the second receipt
Every object carries two receipts: the one the register prints, and the one nobody prints. This till prints the second one. Numbers are honest estimates from public teardowns and industry reporting; the shape of them is the point.
Why the gap is not a scandal by itself. Design, failed prototypes, warranties, retail rent and payroll all live inside it, and they are real. The scandal, when there is one, lives in the lines that round to zero: the hands that made the thing, paid like a rounding error.
You cannot shop your way out of that alone. But a person who has seen the second receipt haggles differently, repairs more, and asks better questions of a $7 shirt. That is the product this page sells, for the usual price around here.