If your apps are not featured on the front page, the so called exposure is close to zero. There used to be a new released category which lists new apps, and honestly that is a VERY good channel for exposure, although the window is just about 3 days. Now, even that is gone.
So what apple does is basically hosting + payment. No way that is worth a flat 30%.
Certainly there's a way. I left a comment above that a number of cc payment providers, those who cut you a check instead of making you bring your own merchant account, take 15%, without any of the other things Apple is doing. Rep'ing someone's product should naturally cost more than that.
More to the point, the general idea of retail in the United States is not "flat markup", but what the market will bear. Costco claims to have a flat markup, but go into a jewelry store and you'll find they're taking a lot more than 30% over what the wholesaler charged them.
As an app seller, you're the wholesaler and you get to set "suggested retail price". You have the bonus of knowing the spread there.
Let's look at a console game: $7 console fee (call that 10%) and 25% retail markup, so you're paying 35%, which is more than the app store.[1] Before you feel bad about that, look at what the shelf space guys (aka "retailers") get as markup on a few other items.[2]
"Certainly there's a way. I left a comment above that a number of cc payment providers, those who cut you a check instead of making you bring your own merchant account, take 15%, without any of the other things Apple is doing. Rep'ing someone's product should naturally cost more than that."
Sure there are. There are also plenty that will do exactly the same thing for 3%, give or take.
So what apple does is basically hosting + payment. No way that is worth a flat 30%.