I don't know about smarter, but he's put in the work on this particular project.
As to big bucks, I wrote a long'ish analysis of the economics of this kind of project -- over on AppleFritter I think, but it might have been here. While his prices seem high, compared to the cost of parts and the volume he may have had assembled (looks like professional assembly, not hand jobs like we do) and the risk, and money tied up in it, his pricing may actually be on the low side.
It's a problem for small projects in which the ultimate volume just isn't known. Anybody watch his auctions on Ebay? Any idea how many of those adapters he sells in a year? Twelve? Fifty-two? One hundred?