Yeah I hated the pruning too but
Why? There’s no reason to quit, if you still enjoy raiding or M+ or whatever it is you do what difference does it make if other people have good gear?
Technically you’re right, technically all they are doing is facilitating the transfer of gold between players and charging a fee for the service. Blizz isn’t actually selling gold but that’s one of those things where people are still going to give you the stink eye about it 
No I mean implementation is a thing. The implementation can be the biggest grind the world has ever seen and as long as people enjoy it no one will care.