And the unfortunate "solution" to that is the following.

Thing = $399

Plastic case of $thing = $1000

And I only wish I were kidding. I've seen plenty of things put out for washers, dryers, stoves, refrigerators, and vehicles that have that sort of insane "might as well buy it new" pricing schemes.

Planned obsolescence is one of those things I think future generations will look back on with regret, like dumping industrial waste into rivers and waterways (a common practice during the time period).