Yes, Serge, but Tom is a bit of a special case as the single designated FAA DPE for Europe. The two considerations there are :
- Tom has to make a living out of it
- Tom sets his fee taking into account that the alternative of his applicants is taking a trip to the US (in Economics we call this monopolist pricing).
I personally think that Toms price setting is not ideal, and that by lowering his fee he would attract not only more customers, but also increase his overall revenue. Quite a few candidates still prefer to go to the US, because it provides them with an additional opportunity to build (twin) hours at a much lower rate.
Saint-Charles Flying Service (Saint-Charles, MO)*, for instance, rents out a Duchess for around $250/hour wet to qualified pilots. Which compares to prices of €500+/hour dry that you pay in Europe (if you can find one).
*MODS: No advertisement intended, many other flight schools in the North-Central region will rent out their planes to checked-out and insurance qualified pilots, when they are not used for instruction. Interested readers are encouraged to do some Google searches combined with the AOPA member services (Airport information in the flight planning section also contains listings of FBO's / Flight Schools)
And the two examiners I know in the greater St. Louis area charge $250 and $300 respectively for a check ride.