the example i started with was a can of beans
a friend of mine once worked in a canning plant
and all of the cans contained the same product
but some of the cans had different labels
and on the store shelf
some of those labels are consistently marked at a higher price
knowing what i know now
i am no longer purchasing items with those labels
specifically because they seem deceptive
None of that is a scam. Caveat emptor. If they weren't beans then it would be a scam. If they were a different type of beans than advertised, that would be a scam.
Is Almond Milk a scam?
Still doesn't explain what intrinsic value any product has and when it suddenly becomes price gauging as opposed to priced accordingly.
why are monopolies bad ?
I've already answered that.
you alluded to "price-gouging" without saying "price-gouging"
It's not price gauging, it could lead to that, it could simply be "acceptable" prices it still would undermine free market. Monopoly isn't known for price gauging, it's known for undercutting the market and cornering it by undecuting it, you can't have a monopoly by price gauging. I asked you to define or explain by what virtue a product has a certain price, which is what you claimed makes a scam if it were otherwise.
the point of monopoly is to control pricing
that's the only point
sure, you may be able to expand your share by under-cutting on price, for some period of time
but once you run off your competitors
you are then free to raise your prices without worry that customers will flee to a competitor
and you can leverage your dominant position to buy-up any new up-starts and or erect complicated legal barriers to block them from your private playground