A printer costs $59.
A full set of ink for that printer costs $71.
Read those two numbers again. The machine costs less than the stuff you put in it. You could buy a new printer, throw away the old one, and come out ahead.
People notice this, laugh about it, and then buy the ink anyway.
Which is exactly what was supposed to happen.
Giphy
Because you are not looking at a pricing mistake. You are looking at one of the most deliberate business structures in modern commerce, and printer ink is only its silliest example.
The same structure sets the price of a coffee pod. And a water filter. And a hearing aid. And a diabetes test strip. And a replacement part for a tractor. And a cartridge in a medical device that costs a dollar to manufacture and several hundred to buy.