It has come a long way since these levels
And this was my "Big earner" in June 2015
Personally I don't have an issue with it any more, it is a game play concession, that differs from the universe presented in the Lore, but gameplay usually wins
The Impression I always got was
We started, at least back around 1.0, with a Sidewinder ( and a single fixed pulse laser) and 100 Credits
That 100 Credits was all the money we had saved to our name until the Mysterious Benefactor had provided the Sidey
This Sidewinder was worth a life time of earnings to our character before they had a Pilots licence, and are faced with the immediate issue of having a huge asset and oppertunity, but at the same time a huge liability and expense, as suddenly the berthing fees and fuel costs are more than the money you have in your bank account, let alone service and repair costs, and bio waste trading was all one could afford.
Akin to waking up one day to find someone has gifted you one of these to make your fortune with.
By the way the insurance is due, and it is berthed at $300 a day and is out of fuel, and will need an overall of her machinery in the not too distant future; but she is all yours to make your fortune with
Earning enough to cover costs was the first win, and then being able to afford that second pulse laser a milestone.
At least that is my impression and how I run my Pen and Paper RPGs
Now a new Cmdr starts with 10,000 Credits, a ship with two gimballed pulse lasers, a simple travel from A to B intro mission that pays 100,000 Credits and factions that regularly offer missions that are delivery a courier package with no damage to a system one jump away where they already have a presence and their own ships, that will pay the price of three new Sidewinders that could do the same trip.
Now that is a game-play compromise and I am not saying it is bad, or good, just simply that the CR numbers presented in the current game in no way reflect the lore that has been presented at the world the characters live in, nor the pre 1.0 balances where ships did actually pay docking fees in the form a fuel levy on larger ships, payouts where much smaller & running costs maintenance costs where higher.
I still RP that the only ship my Cmdr owns is their Sidewinder, and even that still has the Loaner Fuel tank.
Any other ship I use is on loan by the faction I am running the missions or CG for