There are two main reasons why things are expensive:
a) It takes a lot of effort, development, trial-and-error, special machinery, scarce material, knowledge and experience, and the number of items sold is small. Example: A diamond, a spectrum analyzer, a computerized tomography scanner, a stethoscope etc.
b) It is cheap to make the product, but people would think it's a POS. Therefore let's jack up the price. Example: chrome parts -everything on a motorbike that is just for show-off-, designer clothes, designer apparel, designer parfum, designer watches etc.
Did you know that the parfum you pay 50 bucks per 100ml bottle only costs about 3 or 4 bucks to produce? It's just alcohol with a secret mix of scents. Even with the most expensive scents it just takes a little so it really doesn't increase the total price much. If you do the math we are paying it about 2 grand per gallon...
Am I thrifty? Indeed I am. It costs a lot to make money and I'm not willing to make some greedy company owners even richer. I have my whims, but I keep saving. That way I can afford to have four motorcycles and still take a whole year off. I know there is people in my company who make more than me, but while I am having a good espresso they are in some company meeting or writing some stupid spreadsheet...
Raul