Jesse-- I get what you are saying about the value of the cards themselves, but serious pack collectors, especially ones seeking to put together runs, usually have no intent to ever open the pack. They are paying for the scarcity of the item itself. I have on several occasions paid much more for a pack than the cards inside could possibly be worth, and had plenty of competition for those packs.
One of my worst nightmares is paying a lot for a pack and then having some major find of a hoard of them
