I'm not suggesting people that have a stash always complain about price - not so because they can obviously afford a stash. But rather, those that complain about price, tend to have a stash - because their hobby is around collecting, not building.
As for dragon's PE, I suggested a possible explanation. The short version is they don't give a rat and them not givng a rat about quality of PE does not impact their bottom line, so it is the correct business decision.
The LONG version:
Dragon is a kit manufacturer, and despite what I would like to believe otherwise, majority of kit buyers, ie the market do not build with PE to know better. I would pull random number out of my *** by saying 95% of kits kits ended up on a stash somewhere until they are put up on ebay or garage/estate sale. Thus is the life of a typical model kit.
The logo doens't mean anything (eg ship-wise, Japanese manufacturers do not produce their PEs, they are all outsourced yet all frets comes with their logo. Having a logo means nothing, just like most textile business puts on the logo as the last step.) However I think it is likely Dragon produces their own PE, because they are applying the same style of PE on ships as their armour kits - simple, single relief, thick. The point is, they only need to make them just good enough to attract the 'it includes a nice fret of etch' reviews.
What's the incremental benefit of adding 'good to use PE' vs 'good to look in the box PE' for dragon? Not much as the majority of the consumers cannot tell the difference.
What's the cost of doing product development and adding the improved PE to every box? Dragon adds too much, the casual modelers (who don't build btw) will cry "we don't use them anyway, why is priced in the kit?" Dragon adds too little, the competitors may add an equally irrelevant but bigger fret and you are at a competitive disadvantage.
AM sets will be better than dragon's kit stock items. It is not due by design, but simply business.
AM sets have a different target market: those that seek them out has the intention and/or ability to use them. They are willing to pay a premium, but also tend to be more picky, and more research/correctness is required in the product. Dragon cannot do that because to include AM quality PE in every kit is forcing the average consumer to pay for something they don't want - so dragon cannot charge the same premium price and hence it will be a poor business decision. Nor should they do a 'vanialla' kit and a 'premium' kit - they tried it in their earlier 1/700 releases - I would wager the cost of maintaining two kit lines, for the stockists to keep 2 of the same kit in the inventory etc is not worth the trouble.