If the boxes had had their price marked on them then I would have paid £7.88 without question (ignorance is bliss) but because the assistant, inadvertently judging by the Chemist's raised eyebrows, let me know what the cost price was then I've been made aware that they are making a whopping £7.10 for simply passing two boxes on to me and in my book that's nothing short of profiteering.
"Adding value" is when, for example, a restaurant cooks food for me, a garage fits a new exhaust to my car or an artist turns paint into a portrait for me. I expect and am happy to pay a high mark up because I'm paying for their skills and expertise. What skill does it take to take a couple of box down from a shelf and pass them to me, because let's face it that's all they did, it certainly wasn't worth £7.10 in my opinion.
When I had a manufacturing business we transformed raw materials into a product that people wanted to buy and I was happy to make a gross profit of around 12-15% and I had all the same costs that KKOB has listed. 100% mark up without 'adding value' is (IMHO) immoral, no matter how many lights are on in the shop
