the 7090 Cree XR-E P4 and "Cree P4" are the same thing
It can be driven from ~350mA to 1000mA
Driven at an Amp it consumes 3 watts of power
The $3.00 has to be from a different reason.
When they were bought, how many, which supplier.
Could be just that they were more expensive when first released and everyone called them XR-E's, now that they're common and less expensive they're just called Cree's.
No one talks about the Cree 5mm anymore.