Is 99 cents not just as good as free?

I don't know how many writers are reading this, but if any are I'm sure they will understand the subject. I have 5 books published as most of you know. The Preacher, The Bone Spirit and Artemis are $2.99 on Kindle. However I have 2 shorter works, Accents Of Horror and Snowy Pines that are only 99 cents on Kindle. Recently I've begun doing fee book promotions and they really do help. They help your algorithm and make it more likely your books will be seen and it gets me more pages read with Kindle unlimited. But, the thing that amazes me is how many copies get downloaded for free. I believe one book promotion I did for Snowy Pines ended up with over 800 copies downloaded. Is there really THAT big of a difference in a book for Free or just 99 cents? I mean, I'm not saying that just as a writer, but as a reader. I've never seen anything I was interested in where I was like "Boy, that looks good, but it's a whole dollar. I might get it if it's free." It's just odd to me. I understand scooping up a 3 dollar book for free while you can, but 99 cents is really the bottom of the barrel in pricing. You might sell 5 copies of a 99 cent book in a month, but put it out for free and it goes like Hot Cakes. I guess you just have to chalk it up as part of the business.