@Katani - You should never sell things on the AH for less than the NPC price. I get annoyed every time I read "please don't NPC this." We're not here to balance the budget! If crafters want items to be sold on the AH, all they need to do is start paying a fair price. There will always be people who want a fast sale, so they list items too low. But crafters, LISTEN UP: every time you try to buy something at a bargain, you might save a few gil; but you hurt yourselves in the long run because sellers will just take 5-6 steps past the AH counter and sell it to the nearest NPC instead. Pay a fair price, and we'll sell at a fair price. Simple.
If you NPC ingredients, the prices rise, and the prices of food in turn rises. So if you want to NPC it rather than selling it on AH, don't be surprised when you end up paying more for your food.
One of the problems is that this item randomly drops in Voidwatch. If this is getting dropped several times over and over again the price on AH is going to drop. The NPC is just a way to combat an excess of supply.