If the controller doesn't sell I sure that would have been MS option.  Also i am waiting to see how black friday and Christmas rush goes before I pull the trigger.  During those times you see deals like that and I am in no hurry.

Choice comes at a cost. That's why there isn't a clear cut answer. 

Not just a monitary cost, but an utitlity and design cost as well.

I foolishly went to Best-buy the other thinking I could just pick one up. Needless to say they were sold out same has the Super store and Wal-mart next door. 

It's been sold out ever since, I am hoping to pick one up during black friday.

Would you rather want to be forced to pay $175 for it?

because the controller is meant to be the (at least) 2nd controller for an X1 owner. Those either already have a play and charge kit or prefer to play with regular AA batteries.
Thus the question is: Why pay $25 extra when you already have a play and charge kit?
If there's no one else with whom you regularly play local multiplayer, AA batteries for the standard controller will suffice.

Your best bet is to catch a preorder on one. My company had the controllers with a charge stand for preorder and they sold out in a day, lol.

I ended up trading my 500gb xbox 1 (kept my kinect), and a extra ps3 i had in to gamestop. They gave me 350 for both and I put it towards the Elite console. But with the promotion going on, I also got Black ops 3, and an extra controller free.

I think this promo is doing really well for them, I actually got an IOU for the controller because they ran out. I don't mind though, because that Elite controller is so frickin nice, It really is one of those items you have to use to appreciate. Just like how everybody talk about PSVR.

I pretty much did the same thing sept a couple of Nintendo games and yeah isn't it nice. Even the PS fans at work get jelly of the controller.

The level of customization on this thing is ridiculous. I was overwhelmed by the options when i opened the program up. The fact you can control the sensitivity of the sticks. even those half squezze triggers are tits.

I may trade in my collectors 360 250GB with a shit ton of games if MS puts a few of my unfinished games up. Dead Space 2 & 3, Mass Effect 2 & 3, Resident Evil 5 & 6, Lost Odyssey etc...

Glad you enjoy it! Those underside paddles are certainly a good feature that I wish all controllers had.

The customization software also makes things much better. I use DS4Windows to use my Dualshock 4 on PC, and it has some great stuff, such as custom macros, key modifiers, custom light bar colors/patterns (and also change colors based on battery life), and even using the touchpad to control the PC's mouse cursor.

Makes me wish the PS4 had that level of controller customization.