Since others have explained why killifishes are priced higher than other tropical fish, this is what I have to add.

@lucas: Indeed they are colourful, just not meant for community life. However, a bunch of Simp. magnificus in a planted tank can be a magnificent sight indeed. You are right in the sense that the wild betta hobby here, is in parallel with the killifish hobby.

@richard: In the past, we had talks on killifish and such, but only a few people would turn up. I remember one, when Wright Huntley, an AKA member, came to Singapore and gave us a talk on his native killifishes. Educating the public is easy if they spend time to trawl the internet for information. We cannot spoonfeed them on a constant basis with information that is easily obtained via the web or through good guide books like the one by Steffen Hellner. I spent time to acquire some antique killifish books like Rivulins of the Old World by Jorgen Scheel. There is no way to make it more affordable however. It is akin to asking an Arowana keeper to pay $50 for a $2500 fish. The price is ultimately decided by the seller. We can have auctions and such, in an informal setting like a hobbyist's home, but without a variety of species to bid on, that is impossible. We did have ONE auction in the past, but with limited choice of species. There was at least 2 mass sales event, but because killifishes do not show their true beauty under stressed conditions (in LFS tanks), it was very hard for buyers to make their choices.

Your wife is correct though. Killifishes is a niche hobby in the larger aquarium hobby, and hence only for people who wish to specialise in them.