Re the price of aspirin:

Generally the retail price is pretty reasonable. The "cost of manufacture" is a very tiny part of the retail price, but distribution, packaging, stocking, and inventory costs are not too far out of line. In the US, the "name brand" Bayer runs about 2x to 3x the price of generic brands, but is often worth the difference. The generics often degrade more rapidly, and the low price per pill often comes with the need to buy enormous quantities of some generics, most of which will be "vinegar pills" by the time people use the last half of the bottle. I will buy generics in quantities up to about 300 pills occasionally, but I can usually get the name brand in similar quantities if I watch for the occasional sale, for about 20% more per pill - and I have occasionally tossed 25% of a bottle of generics because they smell too bad by the time I get close to the end of the batch.

US hospital patients are entitled to itemized bills, that should show every pill they get. The "cost" shown is the "cost of dispensing" and runs $15 US to as much as $70 US per pill at different hospitals in my area. The $3.00 bottle of 100 aspirin, dispensed one at a time at the hospital could cost you from $1,500 to $7,000 - but you're not paying just for the aspirin, you're paying for getting it delivered.(?)

Re the ink cartridges:

There's no question that HP, and other printer mfrs, want you to recycle the cartridges rather than refilling them. They quite probably do refill and resell them as new. The office supply place that trades a ream of paper ($3.00) for each one turned in almost certainly sells the empties to aftermarket refillers - probably for pretty close to $3.00 each.

For the ultimate rip-off where you pay atrocious amounts and get little, one should really consider local and state governments; but I don't think that's within the intended scope of the original question. It's wholesale, not retail.

John