Don’t get me wrong, I totally agree, that the balance for items is off, but that does not only affect BP or Bazaar items. For me it is more a sign of balancing incompetence rather than p2win mechanics.
Concerning the torch. I still think it is a bad example, as a longer burn time with so little material requirements, doesn’t give you a big advantage, especially as the free low level torches also last through a whole night.
I only play pve-c, so i might not feel certain things, like the bombproof ceilings.
On scarcity, i took a break from the game and restarted a year ago, in that time i got 8 of those torches without extensive farming of the red mother, so rare yes, very rare, no