$500 is super expensive. My LFS, which typically has pretty high prices, gets them in from time to time at $120. No way would I ever pay $500 for one.
Yeah, honestly I probably wouldn’t pay that much either even considering it’s been trained to accept frozen food. I think it has to do with the fact that my “local” fish store is in a very upscale municipality. I doubt they’ll still have it by the time I’ve got the tank set up, so it’s kinda a moot point.