Why are torx screws so expensive?

[Commander Kinsey]

Pack of PZ2 screws, £10. Pack of identical screws, but with a torx head, £50. WTF?

[newshound]

It's a rip-off. Otherwise they would not be so popular on automotive plastic panels.

[Commander Kinsey]

Eh? Surely the car companies don't want to buy expensive screws either.

[gfretwell]

When I look on McMaster Carr I see they are more expensive than Phillips but nothing like 5x.

6mmx25 18-8 SS are about $8 for a box of phillips and $11 for Torx.

They are also far from the cheapest place to buy screws but they have just about anything you need.

[Commander Kinsey]

How big is a box? I just paid £10 for 100 5mmx90mm screws, Pozi 2. The torx equivalent was £50.

[gfretwell]

This was 25 but they were stainless, not regular steel. I was just looking as reference.

[micky]

Still under patent??

[Clare Snyder]

You want to price Head-Lok screws !!!!

[newshound]

I mean YOU are being ripped off. Car companies are not. (I'm thinking about their use to hold rigid plastic in place, like dashboard items, rear lights, etc).

[Commander Kinsey]

I was also buying stainless, non-stainless is useless, they just rust and can't be removed. I got 100 for £10 or £50. Not paying 5 times the price to get torx.

I'm sure you can find a lot cheaper than $8 (about £6?) for only 25.

[Commander Kinsey]

How can you patent a star shape? Wasn't that invented by the universe, mother nature, god, or something? It's too simple to be an "invention".

[Commander Kinsey]

I'm not convinced an 8 point star can take more torque than a 6 point star.

[Commander Kinsey]

Ah, clips. The most irritating invention ever. Everything should always be screwed together. It's one of the reasons I hate Macs. I guess they're trying to save money.

[Commander Kinsey]

How childish. It's way too basic a thing to copyright.

Wifi is infinitely more complicated than a star shape on a piece of metal.

[Commander Kinsey]

How am I being ripped off? Car company A uses torx everywhere. Car company B uses Pozi everywhere. Car company B can make their car cheaper. More people buy their cars.

[newshound]

FFS if you are paying five times the price for Torx you are being ripped off.

[Clare Snyder]

If a slightly more expensive screw saves a fraction of a second per screw due to working better on automated machinery it's a win-win for everyone. Torques screws don't fall off the driver or slip like Philips screws and look a whole lot better than square drive Robertsons.

[rbowman]

Tell that to Textron. The original patent expired, but Torx Plus made some modifications and started the clock again. 'Torx' is a trademark and those don't expire.

[Richard]

Don't argue with him, find something to sell to him.

[micky]

Here's the history of the patent on the Philips head screwsdriver. I think an X is even simpler than a star.

1936-07-07 Application granted 1936-07-07 Publication of US2046837A 1953-07-07 Anticipated expiration

but then it occurs to me that more on point is Torx patent history:

2012-12-05 Application filed by Burton Kozak 2012-12-05 Priority to US13/705,374 I don't know what this line means 2014-06-05 Publication of US20140150613A1 or this 2015-06-30 Application granted 2015-06-30 Publication of US9067307B2 2020-01-29 Application status is Active 2033-05-11 Adjusted expiration

There you go.

This might be why USB-C cables are 6 dollars or more while USB-A to micro are 2 dollars or maybe less. Maybe not because 2028-01-15 Anticipated expiration of micro usb

many things to look up regarding usb-A.