Newbie Questions On PCGS And NGC Grading Fees, Etc

First off, I find it very odd that PCGS/NGC want more money to grade higher value coins. I totally get the fact that a declared value is necessary for insuring the coins during shipment to them, while in their possession, and when shipping back to me. But I see no logical reason why they need more money to grade a $3,000 coin vs. a $300 coin. There is nothing about the coin itself that makes it more challenging to grade, etc. Is there a good reason for the higher fee for higher value coins? I know this just comes down to around $13/coin, which is the difference between "economy" tier and "regular" (PCGS) or "standard" (NGC) tier, but these extra fees can add up!

PCGS wants $149 or $249 just for a seat at the table, and gives 4 grading vouchers and 8 vouchers, respectively at these two membership levels, "gold" and "platinum", respectively. The base level ("silver") of $69 provides no coupon/discount towards grading. So I'd get $88 in grading value (4 vouchers) or $176 in grading value (8 vouchers) at the $300 max value tier ("economy"), and my other $61(i.e., $149-$88) and $73(i.e., $249-$176), respectively, would just go to PCGS and I get nothing in return. If my coins fall in the "regular" max value tier (>$300 and up to $2,500), I'm paying $35/coin, so either very close or exceeding the total cost of membership with the 4 or 8 vouchers ($140 or $280 value from the vouchers at the "regular" $35/coin tier).

So it seems PCGS is a bit elitist in that if your coins' value are $300 or less, then they want you to pay them quite a lot of money to make it worth their while to grade your coins. If your coins are valued between $300 and $2,500, then you don't pay them much extra (beyond the $35/coin, which is relatively a lot for one coin considering they can certainly do it for $22 but want more $ for higher value coins; see first bullet above)...and at the "platinum" level, they actually give you a small discount on that $35/coin grading fee (i.e., $31 discount for 8 coins; $280($35/coin x 8 vouchers) minus $249 membership fee.

NGC seems much more straight forward! At the "premium" membership level they charge $149 per year, but give you a credit of $150! I like the idea of a straight credit, rather than grading "vouchers", as it seems you can use the credit for other things like the $8/coin "NGC Photo Vision" or the $5/coin Scratch-Resistant Holder, is that correct?

Regarding the imaging, this seems like a no-brainer for me; a few bucks extra for really nice photos. Unfortunately, GreatCollections doesn't seem to even use the great imaging that some of the coins already have via the TPG (and I think GreatCollections could certainly do better with their in-house imaging). But for the registry set or for sharing one's collection with other collectors, these images are great. PCGS charges $5/coin for "TrueView image", which is included with their "Gold shield". NGC charges $8/coin for "Photo Vision", which seems analogous to the PCGS "TrueView". NGC's $5/coin "internet imaging" seems very sub-par! Also, I noticed that when one uses the NGC verification tool (app or website), the "Photo Vision" imagery does not come up (when it exists), whereas PCGS's "TrueView" imagery certainly does come up when using their verification tool.