Lori,
I will take my guesses as to answers to two of the questions!
The two-color fabrics costing as much as the 18-color ones? I think you are right, about the cost-averaging. They know most shops will probably pick up a couple of the simple coordinates, along with the more complicated prints. And it actually does bother me, too, the cost being the same. Some manufacturers have "basics" groups that they offer for less, either because they're able to sell it in larger volume, or because it's a "classic" like a polka-dot or stripe. And these they typically sell for maybe 35-60 cents / yard less (at the wholesale level). Can we infer that this number represents their savings on the printing process, for simple prints as opposed to complicated ones?
As to the pattern numbers being printed along the edge of the batiks... it would require that somebody stamp it on, by hand, at some point in the process. From the pictures I've seen online about how batiks are made, it doesn't seem that at any point the batiks encounter a high-speed rotary press (that's the process by which printed fabrics are made). So while at some point the batiks must be ... umm... ironed flat and rolled ... that's not the same kind of machine that would be able to do printing.
So... pattern numbers would probably drive the cost up. How much do you think quilters would be willing to pay extra, to have this info available on the fabric? If you're buying, say a FQ for stash, even with regular prints there's a better than 50/50 chance that you're getting the chunk that doesn't have all the info on it.
Hmmm...
One question sure does lead to another!