Agree, it is pricey. Although, you can find them for $110 on Amazon so I guess if you figure the battery would cost $40 or $50 to buy outright it may not be to bad.
I'm still trying to figure out a decent, functional bag to get. I just bought a used Tarmac large camera bag (19" internal width) to try and I'm not feeling it. lol It's almost to big something I never thought I'd say.