Convenience is costly

Here is a letter I recently sent to the Midland Daily News:

Jeanne Berube was recently “in disbelief when a local shipping store was going to charge [her] shopping friend $10.40 for an $8.80 book of twenty stamps” (“Buyer beware,” April 26).

Local convenience stores sell a gallon of milk for $2.99, while large grocery chains sell the same gallon of milk for $1.99. A 20oz Coke may cost $1.25 in some vending machines and $1.75 in others. Higher prices for identical products are not cause for concern, but rather, a direct reflection of the costs of convenience.

Kurt Bouwhuis