Because they are like gasoline.

Sometimes you absolutely need it.

Because people are willing to pay it?

Acid Free Cardstock, don't you want that card to last forever, subby?

/of course not
//only keep mine about 2 weeks now, sorry people, find a better gift idea.

The Stealth Hippopotamus: I'm going to blame women on this one. The ladies like cards, men like women, so men will buy the cards. Hallmark knows this so prices are driven up based on the elasticity of demand.

My girlfriend thinks cards are a big conspiracy to guilt people into buying stupid pieces of paper saying shiat they don't mean. She likes to give people candy with a post-it note and an origami creature taped on.

Becuase they dont use recycled paper?

Cards aren't expensive if you know where to go. I found the receipt where my husband bought my card at Walmart. He spent five dollars. I spent less then two dollars on his birthday and Valentines day cards combined by walking across the parking lot and going to the Dollar Tree. They were great cards too. They expressed my feeling better than I could. It's like anything else. You have to shop smart. I even bought brand new Christmas cards at the Salvation Army this year. Ten cents each!

Diogenes: Because even if your lovie agrees with you that it's all a scam and a made up holiday, you're still in deep shiat if you don't do the card.

Guess I should break out the other rubbers tonight.

Contrabulous Flabtraption: The Stealth Hippopotamus: Lets put it this way:

Where are trying to get her to look at us like this:
[img843.imageshack.us image 500x375]

Compared to the time, effort and money already spent in this endeavor 5 bucks for a card is nothing.

If my wife looked like that I'd buy her a greeting card every goddamn day

She does.  Leave it on the kitchen table and she'll read it after I drop her off.

Because you idiots keep buying the worthless pieces of marked up garbage.

Because you touch yourself at night.

Three Crooked Squirrels: I feel like I'm the only one that likes "Blank Inside" cards. Any typical card display has hundreds of cards with other people's sentiments inside, then two or so in the corner that are blank inside. I'd pay extra for a nice card that didn't have something someone else wrote to my wife in it.

1. Buy a nice blank-inside card
2. Pick a non-blank-inside card to harvest the inside from
3. Write poached words into blank card
4. Appear really thoughtful

Missing two factors here...

Wholesale margin, and merchandising takes forever. IIRC the card companies actually hire people to merchandise the racks of cards in exchange for a bigger cut of the sale.

Man, one employee a greeting card company does NOT want to be disgruntled is the guy who writes sentiments.

1) They charge so much because they can

2) The article's writer seems to be a shill for the greeting card industry.

Something has to pay for all those gadgets that Max and 99 use.

Because my wife likes to get shiat?

Because US corporations with little to no competition in their markets think it's perfectly OK to standardize on 250% or higher profit margins for ordinary goods, as long as only "businesspeople" know about it?

/ 1/2% on your savings account is generous these days// 5% return on routine investments is considered a success (but try getting it on a CD anymore)/// MasterCard wants 29.99%, though, plus 4% at the register// But everyone from Kraft to Exxon-Mobil to American Greetings thinks 250% or so is the absolute minimum ROI...

... aaaand aparently slashies don't work anymore.  I'm going to get ridiculed for that.  Sigh.

Diogenes: Because even if your lovie agrees with you that it's all a scam and a made up holiday, you're still in deep shiat if you don't do the card.

Valentine's Day is not the made-up holiday.  Sweetest Day is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetest_day

My mom likes to write her message on a post-it and stick it in the card, that way the card can be re-used. We've sent the same birthday card back and forth for a few years.

something like 15 years ago I bought Mrs. Simusid a card.  She read it, flipped it over and said "I'd rather have the three bucks"
she has never gotten a card since then.

meanmutton: Diogenes: Because even if your lovie agrees with you that it's all a scam and a made up holiday, you're still in deep shiat if you don't do the card.

Valentine's Day is not the made-up holiday.  Sweetest Day is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetest_day

All holidays are made up.

Some are just stupider than others.

Because like all things, the market will bear it.

Protip: Write the contents of a more expensive card inside of a blank card.

It'll save you money and she'll love it.

Rent Party: Because like all things, the market will bear it.

Roses are red
so is a parrot.
This card cost $6.99
because the market will bear it.

The article never explained why the simple cards cost $3.99.

Seeing the 11 steps for the pop-up cards make them seem almost reasonable, but the example they started with was a stock photo and 8 words. Why $3.99?

/Its obvious why

The Stealth Hippopotamus: Lets put it this way:

Where are trying to get her to look at us like this:
[img843.imageshack.us image 500x375]

Compared to the time, effort and money already spent in this endeavor 5 bucks for a card is nothing.

That girl looks like she was drawn by Liefeld.