By the way, the prices & sockets I mentioned are what is offered locally at NAPA & CarQuest. Both were quoting from a catalogue that listed OTC for maker. From the catalogue it looked like Chinese junk, a guess on my part. NAPA wanted about $37 for the OTC socket, CarQuest wanted about $31. I guessed the 'C' in OTC to be a possible reference to China.

Jackasses spout off about 'Buy Local!!!' then offer prices that drive you out of town. That 'Buy American' thing has to work both ways. It's often the local scalper vendors & middlemen that push people to take the cheaper option.

In the last town I lived in I got a 20% discount from NAPA, and a buddy got 30%. The store was still making a fat profit, at least 30% more, because those reflect pricing for their highest volume pro shops, as their main bread & butter. So, that gives a better picture of their markups and the geniune screwjob they put to the guy on the street walking in for a part. It's a bend-over for a 50% or more gouging.

On specialty items the markup is as much as 300%, very common in retail to the end buyer.