Gripe

Normally, I wouldn't use this space to complain about something, but I'm hoping maybe there's someone out there who can explain this to me...

WHY IS LIGHTING SO EXPENSIVE?

I have been dying to replace our tacky ceiling lights in the two extra bedrooms, the hall, and the entryway.  I look and I look and I look, and I come up with options that are just way to expensive for what they are, in my opinion.  I just want something semi-plain and not tacky at a good price - something under $50 would be nice since I have so many to replace.  I mean, it's a few wires and a little glass or metal?  Why so pricey?

Because our ceilings are regular height and these are for high traffic areas (versus over the dining table), I need flush mount, semi-flush mount or something that has a very adjustable pendant length and won't look too stupid hung close to the ceiling.

This isn't awful, but it doesn't have very good reviews, and it's a little traditional for our taste:

This is okay, but it's larger than I want, and I feel like it just needs the edison bulb, and I would prefer to use the long-lasting CFLs...

Ohmigosh.

Searching the home improvement and lighting sites is just depressing - there's so many awful options and they're so expensive that I feel like I should stand in the lighting section and just warn people off.

"Stop - that is horribly tacky!  Don't do it! Don't waste your hard-earned money on something that no one under the age of 92 would think looks good!"