They alienate the vast majjority of their userbase with these ludicrous prices, this why only a very small percentage of F2P gamers actually buy stuff. Lower more reeasonable price structures means more gamefs can justify the purchase. I mean an armour set at $45 I am never going to buy, but armour sets at $5 means I will buy multiple sets.
You can still have expensive stuff for those silly enough to buy them, like those crates.
Its the 'Whale pricing model' used in most of these type of games. Believe it or, the few people buying large price items rather than lots of people buying low price items gets them more money. I've read a few interesting articles on it.