"the items are GOING to increase in value anyway since they retire at the end of the month. This artificial inflation on this is literally worse than anything I've ever seen in a pet site before."

^They haven't increased the prices to inflate the values of the items, they've increased the prices to account for inflation of the economy.

I think it's a great idea to personally. :x Money sinks are good, otherwise we'll just end up with a currency (potatoes) that isn't worth much. 6k potatoes isn't worth as much now as it was last month due to the amount of potatoes being generated, it's a good idea to get more of them out of circulation.