Every day, it gets more expensive to “treat yourself.”
While you used to be able to justify getting the occasional candy bar or soda at checkout, doing so is a little more difficult when that candy bar is almost $3.
Still, given that the cost of just about everything has gone up in recent years, it shouldn’t be too surprising that these increases are hitting even casual food and drink purchases. But does that mean you can really charge nearly $3 for a bottle of water?
Why Was This Home Depot Water So Expensive?
In a video with over 17,000 views, TikTok user Rhett Palmer (@rhettpalmer975) gripes about the price of water at Home Depot.
“Greed has run rampant, OK?” he starts, standing outside of a Home Depot location.
“I go in. I’m an old guy, dry mouth. So I get this Dasani, which I don’t normally buy. $2.48,” he continues. “I said, ‘$2.48? Are you nuts? For $4, I can get the case of 24 at Publix or something similar to that.’”
This single issue, he states, is emblematic of a bigger problem in modern society.
“Greed is running rampant, and everybody thinks they can just pile on,” he states. “‘We’ll just charge more and more and make more!’ … The party’s gonna end suddenly [if] we don’t stop this greed.”
He closes by saying he’s calling out to the CEO of Home Depot and plans to call him about the issue directly.
Why Are Drinks So Expensive At Home Depot?
Palmer compares the price of a bottle of water at the grocery store to a bottle of water at Home Depot. From this, he determines the Home Depot price to be unfair.
Whether $2.48 is too expensive for a bottle of water is a matter of opinion. However, the reason that the Home Depot water costs more than the Publix water is just normal, everyday capitalism.
What Palmer is experiencing is called “Value-Based Pricing.” This is where a good is priced not based on its cost of production but its perceived value. As Home Depot is not primarily a grocery store, people buying drinks and snacks are doing so out of convenience. Consequently, Home Depot prices these products based on how much they believe customers are willing to pay for this ease of access. Therefore, the “value” is not in the contents of the products but in their accessibility.
If Palmer wanted to, he could have gone to a grocery store for a bottle of water. Instead, he chose to pay the extra “convenience” cost in order to buy water at Home Depot. If he feels that stores shouldn’t be able to hike their prices this dramatically, he can push the government for restrictions on price increases at stores. Alternatively, he can simply not buy the water.
Commenters Aren’t Sympathetic
While users in the comments section agreed that the price for the bottled water was high, they didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with Palmer.
“And yet you bought it ….” wrote a user.
“Everyone needs to understand supply and demand. Stop buying it if you don’t like the price,” added another.
“Wait till [he] goes to a professional sporting event and that sucker is $5–$6,” offered a third.
@rhettpalmer975 #homedepot #greed #avarice #profit
♬ [Raw recording] Record playback noise 01 (3 minutes) – Icy Light
BroBible reached out to Home Depot via email and Palmer via website contact form.