cost v
[. . .]
B Sense.
In phr cost more than it comes to: To be more expensive than it is worth.
1790 Farmer’s Jrl. (Danbury CT) [3 June 3]/2, Posset take this education, I say, that costs more than it comes to. 1803 Aurora Genl. Advt. (Philadelphia PA) 22 Dec [2]/4, Justice itself may, be [sic] and is purchased too dear when it cost (like the Indians gun) more than it comes to. 1817 Intelligencer & Weekly Advt. (Lancaster PA) [4 Jan 4]/1, Repair’d it was; the bill brought forth / Exceeded far the firelock’s worth. / ‘More than it come to, costs my gun,’ / Says Indian, ‘me no like such fun.’ 1828 Niles’ Weekly Reg. 34.161/2, Diggings for gold are hardly ever profitable—in common phrase, “it costs more than it comes to.” 1854 (1969) Thoreau Walden 63 MA, It costs more than it comes to. 1871 Cincinnati Daily Enquirer (OH) 12 Sept 2/, [Letter:] They bought an iceberg in the vicinity of the North Pole for seven millions of dollars, which is like the Indian’s gun, it cost more than it comes to. 1884 Anglia 7.262 Sth [Black], To cos’ mo’ an it come ter—not to be worth the trouble. 1929 AmSp 5.126 ME, I want these shoes mended if it does not cost more than it comes to. 1932 Los Angeles Times (CA) 17 May sec 2 4/2, The latter [=the saving in street repair costs] in no event is more than temporary, and apt to cost more than it comes to. 1973 Iola Reg. (KS) 28 Apr 3/5, [Headline:] Aid costs more than it comes to. 2000 Tennessean (Nashville TN) 15 Nov sec E 1/5, “Nothing should cost more than it comes to.” . . —Cal Turner Sr., founder of Dollar General Stores.