The discount that costs more than the original

So in preparation for voice being introduced to Second Life, they've partnered with a company to sell headsets, and are offering this "discount" deal costing a mere $80. One should note two things here, however. Number one is that this is the "featured" headset, meaning it's the most expensive, the one they'd love you to buy. If you click the "Selected Headsets" link, there are cheaper offers. Number two is that you can buy it a LOT cheaper elsewhere.

Let's look at some figures. All of the figures don't include postage and packing, but I have no reason to believe that the prices of other stores are vastly different.

The "discount" store has the Plantronics Audio 450 Portable PC Headset priced at $23.42 The cheapest I could find this for was actually from Hewlett Packard's store, where it was $17.28 - no sign of a discount here.

The next most expensive is the Plantronics Audio 370 at $36.82 - ZipZoomFly.com were cheapest for this one, at $28.50; again, no genuine discount in sight here.

Next up we have the Plantronics Audio 510 USB Headset: "Discount" price from Linden's partner: $46.87 - so what price can I get it for with a quick google search? $35.68 from TheNerds.net - three nil down.

Their next most expensive headset is the Plantronics DSP-400 PC Headset weighing in at a hefty $53.57 from the "discount" partner of Linden Labs. Best price I could find? $36.90 from Techonweb.com - can we make it a full house?

Apparently we can. As previously mentioned the "feature" - read "most expensive" - headset is the Plantronics Audio 550 Binaural USB Headset with DSP at a stonking $80.37. Quick search on that one and Mwave.com are the cheapest, at $51.91 nearly $30 cheaper than the "discount" offer from Linden Labs.

So I have to ask, Linden Labs - Where the hell is the discount you (or rather your partner) is promising? Every single headset they're selling is not discounted, it's actually more expensive than other retailers, in some cases nearly $30 more expensive.

This is false advertising. There's no discount. There's a backhander. We're being ripped off. And then they want to us to trust their choice of "honest" companies with Integrity for age verification?

No thanks!