SortStack #3454 — 2035-11-23

By price · Order from cheapest to most expensive.

1. A single supermarket tea bag $0.05

   Tea bags were popularized by accident: a New York merchant shipped samples in silk pouches, and customers dunked the whole pouch.

2. One month of Netflix's standard ad-free plan $18

   Netflix began in 1998 mailing DVDs in red envelopes — it shipped its final disc in 2023 after posting over five billion of them.

3. A pair of white Nike Air Force 1 sneakers $110

   Released in 1982 as a basketball shoe, the Air Force 1 still sells millions of pairs a year — virtually unchanged in design for four decades.

4. A round-trip economy flight from New York to London $700

   In 1939, a one-way transatlantic ticket on Pan Am's flying boat cost $375 — several months of an average American salary at the time.

5. 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.

6. The annual permit for the hot dog cart spot outside the Met museum in New York $289K

   Prime NYC park vending spots are auctioned by the city — the pitch outside the Metropolitan Museum has commanded more per year than most American homes cost.

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