cost  be  sell  retail  set sb back sth

These are all words that can be used when sth costs a particular amount of money and you need to pay that amount in order to buy, make or do it.

cost if sth costs a particular amount of money, you need to pay that amount in order to buy, make or do it: How much did it cost?  All these reforms will cost money (=be expensive).  This is costing the taxpayer £10 billion a year.

be to cost: ‘How much is that dress?’ ‘Eighty dollars.’

sell to be sold at a particular price: The painting sold for £10 000 at auction.

retail (business) to be sold in a shop/store at a particular price: The book retails at £14.95.

SELL OR RETAIL?

Sell is a more general word than retail which is use mostly in Business English, and only for goods that are sold to the public through shops/stores.

set sb back sth (informal) to cost sb a particular amount of money: The repairs set him back over £200.

PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS

 How much does this cost/is this?

 That costs/will set you back a lot of money.

 The product sells/retails for/at £9.95.