Weddings, funerals and babies are definitely areas where a person can be taken advantage of due to the high emotional values attached to all three. (I went with a friend to a funeral service place once and they very sleekly made us feel guilty for not buying a high quality coffin that was hermetically sealed "for enhanced preservation.")
Whole Foods is another place where it's easy to get ripped off (although one makes the choice to shop there). Bliss Balls, for example, are $10.99 at WF and $8.99 at the local Iranian corner store, yet WF buys in bulk. However, you have the choice of where to shop. Canada Post is the worst rip as there are no alternatives. I send the same item over and over to the US and (rarely) to Canada. Cost to send to US $6.70 or thereabouts with tax, and it gets to NY in three days. Cost to send to Calgary from Vancouver? Well over $9.00 and it often takes a week. You pay your money and pray the mail will arrive in a shorter time than possible with a carrier pigeon.
Pharmaceuticals are another biggie. The companies would have us believe that the high costs (and patenting) are to help them recoup the "losses" of funding clinical trials. However, when you look at their profits, it's easy to see that this is more a case of money management to benefit stakeholders. I pay $15 per triptan for my migraines. At an average eight migraines a month, that's a lot of money.
Off topic: I would love someone from this forum to write a guest column for my blog. You are all so knowledgeable.
Rosina
Middle Ageless (I changed the name)