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I agree Archie, I used to breed a bully breed and we sold our pups for around $2500-$3000 a pup but only had about 2 litters per year and sold them to SELECTIVE homes, as a breeder I can tell you that if you are selling your pups at $500 a pup then you are NOT being very selective as to where they are going YOU CANT BE as you would be breeding to many pups to keep track of like that, and would have to breed your dogs 2-3 times as much as a breeder who sells as cheap as $1500 just to make what they are making a year..
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I would personally never spend $2500-$3000 dollars on a dog, AKC or otherwise. I got my purebred yorkie pup for $350 bucks from a backyard breeder. He was originally $400, but the breeder lowered the price upon request since it's pretty obvious he's going to be oversized and there is a smaller market for teapot yorkies than for "teacup" yorkies.
I got to meet the breeder and her family, I interacted with both parents of my dog to check their temperament (the only two dogs the woman owned) and I was given a kit of stuff to go with my puppy (food, etc..). She answered every question I had and allowed me to rub all of my puppy's new toys on his mother and father to reduce separation anxiety. The dog came with a health guarantee and a record of his immunization. The puppies were raised in the home and started on pee pad training. I was allowed to temperament test each one of them.
I don't know anyone who could afford some of the high dollar dogs I see offered by show-quality breeders (not that I'm saying reputable breeders aren't reputable, it's just that I don't think people who breed out of their house as a hobby are necessarily disreputable...)
I think some of the exaggerated ("purified") qualities produced in dog breeds by inbreeding and linebreeding cause more genetic problems than anything else. Some dogs with strong pedigree lines look just as inbred as they are. Then show breeders have the nerve to blame genetic problems on people who throw together two unrelated dogs in a backyard somewhere.
Even dogs which are not perfect as far as conformation goes (oversized, longer muzzle than standard) may contain much healthier genes than a dog which is conformationally perfect, but may carry recessive genes for a variety of devastating diseases...Just because you have your inbred breeding stock x-rayed for hip dysplasia doesn't mean those dogs are guaranteed not to throw dysplastic puppies.
Not everyone who breeds dogs without showing them or belonging to a nationally recognized breed registry is a puppy miller, I guess is what I'm trying to say. People shouldn't be made to feel like they're contributing to animal abuse if they don't pick a top-dollar AKC breeder.