One weird aspect of life in the USA is not just the weird labor vs material costs but even how much the material costs vary from retailer to retailer. I have been to 50 countries now and have not seen this variance in any high-income, middle-income, or low-income country.
It taxes your mental energy because even simple tasks can have a huge cost variance. My car has two battery-powered keys. One was dead, other one started giving low-battery notifications as well. Over the weekend, I learned about different ways to change the car battery with a 100X variation in costs.
| How to fix battery of your car key | Cost |
|---|---|
| Mechanic coming to your home | $180 ($10 per cell + $170 labor) |
| Shop 1 | $35 per key |
| Shop 2 | $19 per key |
| Do-it-yourself with cell purchased from O’Reilly Auto shop | $4 per cell + 5 minutes of effort |
| Do-it-yourself with cell purchased from Walmart | $3 per cell + 5 minutes of effort |
| Do-it-yourself with cell purchased from Dollar Tree | $0.6 per cell + 5 minutes of effort |