Hard to answer this one; my first response was, "Is it possible NOT to overprice high-end gear?"
A former business associate used to RAISE the prices of stuff that did not sell, and heavens to mercy, he was successful in many items. Some people judge items by their price, so he played on that situation and it worked. Nutty.
After spaking with Bill Johnson in the 1970's when we sold his products, I learned what it took to do what he wanted to do. It was one thing to build an amp for a few friends (See McIntosh beginnings) and another to build a product to sell worldwide. What I learned is that aiming for perfection is expensive. One example he gave me: He spec'd the top 10% of an item from a manufacturer. When 100 came in, he had to measure each one (a PERSON on the payroll does this). He told me that even though he spec'd top 10%, he RETURNED 20+% of each order since they did not meet his high standards.
SO, if you are building a car by hand or an audio piece spec'd a certain way, it costs more than it would if you were building mass-produced stuff.
As for the silly prices I see today on some things, I always wonder how they could possibly be any better than, for example, in speakers, Magnepan. I realize their best stuff ain't cheap, but I have no idea what could be more accurate no matter how much money you spend.
Finally, since YOUR ROOM is the most important part of ANY system, it seems odd that speakers, for example, could cost that much (regardless of the cost of making them) since even Maggies are not good for EVERY room.
As almost everyone on here preaches, you have to take the gear HOME to see if it is good for YOUR ROOM, regardless of the price.
Cheers!