One of the main reasons paintball equipment is relatively expensive is because of research and development.
Yeah , the materials used are sometimes dirt-cheap, but an awful lot of money is spend on R&D (you didn't think the Angel was designed after a night of beer and curry, did you). Also, there are a number of other 'fixed' costs (like rent), all of which have to be earned back from a relatively small market. Therefore all these things are expensive. Funny thing is, prices won't go down as long as the market doesn't grow a lot, and the market won't grow a lot, unless the prices come down (how does one retain one's underground status....).
Despite popular belief, most paintball companies are NOT making a killing. Because of the above mentioned reasons profit margins in paintball are quite low (I know this because I used to do sales at a distributor's), lower than any branch I have worked in.
Something that IS expensive is merchandise. Some of the caps that are being sold with a brand name embroidered on them are soooooooooooo stupendously expensive (this I know because I've had caps and tee shirts and so on made on several occasions). However, this understandable too, because people are willing to pay that kind of money for it, so it's a relatively easy way for these companies to make some easy money.
It's nothing that any other company outside of paintball wouldn't do.
So, to sum it all up, if you want the price of year gear and paint to come down, get everybody you know involved! If every player out there would get 5 people into the sport, that would seriously bring down the price of things. But that's just not likely to happen, because at the moment it's just too expensive to get started for some people.
Peace.
