The word that I got is they are trying to hold the price line on the laser cut kits as much as possible. The production run is much slower with laser cutting than die cutting, which must be compensated for in the pricing, but Guillow does not want to change their price point within the industry.
Gee! With an answer like that maybe I should have gone into politics. Anyway, I understand their intent, but I am just as much in the dark as you are about the actual price until they hit the catalog.