Since E-coin sell your bitcoins on exchange, there is a difference between the buy price (most companies show it on the main page) and the sell price (in your e-coin cabinet), called "
spread".
I would call this robbery not spread.
There is no free lunch on the market. Everyone wants to earn it's portion the question is what is the amount he wants to earn. The spread is less conspicuous if the amount is not $1k but less. In real life usually if you exchange currencies above a limit you will get a discount in the spread (better exchange rate). Maybe it should be considered by the service provider in the future, just not to lost it's customers, or the bigger ones at least