I found these adorable Ariel swim fins at Toys R Us, and couldn't resist them for our mermaid-obsessed granddaughter. They were on sale, and I thought $14 wasn't unreasonable, because—well, because I am a grandmother, I suppose.
At the same time, we needed an auto booster seat for our grandson. I found this cool seat at Walmart. The cost: $13.
A seat designed to keep a child safe costs less than a pair of child's swim fins? More than 13% less, actually, since there was no sales tax on the car seat.
It could mean that the fins are vastly overpriced, but I prefer to think that the manufacturer and the state are conspiring to put travel safety within everyone's reach. You can spend multiple hundreds of dollars for a child's car seat—but you don't need to.
Where were the swim fins and the car seat manufactured? That might help explain things...
Both, as you might expect, were made in China.