true. If you have alot of bots and already have it set up and running, everything is good. The unlucky ones are the ones who only just started botting with few bots and got banned, without even making any profit yet. And yes, like you mentioned, the true money made is in the items. Gold farming itself isnt really worth the money made. The other thing to look at is your computer. The amount of money spent on my gaming rig $2.5k isnt justified to just leave it straining 5+ bots running 24/7.
Just make sure you have already made positive income more then enough to cover for your next batch after banwave hits. Then you will be in the running of making more.
I just cant seem to imagine ppl spending $250 for an item on d3. Lucky we have those rich kids to fuel our needs.