Is this just like buying gold?

I haven't found a Legends of Norrath booster yet as a drop from a mob in Everquest 2. Rumors have it that they are random world drops, with a chance of 1 in 300 to find one in a chest. But as the chance of getting a chest drop from a monster is already less than 1 in 10, you need to kill thousands of monsters to find a booster. But they do exist. And contrary to what I thought to have understood, the boosters dropping in EQ2 aren't NOTRADE. I've seen several of them on the auction house, going for around 20 platinum pieces each. Having no idea what an EQ2 platinum piece is worth, I googled for EQ2 plat, and found out that 1 platinum piece is worth about $1 US.

So a booster is worth 20 plat, which is worth $20. But you can buy a booster directly from SOE for $3. Thus if you find a booster, transfering it to LoN and opening it there is destroying value. Which poses an interesting moral dilemma: If I would ever find a booster, sold it for 20 plat, and then bought a booster in LoN for $3, would I effectively have bought 20 plat for $3? Would I indirectly have bought gold?