Yes! AF is the biggest rip off of our generation. Simply put, If you're buying mass produced jeans -- AF, AE, Hollister, and Disel are good examples -- for $80 you deserved to get ripped off. If I had $80 dollars to spend on jeans I could easily get customed tailored jeans MADE FOR ME at any of the multiple boutiques in town. Of course thats not to say that I ever have anywhere close to that kind of money for pants.
And I too get most of my clothes diggin around random bins, but finding good pants at thrift shops are really tough, mostly because most of the pants at thrift shops have the most fucked up sizes like 30X45 or 40X28. Although you can find good pants sometimes.