You do have to pay that price if you don't want to do coinjoins but you want to have your coins mixed, and there are at least two reasons you might want that; mixing cost and effectiveness. You also have to pay that price if the coinjoin company that provides sufficient liquidity thinks you're naughty, which hasn't happened with mixers I've used to use so far.

There is no evidence of ChipMixer being a honeypot. The Justice department page says they've taken it down. No data leaks as far as we can tell.