Sticker shock

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sticker shock is a United States term for the feeling of surprise experienced by consumers upon finding unexpectedly high prices on the price tags (stickers) of products they are considering purchasing. The term is commonly thought to have originated with high automobile sticker prices in the U.S. in the late 1970s or early 1980s, as inflation and increasing government regulation of automotive safety and environmental issues greatly increased car prices.