Overpaying for something that could be found in a different store (or online), under the right circumstances, makes both parties happier.
After looking around a bit, I asked the cashier at a nearby convenience store if he had any nine-volt batteries because I didn’t see any on the shelf. To my good fortune, he did. I asked for two of them and pulled a $5 bill out of my wallet as he rang them up.
“$12,” he said.
I gasped a little, put the $5 away, and reached for my credit card. It had been a while since I’d bought batteries, but $12 for two batteries seemed a little steep. It was anywhere from two to four times as much as I would have paid for batteries on Amazon.com or at Walmart.
But I paid the $12. And I was happy to do so.
Wasn’t I getting ripped off? Should

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