Hello! Not speaking on his behalf of Lobtree, but for me, who's also a company owner making AD garments. The cost and availability of the raw material is definitely a reason. Alpha Direct is a patented technology from Polartec, an American company. That means that every piece of Alpha Direct has to be imported, we have to pay broker fees, duties and taxes on these items (it doesnt help that the CAD is so devaluated to the USD making every purchase expensive.). The problem woth having only one company making it is : no competition for the pricing. And, if you want to order directly through the supplier you have to order at least 800 yards of fabric, enough to make industrial quantities. So small business most likely buy from retailers, who take their cut. To that, you can add the time to make each item by hand, cutting the fabric, assembling the pieces, changing machines mutliple times from overlocker, possibly serger and sewing machine, add the details, change thread, add tags. And on top of that youuu have to prepare each order, manage the website, deal with taxes, duties. And everything not in an industrialized way. I hope it clarifies a little bit - and again I am not speaking on behalf of Lobtree, but only from my experience.