Monster cables are a rip off
Friday, February 8th, 2008
The fact that Monster Cables are a rip off shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who’s payed upwards of 100 bucks for one, but the consumerist got a price sheet from a Radio Shack employee that shows the wholesale and markup price on all the cables they carry — some of the markups are as high as 80%.
And the markeups are just part of the rip-off.
The worst part isn’t really the markup. Stereo equipment routinely has markups of 80 to 100 to 200% by the time it hits the shelves. It’s the initial inflated price, and how gadget stores try to push the cables so hard, telling people that Monster cables offer superior picture and sound then what you would get with another cable. But that simply isn’t the case. Our sister site Gizmodo ran a battery of tests and found Monster cables are for the most part, completely unnecessary.
The generic cables found at monoprice.com, mertline.com, and newegg will get you exactly the same signal quality for a fraction of the price. Don’t fall for the name brand… unless name brands are important to you, of course.
You can read all the results of Gizmodo’s cable tests here: part 1, part 2, part 3
