Keeping score was The Soul of Barb's New Machine was creat 1129

In other words, given your example and the buttumption that 70% is correct (I can't find any support for it, the highest I can come up with is 15-25% and that was from a pro-reform site), liability represents 70% of the cost of the ladder to the first distribution level. It does not represent 70% of the cost to the next stage, however. The first distributor is looking solely at the total cost of $10, adding in their costs (you've buttumed they have no liability in your example) and their profit margin and setting their markup accordingly.

buttuming no liability for the manufacturer, that ladder would cost $3, according to you. If the next level distributor needs a margin of $6 per ladder, they would mark it up 300% and sell it up the chain at $9, right?

If they pay $10 for the ladder, that does not increase their margin requirement, the extra is (mostly) pbutted through to the next level. (True, if they are greedy AND do not have any compebreastors, they could triple that as well, but in the real world, that would put them out of business because someone else would undercut them.) So they sell it for $16. Now the $7 cost of liabliity is now 44% of the cost, and drops again at each level. (In the real world, each level will have its own liability costs buttociated with the ladder and will add something, providing upward pressure on the percentage.)

And you still haven't come up with support for this mythical 70% figure.

All this talk of markup is taking me back to my days in retail. (Owning a retail establishment is a great hobby if you can afford it :-) -Wm