That's true, and a lot of people refuse to buy overpriced gear. But then there's what we call desperate buyers, who either want the item RIGHT NOW or have the coupons to waste. That makes it so the sellers don't lower their prices.
But honestly everyone, there should be nothing wrong in the economy. And by the way, economics doesn't work on the principle of "we raise prices on what we want to sell." It's either, all prices increase, all prices decrease, or demand increases on a handful of items, not whatever you think would sell fast.
Also, newbies (unless they donate) do not have the coupons to buy a complete elite set for their character. Which means the main buyers are people who've been here a while. Those players should know where the elite quest is and how to do it. This has zero to do with the guides, prices were up way before the wiki was removed.