Really makes you appreciate how much mark-up is built into everything we buy. I used to be a salesman at Circuit City back in the day and we would always put these super-duper gold-shielded computer/printer/home audio cables on sale for 50-75% off every Black Friday, so they ended up at around $10. As employees we got everything at store cost, so when I went to buy a new photo printer to go along with my camera I was stunned to learn that those cables only cost us $3 from the manufacturer.

Fortunately the internet helps us stay wary of those kind of mark-ups... but they're obviously still out there.