bored to ¢heapness?

I haunt my local guitar shops quite frequently and my face is well known as the guy that "Likes those ¢heap guitars."  Last week, I was in a local shop, and saw this bass. It was blue, which I liked, but otherwise it was very generic.

The tag said $199. It also said that this was a Washburn XB200.  Any guitar or bass with an X or Z in its name must be good right? So I took it down and tried it out. My first impression is that this bass had been on a diet. I mean, it was THIN, and light. Like Paris Hilton thin. Unappealingly thin. The neck was thin, the body was thin, even the tone was thin.

I mean, it played well, and despite the thin small body had no neck dive.
The sound was OK, nothing spectacular. 

It was simply boring. I mean, just look at it.

I have found that the original list price was in the $450 range back in the early 00's, and online sources indicate that actual sales prices were $220. 

So I am asking, "Why is this bass $200"? Based in its boring-ness, lack of a real heavyweight name, and an orignal sales prices of $220 only 5 yrs ago, this should be $100-150.00. I would buy a used Squier P or Jazz any day instead of this one. Even though it has an X in its name.

The verdict: a cheap bass, but not ¢heapo.