“That Looks Expensive”: People Share 66 Fails And Accidents That Cost A Small Fortune

The concept of expensive can’t be really considered as such without context. Those who are better off have a completely different understanding of what is expensive than what a person living from paycheck to paycheck would think.

But there is a sense of universalism there too. A fine zone that encompasses things that we all understand as expensive, but only if we also see how much damage has been done to said expense.

#1 A Mclaren Underwater Due To Hurricane Ian In Miami

Image credits: Ducati0411

#2 Clutch Change On A Ferrari F50 [586 X 535]

Image credits: Wildcats33

#3 I Think We Need Some Aircraft Tape

Image credits: Tassido

That Looks Expensive is a subreddit (r/ThatLooksExpensive) that deals in damage to things that quite likely made someone’s wallet wallow in pain.

The subreddit currently has around 7,800 members and is ranked in the top 10th percentile by size. If that seems off, this is not to be confused with That Looked Expensive, another subreddit that’s home to a million members.

#4 Oopsies

Image credits: V0rclaw

#5 I Found This Gym Floor In Texas While Scouring Google Earth For A Picturegame Round. Part Of Houston Flooding Maybe?

Image credits: SoDakZak

#6 A Bmw Wrecked By A Tree

Image credits: spalaXXXX

Anywho, in many cases, those who have pain receptors in their wallets and have a normal understanding of the economy, know how many gallons of water a minute a bursting pipe can spew out and how much of the taxpayer’s money it will take to fix it. Or how much a public transit line bus and structural damage to a house in Seattle cost. Heck, you don’t even need damage—this oven costs $40,000. That alone can cause damage.

#7 When You Live In Svalbard, Norway And Forget To Close The Window In The Office

Image credits: cyclone866

#8 The Museum Ship Uss Sullivans Has Partially Sunk At The Military Park Pier On Buffalo’s (NY, USA) Waterfront

Image credits: harryp333

#9 Discovered That My Porcelain Countertop Was Actually Tempered Glass

Image credits: zeomox

However, these are just our perceptions. Sure, a passenger plane is definitely very, very, expensive compared to the average cost of living. But can we truly know how much something costs?

Pricing things is an art in and of itself as there are at least a dozen ways to price products, services and other kinds of traded goods. It can be a flat rate, or a pay as you go, or tiered pricing, or pricing per user, or subscriptions… you get the idea.

#10 Pro-Tip: When Transporting Paint Makes Sure It Is Properly Secured. Especially If You Are Driving In A $90,000 Maserati

Image credits: Mr_PoodlePants

#11 Bus Crashed Through A Glass At The Train Station In Hamburg

Image credits: Archsinner

#12 The Fact That They Lit All The Individual Branches

Image credits: AutoCrosspostBot

But since everyone would ideally want to price things in the most lucrative way possible, does that truly reflect the price of something? Not entirely.

Pricing is just a set of methods to determine what you want for it, so it’s in that sense arbitrary. But they do consider the real costs of stuff within the economic context. Real, as in, how much it ended up costing.

#13 Ouch!!

Image credits: reddit.com

#14 Expensive Mistake

Image credits: KaleMercer

#15 Motor Yacht Fire In Torquay, UK 28/5/22

Image credits: SlappyHandstrong

Take the price of gas as an example. The four main factors that influence the price of gas is the cost of crude oil (the price of which depends on how it was extracted and how scarce it is), refining costs (the price manufacturers pay to turn it into a usable product), distribution (because convenience and practicality), and taxes (d’uh). All of these have specific numbers attached to them, giving you an idea of how much it realistically costs.

#16 Road In Hatay/Turkey After Earthquake

Image credits: AutoCrosspostBot

#17 Over The Pa “Clean Up On Isle 4”

Image credits: KaleMercer

#18 In 2003, A Technician Forgot To Log That He Had Removed 24 Bolts During The Maintenance Of The Noaa-19 Satellite, Causing The Satellite To Fall Over And Costing $135,000,000 In Damages

Image credits: here_for_fun_XD

This is where it gets complicated as, if we consider the gas example again, we also have things like gas station upkeep, marketing and other costs that can vary depending on the time and place. Fine, these can also be calculated. OK, so, that leaves us with profit. How much is that? Well, enough to keep the suits happy, however much that is. Sure, it adheres to the laws of economics, supply and demand, among other things, but as long as someone is willing to pay for it, anything goes.

#19 Seen In The Mojave Desert This Afternoon

Image credits: deen5526

#20 Giant Beehive Takes Over Roof. That’s A Lot Of Honey

Image credits: Dr-DrillAndFill

#21 And This Is Why You Call Your Utility Notification Center!

Image credits: KaleMercer

Then we also have another arbitrary factor and that is time. How much is time truly worth to someone? Is it a worthwhile trade-off to give money for things that you can make at home, you just need to put in more effort and time? And are those sweatpants worth the time and toil you spend working to get the money to pay for them? What about designer bags? Would you rather DIY things or just buy them?

#22 Signs Point To This Being Expensive

Image credits: cryptkeepers_nutsack

#23 Money Down The Drain

Image credits: KaleMercer

#24 Pretty Self Explanatory

Image credits: Epii2

Oh, there’s more. There’s this supermarket that shows true prices to people. It’s in downtown Amsterdam and the idea is that folks can see the “regular” price of things, say, tomatoes for €3.75 ($4.09). And then there’s the “real” price, which is €3.97 ($4.34). These show the hidden costs of growing and transporting them—the carbon emissions, worker underpayment, water, land, and all the other jazz that we as consumers ought to consider if we want our purchases to be ethical and sustainable.

#25 Saw On Facebook – 192nd St Overpass Hwy 1 – Over-Height Load

Image credits: travjhawk

#26 “1550 Chairs Stacked Between Two City Buildings”, Istanbul, Turkey. See More: Themindcircle.com/Urban-Art-Installations/

Image credits: 4reddityo

#27 I Like My Yachts Extra Crispy!

Image credits: _Piratical_

Considering the cost of the materials, the manufacturing, the processing, the marketing, the logistics, the profit margins, the time, the effort, and the moral dilemmas that tie into the price of goods, you begin to see not just the real price, but also the reality of things and how every purchase truly matters in the grand scheme of economics.

#28 Jetbridge Collides With A Plane

Image credits: ZimBobub

#29 This Poor Beautiful Corvette

Image credits: Chelle10552

#30 Looks Like A Nose Gear Collapse At Las Today

Image credits: BoldInterrobang

So, let that sink in, and while you’re still pondering it, why not also share your thoughts, takes and stories on anything you’ve seen or read here today.

But if you need more expensive stuff being annihilated by physics and human error, check out all these things that also looked expensive once, but then they weren’t.