Sure, but this definitely happens. In college, I worked in a lab that used disposable pipette tips to measure/move samples around, which come in small "racks"

Sure, but this definitely happens. In college, I worked in a lab that used disposable pipette tips to measure/move samples around, which come in small "racks" like these https://www.coleparmer.ca/i/thermo-fisher-molecular-bioproducts-a22221prx-mbp-universal-fit-pipette-tips-1000-ul-3-racks-x-200-tips/2571164 https://www.coleparmer.ca/i/thermo-fisher-molecular-bioprodu... We normally got a copy-paper box or two of these at a time, which lasted for a few months. However, one day one of my colleagues, who did not grow up speaking English, placed the order and asked for a huge number of cases, thinking "case" was a synonym for the individual plastic boxes that they came in. It...was not, as we found out when a delivery man appeared up with a motorized pallet jack. He's a bit miffed too: "Is there an easier way to bring up the rest?" The order ended up filling an entire closet and then some. They were still working through them when I left a year later. In retrospect, the price was obviously too high, but it was a small part of a big equipment order--and science stuff is often eye-wateringly expensive anyway.