"That is outright ridiculous and greedy. Believe it or not this pricing strategy is harmful to bonsai(Especially here in the U.S where bonsai is still growing) because newbies cringe when they see stuff like that and shun off bonsai as an art for the wealthy."
I don't think it's ridiculous or greedy. It is an impressive maple. It took quite a while to produce (if may even be an import--which would add pump up the starting price by $4 or 5 thousand to start, just to get it into the country. Developed arakawa with such nice branching and bark are not common in the US. The seller obviously knows that. Really crappy arakawa turnk chops can go for $1,000. It is the species' rarity, the size and branch development that is driving the price here, not ego.).
The seller is asking what he thinks it's worth. No one is being forced to buy it.
This is hardly a newbie tree. It is not a K-Mart bloodgood. A newbie would not consider it. Even for someone who's been doing bonsai for 20 years now, I wouldn't consider it. I don't have the money, nor would I want to spend that amount on a tree. Doesn't mean someone else wouldn't like to if they've been looking for a nice big, developed cork bark maple for a while.
Whoever buys such a tree could actually HELP cheaper bonsai along. Dealers can rarely make a living off of such "whale" trees and buyers. The seller can use the money to buy other bonsai stuff, establish new trees, buy more stock, etc.