Is it true that the U.S. pays rediculous amounts of money for military supplies, etc?

I bought a couple ammo cans today for ammo storage as well as other things. Anyway, my grandfather later asked me how much I wound up paying for them because the guy in the shop told me that surplus items are hard to get because the government is holding onto their stuff and recycling. Anyway, I paid 17 bucks for one can. He told me that the government pays a lot for simple things like ammo cans and that if someone got a contract with them, they could be millionaires in just a couple of years. Is it true that the government would pay that much just for a single ammo can as well as other things they need manufactured?