nala you think its expensive  up there man you ought to try and get a Bow into this country it  real expensive being the last bit of dirt before the south pole  

I'm so sick of seeing this thread at the top.  Custom bows are expensive like any precision equipment, good rods and reels for offshore fishing and guns cost even more, so whatever.  Buy a Samick Sage and get over it.  Pay to play.  Most bowyers do it on the side and the overhead eats up the sticker price.  This is handmade functional art on a good day.  If used for a lifetime its cheap.

If we are talking money and spending there are many ways to view the situation. One can see the bow builder as a working man trying to earn a profit and stay in business. Some see it as maybe the bow makers being too proud of their work and asking too much. Unless we are the guys doing the work, the sanding, gluing etc, our opinion only counts as the customer. The bow builders do the work and they set the price. We can only pay the price or shop elsewhere.
The third side of the situation might ask, is the person going in debt to buy these expensive toys? That can lead us to this very ugly truth, the USA is $17 trillion in debt, but those in charge keep spending and we keep voting them back into office. Some might say wasting money comes natural to us. Most of us see it as enjoying the fruits of our efforts but if we are overspending and going into debt then it is a mistake.
Archery is part of our heritage, so is overspending. I am as guilty of overspending as anyone so I guess I should not complain.

I have two excellent longbows from a local bowyer who happens to be a friend of mine that perform as well as bows costing hundreds more. His current base price is $450 and for that you get a bow that performs. Fast, quiet, and accurate. They look good, too. What more could I want? I have bows that cost more, but I wind up shooting my best shooters and those are the bows my friend builds.