Goggles left a bad taste in my mouth
No, I didn't eat the goggles! But, because they were displayed along with handcrafted merchandise, and because their name-brand hang-tags had been removed, and because I didn't examine them closely enough, I thought I was buying a hand-made item, to serve as a nice souvenir of Anthrocon as well as being useful for a costume I have in mind. When I got them home and took a closer look, I saw the tiny "golden-snitch" motif at the sides and the "WB" logo at the strap. Looked it up online... and they not only are mass-produced licensed merchandise but they also retail at the WB website for LESS THAN HALF what I paid for them. Bummer. Totally my fault for not checking more closely, and for making assumptions, but on the other hand, why were the WB hang-tags removed? And did the price really have to be more than twice regular retail?
MY EYES! THE GOGGLES, THEY DO NOTHI--... rip people off, that's what they do. -.-
The best that can be said for the dealer is that you were paying for the convenience of availability---same reason why a Coke costs more at the corner 7-11 than the supermarket a few miles down the road, or the same cold bottle of water that sets you back $4 on a hot day in South Beach can be had for $1 at the CVS a few blocks inland.
If the dealer advertised them as "hand-made," however (rather than that just being your impression), then that would be a different story.
That is pretty shady... I think this really falls under the 'buyer beware' category. I'd go check the ones in the store to ensure that yours weren't built off that base and then customized, but if you really feel you've been jacked here I'd say the best option would be to find the person who was selling them in the dealer's den and bring it up with them.
I'm not in the dealer's den department, btw, they may have some additional insight - I just feel bad you feel that way. :]