Whats the deal with Prestige skins?

I don't know if its just me, but all the work Riot has put into Prestige skins seems lack-luster to me. Prestige as a word defines as

Prestige- _widespread respect and admiration felt for someone or something on the basis of a perception of their achievements or quality. _

To me, that means something you earn. Something that only the best of the best can get. then why does Riot only make these skins available if you buy them? And why is any random Joe or Jane off the street able to purchase them? I understand that Riot is a business and businesses have to make money, but even still, what if these skins only became available to those who achieve mastery rank 7 with the champion or something? To me, that doesn't alienate part of the player base, it actually makes me want to work at these champs to be able to unlock the ability to get the skin.

Now I want to switch the focus of the point of this questioning over to the content of the Prestige skins. Riot, you've created some amazing skins in the Blood Moon Aatrox, the K/DA skins. So why do you degrade the value of the skin by switching it to a white/gold chroma with a slight particle animation change, then charging an exorbitant amount of money for it? **After ** you have to buy the base skin as well? It doesn't make sense past the idea that you are trying to milk people for all they are willing to pay for. I went to school for Business and the one thing they stressed over anything was that you want to make your customers feel valued. You want them to feel like you care about them and not to nickle and dime them for every little produce/service. That's what makes people feel unappreciated the most, when they feel like you care more about their money than them as a person.

Just some food for thought