I asked these questions to the people who should know, the people who were charging these amounts. The answer I received was disheartening. We haven't had any complaints. At Camelot Vault , there is currently a poll running in the sideband. Pricing isn't based on 'standards', that's called price fixing.
Pricing is based on costs, supply, and demand.
There should be concrete numbers backing up any decision on pricing. When Origin first started, this data wasn't available. Now it's available in droves. Ultima Online wouldn't still be around if it was losing money. The other choices in the poll at Camelot Vault show another misconception the users there have.