I'm always browsing Amazon's Kindle books and looking at information and prices on books I've heard about. I probably spend from 30 minutes to an hour doing that every day, sometimes more. And I don't find ebook prices to be higher, generally than print books. But sometimes they are.
I agree that it's not often enough to be called anything like rampant, occasionally would describe it better, it's still a bit jarring when I do see it. It does cost less to make and sell an ebook once there's a print book. Also there's the long tail of the ebook, which should affect pricing.
We live in a capitalist society and cost isn't always what determines price. Demand is probably the more important factor. Whim is probably a factor at times, as well. And that's as it should be. But when you're looking at a page with both formats and the ebook costs more it's disconcerting. The sellers aren't taking into consideration the appearance of cheating. I think it's bad marketing. Of course my marketing experience ended after my first day of running an after school lemonade stand so I may not be an expert.
Still, it does look bad even if it's not bad. It's about greed and that's what makes capitalism work. But in this case it's in your face greed. It's ugly.
Barry