So I've been wondering this a while... why is it that Marvel collected editions, be them trades or hardcovers or whatever, are so much more expensive than DC? The price discrepancy is pretty ridiculous, actually (by the way, just talking about MRSP in stores here, online obviously the prices can be dropped quite a bit).

Take for example, the Night of the Living Deadpool trade paperback. It contains 4 issues because it was a mini-series and was priced at $16.99 USD. Now, take the Batman Hush trade paperback. It contains the 12 issues of the arc and is priced at $19.99 USD. I think that's pretty ridiculous. Most of the time, Marvel's trades are nearly paper thin, and they cost so much. DC's trades, particularly with the New 52, are very reasonably priced and you usually get at least 6-7 issues per trade at around $14.99 USD each (sometimes if they include more issues they're around $16.99 or $18.99) not to mention there's usually at least a few extras included like script pages or early pencils.

Does anyone know why this is? It's gotten to the point where I can't buy a lot of Marvel collected editions that I'd love to get because they're just too dang expensive. My collected edition shelf contains a vast majority more of DC titles over Marvel because they're more reasonable (of course, there's always exceptions, but overall, DC is much cheaper). I'm going to have to hunt for good deals on Marvel collected editions online rather than grab them from my LCS, which is a shame, because I'd much rather give the money to a local business but they're just too expensive and you don't get enough for your money.

Any thoughts?