One of the better ways of preventing the theft of a bike in a city (aside from bringing it indoors), is to use an old, junky, beater bike. The Yerka’s unique design is an absolute thief-magnet that’s begging to be stolen.
If they can flip it for $10, so be it! They're not going to find the customer who accepts to put $500 in a quality stolen bike anyway.
Also, sometimes people steal a bike just to use it for a few kilometers then throw it in a ditch when they no longer need it.
The best deterrent I found? No air in the tires. Bike will remain there for weeks.
Had a loved bike stolen from me on the bus stop since I had no time to lock it. My brother found it in the schoolyard on his way to work with empty tires (tube lost air very slowly).
Read up for yourself, but I don't think that merely leaving a bike unlocked would be entrapment in any jurisdiction. The law generally requires something more, like a police officer inviting someone to go steal a bike for them.
More needs to be done to tackle bike theft. Be that education, physical deterrants (cameras, good quality bike lockup locations, etc).
I've had a bike stolen, and the police can do nothing. A bicycle is small, easy to disassemble, relatively low-value, and they are untraceable items.
A car is higher-value, but more easily traced than a bike - due to a large number of factors; size, colour, shape, insurance/legal documents to prove ownership, ANPR cameras, etc.
I once followed a bike thief to his home, phoned the police explaining what had occurred and that I am stood outside his house right now.
Nothing happened.
That said, I live in a small village myself.
If you want to choose a bike based on theft resistance, a cheap one is much better than the Yerka.
I’m not following your logic. An expensive item is much easier to sell than a cheaper one. Easiness to sell is correlated to value.