usefulHQ Research
Original cost & value studies
We build tools that compute the real cost and best value of everyday things, then turn the numbers into short, citable studies. Every figure below comes from our own price tracking rather than a press release, and each study says when it was measured. Free to cite with a link.
The biggest everyday markups, ranked
Where a dollar buys the least. Each of these is the same product, or an equivalent one, for a fraction of the price. The multiple is the most you can overpay; tap a row for the full study and the honest caveats.
Multiples are the maximum overpayment found in each study, from typical US prices. Browse all the studies below.
What a proxy gigabyte really costsThe dearest proxy provider on the list is cheaper than the median once you commit to volumeRead the study →What managed hosting really costsManaged hosting costs 2.8 times as much per GB of memory as running the server yourselfRead the study →When the camera plan costs more than the cameraOn 16 of the 19 cameras that need a cloud plan, the subscription costs more over three years than the camera didRead the study →What a broker really chargesTrading is free almost everywhere, yet 15 of 40 brokers still charge a platform or custody feeRead the study →Cheapest protein per gramThe dearest protein powder costs 3.7 times as much per gram as the cheapestRead the study →LEGO price per pieceThe same money buys 4.6 times as much LEGO depending which set you pickRead the study →What is worth buying usedBuying used saves 48% on the typical item, but the range runs from 0% to 72% depending on what you are buyingRead the study →Coffee cost per cupPod coffee costs up to 8× more per cup than ground, about $642 a year moreRead the study →Printer ink per pageInk cartridges cost up to 80× more per page than refillable tank inkRead the study →Meal kit cost per servingThe meal-kit "first box" deal hides the real price: $3.70 to $28.17 a serving deliveredRead the study →Object storage costThe hidden fee that makes AWS S3 19× pricier than the cheapest object storageRead the study →GPU value ($/frame)The best-value graphics card costs $7.33 per performance point, 6.5× better value than the worstRead the study →CPU value ($/frame)The best-value gaming CPU costs $1.36 per performance point, 5.8× better value than the priciestRead the study →Paid apps vs free alternativesEvery one of these 36 popular paid apps has a free alternative, worth about $8,600 a yearRead the study →Cost of streaming everythingSubscribing to every major streaming service ad-free now costs about $247 a month, or $2,960 a yearRead the study →The web hosting renewal trapWeb hosting renews at nearly 3x its advertised price on average, and the cheapest deals jump up to 12xRead the study →Gold & silver premium over spotBuying gold and silver coins means paying a 2% to 22% premium over spot, and small silver is the worstRead the study →The domain renewal trapThe same .com domain renews for about $10.15 at the cheapest registrar but $38.38 at the priciest, nearly 4x moreRead the study →What a CGM costs nowA continuous glucose monitor now costs about $75 a month over the counter, no prescription neededRead the study →LLM pricingThe same month of AI costs $0.25 on DeepSeek vs $50 on Claude Opus, a 200× spreadRead the study →Bottled water costOver 10 years, bottled water costs roughly 140× more than tap water with a reusable bottleRead the study →Moisturizer costLuxury moisturizer costs up to 122× more per ounce for the same core ingredientsRead the study →Water filter costThe priciest filter costs 20× more per gallon than the cheapest, and bottled water more than 40×Read the study →Period product costOver 10 years, disposables cost 30× more than a menstrual cupRead the study →Sunscreen costThe priciest sunscreen costs about 27× more per ounce than the cheapest, for the same UV protectionRead the study →Battery cost per useDisposable batteries cost up to 25× more per use than a rechargeable, hundreds over a device's lifeRead the study →Electrolyte costPremium electrolyte packets cost up to 25× more than homemadeRead the study →Razor cost per shaveA 5-blade cartridge costs up to 25× more per shave than a safety razor, about $90 a year moreRead the study →Haircut costA barber costs 21 times more than a home clipper kit over 10 yearsRead the study →Projector pricesThe dearest projector costs 21× as much per lumen as the cheapestRead the study →Robot vacuumsThe dearest robot vacuum costs 17× as much per unit of suction as the cheapestRead the study →Allergy medicine costBrand allergy pills cost up to 15× more than the identical generic, over $90 a seasonRead the study →Lawn care costProfessional lawn service costs 15 times more than DIY, but you get your weekends backRead the study →Dog food costFresh delivery costs up to 10× more than budget kibbleRead the study →Ebike pricesThe dearest e-bike costs 8.6× as much per watt-hour of battery as the cheapestRead the study →Baby food costStore-bought baby food costs 3 to 8× more than homemadeRead the study →Creatine cost per servingCreatine gummies cost 7× more per dose than plain monohydrate, for the exact same moleculeRead the study →Light bulb running costOver 10 years, incandescent bulbs cost 7× more than LEDRead the study →Greens powder costAG1 costs up to 6.6× more than a comparable greens powderRead the study →TV pricesA QD-OLED costs 6× as much per inch as a plain LEDRead the study →Monitor pricesThe dearest monitor costs 5.6× as much per megapixel as the cheapestRead the study →Dishwasher detergent costDishwasher pods cost up to 5× more per load than powder, about $90 a yearRead the study →Heartburn medicine costBrand heartburn medicine costs 2 to 5× more than the identical genericRead the study →Laundry cost per loadLaundry pods cost up to 5× more per load than powder, about $90 a year moreRead the study →Pain reliever costBrand pain relievers cost about 5× more than the identical genericRead the study →Fish oil costThe dearest omega-3 costs 4.6× more per gram than the cheapest, and per bottle tells you nothingRead the study →Toilet paper costPremium toilet paper costs up to 4.4× more per sheet than the cheapest, and the roll math hides itRead the study →Power banksThe dearest power bank costs 4.3× as much per usable watt-hour as the cheapestRead the study →Contact lens costPremium daily contacts cost 4× more per day than a value monthly, over $800 a yearRead the study →Diaper cost per changeThe priciest diaper costs nearly 4× more per change than the cheapest, over $800 a yearRead the study →Sleep aid costBrand sleep aids cost about 3 to 4× more than the identical genericRead the study →Nail costSalon nails run 3.6 times higher than DIY press-onsRead the study →Collagen powder costVital Proteins costs up to 3.5× more than the same generic peptidesRead the study →Protein cost per servingThe priciest protein costs 3.3× more per gram than the cheapest, over $500 a year for a daily shakeRead the study →Air filter costA premium air filter costs up to 2 to 3× more than a generic with the same MERV ratingRead the study →Baby wipes costPremium baby wipes cost up to 3× more per wipe than the store brandRead the study →Cold flu medicine costBrand cold & flu medicine costs about 3× more than the identical genericRead the study →Dishwasher vs handwashingA dishwasher wins on cost by 2.5 to 3 times, plus it saves 75% more waterRead the study →Eye drops costBrand eye drops cost 2 to 3× more per mL than the same-ingredient genericRead the study →SSD pricesThe dearest SSD costs 3.0× as much per terabyte as the cheapestRead the study →Trash bag costThe same trash bag costs up to 3× more depending on brand and pack sizeRead the study →Printer running costThe cheapest printer to buy costs 2.9× as much to own as the cheapest to runRead the study →eSIMThe dearest travel eSIM charges 2.7× the cheapest for the same gigabyteRead the study →Payment processorsA shop taking $2,000 a month pays 2.6× more with the lowest advertised rate than with a higher oneRead the study →Flea tick costThe brand-name flea treatment costs about 2× more than the identical generic, roughly $96 a yearRead the study →Baby formula costStore-brand baby formula is FDA-identical nutrition for about half the priceRead the study →Cafe vs home coffeeA home espresso machine pays for itself in less than two yearsRead the study →Cat litter costCat litter runs $9 to $20 a month for one cat, and per pound, the cheapest looks misleadingRead the study →Cloth vs disposable diapersDIY cloth diapers cost a quarter of branded disposablesRead the study →Cost of readingOver 10 years, a library card saves $960 to $3,360 versus buying print booksRead the study →Dryer running costHeat pump dryers cost $56 a year to run, versus $150 for condenser dryersRead the study →GeneratorsNot one generator of 40 is as good a buy as its price suggestsRead the study →Gym vs home gym costA home gym pays for itself in 2 to 3 years, then keeps savingRead the study →Oil change costDoing your own oil change saves about $180 a year and premium oil brands are mostly markupRead the study →Paper towel costStore-brand paper towels cost about a third of Bounty per sheetRead the study →Smart thermostatsThe smart thermostat that saves the most energy leaves you $35 worse off than the cheapest oneRead the study →Wiper blade costThe cheapest wiper blade upfront is rarely the cheapest per yearRead the study →
Live used-price trackers
The cheapest used prices right now, refreshed daily from live listings, each with a value read so you can buy second-hand without overpaying.
For journalists & writers: these studies are free to cite. Please attribute "usefulHQ" with a link to the study page. Every figure comes from our own price tracking, and each study states the window it measured and the method behind it. We re-run them rather than quietly restating an old number, so check the date on the study before quoting it. Want a custom cut of the data or a chart? The methodology is on every study page.
A quarter of the cheapest used listings are prices nothing sells at
We record the cheapest genuine second-hand price for 2,014 specific models every day. Over five weeks to 28 August 2026 that came to 47,615 prices across 94 categories, and the thing that stands out is not how much prices move. It is how many never move at all.
Never moved23% of models459 of 1,968 models tracked a fortnight or longer held exactly one price for the whole window.
Typical movement10% in five weeksThe median model's cheapest listing swung a tenth of its price. A quarter of models swung more than 25%.
The tell56% end in a round tenAgainst 34% of prices generally. A stuck price is far likelier to be a round number than a moving one.
Same asking price$250, three times overA Stihl MS 271 chainsaw, a Tory Burch McGraw handbag and an Alesis Nitro Mesh drum kit, all unsold since early August.
The reading we take from it is that a stuck price is a hopeful one. Round numbers are what a seller picks when they are guessing rather than competing, and the listings that actually shift are the awkward ones ending in 47 or 89. So the cheapest listing on a page is not always a price: sometimes it is an asking price that has been sitting there for a month because nobody will pay it.
Two checks separate that from the duller explanation, which is that our own tracking was stuck. First, the share of frozen models falls as the tracking window grows, from 34% of models watched 15 to 19 days down to 12% of those watched 35 to 39. A fault in the recording would not fade like that, while an unsold listing predicts it exactly, because the longer you watch the likelier something finally sells. Second, the frozen prices are the round ones, which is a fact about how people price things and not about how we read them.
Method, and what we would not claim. One reading a day per model, taken as the cheapest listing that genuinely matches that exact model, from 23 July to 28 August 2026. We quote the median spread rather than the mean, because a small number of models swing absurdly (one shows a $508 to $3,023 range) and those are our matcher picking up the wrong product on some days, not the market. The mean is 19% and the median is 10%; the gap between them is that tail, and it is why the median is the honest figure. A cheapest listing is also not a sold price, which is the whole point of the finding rather than a caveat against it. Five weeks is a short window covering one southern winter month, so nothing here should be read as seasonal. Free to cite with a link to usefulHQ.
Why "best value" beats "cheapest"
A sticker price tells you almost nothing. The cheapest coffee maker is expensive to run; the cheapest GPU is not the best value per frame; the cheapest cloud storage bill can be dwarfed by a download fee nobody quotes. Every study here ranks by the number that actually decides what you pay, the same idea that makes a price-per-terabyte table more useful than a list of drive prices.