Yea they are. My Copics would've cost me around 250$, but i got them for only 188$ because of the magic of the internet.
I also got a 6 piece set for skin tones
They are expensive, but in the long run you save money, because you can refill and replace nibs on the markers.
1 refill can fill up the maker around 10 times with the refill costing about 7$.
If i would've gotten prismacolor markers and run out of ink on the black one, i would pay 5$ more every time i ran out.
So if i ran out of black on a copic marker and refilled it 10 times it would cost me 7$.
If i ran out of black on a prismacolor barker and bought it 10 times it would cost me 50$.
Plus if I break the nib on a prismacolor i'm screwed.
Now have a raven.