Because otherwise there would now be thousands of chests littered around the Wild. The purpose of a Lockable chest being so expensive is to make you think: "Do I really need a secure chest here?" Chances are you don't unless you're going to make a permanent Wild home like a few people have chosen to do so. In most cases, you can take what you've gathered, head back to Town, dump it and come back out. If the answer to that is: "I'm too far away from the Spawn to keep hopping back and forth to Town" Then the chances are, you don't need a secure chest in the first place!
He just told you. So you actually think about what you're doing. The EMC staff is discouraging mindlessness by making it so expensive; also it prevents abuse of the lock system. No, it shouldn't be cheaper. In fact, it should probably be more expensive.
Ultimatly it is only 500R because when you get rid of the chest you get a 500R refund. Anyways the point of the cost is to make them a luxury, knowing that your stuff is safe. I only use it for the stuff I store at the OoO because it is a very public area.
