Go ahead and say it. I know you want to.
Down payment on a house is not something a 16/17 year old would need to worry about.. at least in my case. I had a good job. I was paying my bills on time and I still had enough money to put in a savings every two weeks. can i spend my money now?
I think it's the difference in standards. I think those boring phones should cost only about $100-$200.
That reminds me of my earlier point. Have you seen Amazon or any other place that sells phones? Yeah.. they got great deals... like free phone if you sign up or something like you get $40 back etc. That's all good but those phones are a joke... I think I've seen better looking kid's toy phones. If something stands out in a boring line up of US phones then I would pay $800. It's worth it.