earn $50 million a year installing 8GB DIMMs at Dell

I got an m6600 in July. Wanted to get 16GB RAM.
I looked at Dell's prices for memory upgrades, and nearly choked. I decided to order it with 2GB RAM, and then ordered two pairs of 4GB DIMMs from NewEgg (Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model KHX1600C9S3K2/8GX).

From the Dell Online Store: Build My Dell:

Currently Selected: 4.0GB, DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS
Help Me Choose
1600Mhz Extreme Performance Memory
16.0GB, DDR3-1600MHz SDRAM, 4 DIMMS [add $640.00]
8.0GB, DDR3-1600MHz SDRAM, 4 DIMMS [add $255.00]
4.0GB, DDR3-1600MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS [add $40.00]
1333Mhz Advanced Performance Memory
32.0GB, DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM, 4 DIMMS [add $5,660.00]
16.0GB, DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM, 4 DIMMS [add $470.00]
8.0GB, DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS [add $175.00]
8.0GB, DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM, 4 DIMMS [add $175.00]
4.0GB, DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS [Included in Price]

So that works out to about
$160 per 4GB 1600MHz DIMM.
$117 per 4GB 1333MHz DIMM.
$1415 per 8GB 1333MHz DIMM. (yowza!)

The Kingston 4GB 1600MHz DIMMs I bought are $69.99/pair ($35 per DIMM) at Newegg.
Huge difference. More than 4x price.

On the other hand, if I navigate to:
Small Office (1-9 employees) › Accessories › Memory
I get:

You've searched for Precision M6600:
Showing 5 Results:

Dell
4 GB Dell Certified Replacement Memory Module for Dell Precision M6600 Workstation
Usually Ships 1-2 weeks
Manufacturer Part# SNPFYHV1C/4G Dell Part# A5327547
Technology: DDR3 SDRAM
Memory Speed: 1600 MHz ( PC3-12800 ) Data Integrity Check: Non-ECC
Market Value $44.99 - Instant Savings $4.50 = Dell Price $40.49

Dell
4 GB Dell Certified Replacement Memory Module for Dell Precision M6600 Workstation
Usually Ships Within 24 Hours
Manufacturer Part# SNPX830DC/4G Dell Part# A5184173
Technology: DDR3 SDRAM
Memory Speed: 1333 MHz ( PC3-10600 ) Data Integrity Check: Non-ECC
Market Value $44.99 - Instant Savings $4.50 = Dell Price $40.49

Dell
8 GB Dell Certified Replacement Memory Module for Dell Precision M6600 Workstation
Usually Ships Within 24 Hours
Manufacturer Part# SNPYR6MNC/8G Dell Part# A5184174
Market Value $349.99 - Instant Savings $35.00 = Dell Price $314.99

...and two more... 2GB,1600MHz @ $59.99 & 2GB,1333MHz @ $23.99 ...

These prices seem pretty reasonable. ~17% higher than Newegg's Kingston sets, but not outlandish.

I'm assuming that these are the same DIMMs that Dell would install in the factory.

So, it looks to me like Dell charges $120 to install each 4GB 1600MHz DIMM.
And $1100 (!!!!) to install an 8GB DIMM.

I figure I could install a set of 4 DIMMs in an m6600 in about 10 minutes. That's 48 * 4 = 192 DIMMs in an 8-hour workday. If I worked at Dell, and specialized in installing 8GB DIMMs, I could earn $1100*192 = $211200 per day.
With 4 weeks vacation, that's over $50 million/year.
This is somewhat more than my current pay rate. I double-checked my last paycheck, to be sure.
Of course, I'd probably have to start out installing the cheap 2GB DIMMs, which works out to only $2.9 million/year. And work hard so I could get promoted to 4GB DIMMs ($5MM/year) and finally to the top job.

Surely I can't be the first person to notice this incredible disparity between
Dell's memory prices for installed vs not-installed. Am I missing something here?

If I'd noticed this disparity when I ordered my m6600, I'd have probably ordered the RAM from Dell (but install it myself) rather than order it from Newegg. Just so it'd all be officially-Dell-approved.

 

The reason for the high price is because some end users use corporate account for purchases. Some people just dont mind spending over $10,000 on a machine with 32gb ram

 

Also, when you order on corporate account, you get massive savings. Back when I ordered my m4400 when it first came out, I was quoted half the price if I were to order 5 units or more

 

When ordering laptops or even desktops I always order the smallest ram and hard drive configuration possible, also in laptops order the best cpu, video card and screen available at the time as the budget allows. Most other OEM's are the same. Ram and hard drives are usually cheaper to install than buy installed although at present hard drive prices are a bit high. You usually can buy a much bigger hard drive based just on what you save on the ram.

True Dell treats corporate accounts and multi unit orders much more favorable. Dell has proven trustworthy and reliable for me over the past decade or so, although their support is not as good as it once was it still is quite acceptable in this hard economy. Their machines have always proven easy to service so I am always wondering why all of the whining.