SortStack #892 — 2028-11-17

By price · Order from cheapest to most expensive.

1. A banana at a US grocery store $0.25

   Nearly all export bananas are one variety, the Cavendish — adopted after a fungus wiped out its tastier predecessor, the Gros Michel.

2. A grande latte at Starbucks $4.50

   The coffee beans in a latte cost the chain well under fifty cents — milk, labor, and rent make up most of what you pay.

3. An iPhone Pro at launch $999

   The components inside an iPhone cost Apple roughly half the sticker price — the rest covers R&D, software, marketing, and famously healthy margins.

4. The average used car in the United States $27.5K

   During the pandemic chip shortage, some lightly used cars briefly sold for more than their brand-new equivalents — dealers couldn't get new stock.

5. A new hot-air balloon with basket and burner $40K

   The envelope fabric slowly degrades with UV exposure — most balloons retire after a few hundred flight hours, making cost per flight surprisingly high.

6. The largest lottery jackpot ever won, a single-ticket Powerball prize $2B

   The 2022 winner, a California man, took the lump sum of just under a billion dollars — then made headlines buying multiple mansions.

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