And the mark-up on cosmetics is incredible! People pay outrageous amounts for products that cost pennies to produce.
Of course, but it's those eeeeevil oil companies that we have to overtax because of their obscene profits. I think either Rush or Sean Hannity brought up the profit margins between cosmetics and oil. The difference was in the magnitudes.
- Traveler
This is not just true for department stores. The mark-up on food supplements and vitamins is also astronomically high. Supermarkets make up their profit on such merchandise, and carefully position the high-mark-up merchandise so you have to walk through or past it to get to the stuff they make no money or lose money on.
And then there is the "impulse buy" merchandise they crowd around the checkout register. All high mark-up.
The science of positioning merchandise to maximize profit is exceptionally well-developed. Nothing is left to chance.