Hrm, biggest ripoffs? I have a whole hit list of them:
1. Drop forwards of most any manufacture. For heaven's sake it is a bar of aluminum with four holes in it. It's a freakin' garden hose or tool rack for heaven's sake! If it were for ANYTHING, I MEAN ANYTHING other than paintball, it would be $5 instead of $50+ any day of the week.
2. Screw sets. $2.00 tops when all bought individually from a hardware store....but $15 when put in a little KAPP box.
3. DC33 if you buy it from Smart Parts. They charge $10 for a 2 oz tube when I can drive 2 minutes down the road and for $7.50 get a 5.4 oz tube.
4. Pods. Take a 50 cent piece of Tupperware or Rubbermaid... add a Redz, DYE, etc. logo on it and POOF! It magically becomes $4-5.
5. Air fittings. Is there ANY rational reason why a macroline or megaline fitting should ever cost anyone more than 75 cents? Any at all? It's less than the size of an acorn, has 2 pieces and only one of them moving, and is a simple shape to make.
6. Cocker rods. Again, if they were for ANYTHING ELSE ON EARTH OTHER THAN PAINTBALL they would be maybe $3 at most.
Moral of this? Simple, one that the businesses within paintball should pay a bit of attention to: charging this much is why you don't have but a pathetically tiny percentage of returning business, and even we have but a limited tolerance for this stuff that is wearing a little thin at times.
