas in the past are now gone.  Some Asian Company in the 1970's manufactured colored balls filled with water that were to be frozen and used as ice in drinks and could be used over and over again.  All well and good until the balls began to split open and the fluid inside was harboring all kinds of nasty bacteria.

I remember finding a long dead relative on the Hawian census that worked doing what?? In an ice factory in the late 1800's fascinates me of how and where the ice came from back then.

[thelaughingman]

It is because you are paying for the convenience of having a cold Coke to sip on while you drive home, and people are willing to pay that money in order to have that.

DUmmies will never understand that.  They think that stores should kowtow to their whims and ignore things like that or supply and demand.

[seahorse513]

Not only that, but the individual vendor(Coke, Pepsi, etc...)has to come in  and maintain the refrigeration devices, fill it everyday or every other. Retail facilties like Walmart have a contract with big soda companies. In the contract there is probably a refigerator"s rental fee. Though it is not exactly rocket science, some people(DUmmies) may not realize this.