Responses to several posts above in no particular order.

Craftsman hand tools used to be top quality, and may still be for all I know. They had a lifetime guarantee, and when one actually did break while in use by a friend of mine it was replaced at no charge per the guarantee.

On their Kenmore major appliances they used to have the manufacturers use non standard, or reversed threading so you'd have to use Sears servicers; I don't know if this is still the case.

Sears is not the only company charging prices which may seem excessive. For most brands of dishwashers, for instance, replacing a rack can cost more that half the original cost of the machine new. I once had to replace the plastic control knob on a dishwasher. The knob cost $25, and that was with a courtesy discount since I was in the industry. A replacement glass refrigerator shelf can cost upwards of seventy-five dollars.

A magazine I subscribe to charges shipping and handling based on the dollar amount of the order of products (books and related) from them.
The charges at $100 are $12.50. I ordered a library on a single CD-Rom disc ($105) which weighs mere ounces, and probably actually can ship for about a dollar. In reading through the offers, I could have bought five actual books from them for the same shipping cost...books which would have weighed, in aggregate, perhaps 2 or 3 pounds, and which would have required more time and effort in packaging. Makes no sense to me, except greed.