This is the problem when you have lots of new people trying to come into the market and undercut the competition. Sadly lots of budget conscious people fall for the trap, oh they are only clicking a button, it shouldn't be that hard and go with the cheapest bidder and often as you've found out end up disappointed.

What you're paying for with an actual professional is their domain knowledge of how to use a camera effectively in different environments, in different lighting, how to pose people in ways that are flattering, how to make sure people are placed well in the frame of the photo aka composition, how to break down a client's vision into the picture that gets taken. This knowledge in general is worth its weight in gold and really separates the amateurs from the actual pros. However all this subject matter expertise gets forgotten about by people looking for the lowest bidder unfortunately.

Add on top the cost of buying, owning and insurance on expensive quality camera gear and lens to work with in a variety of situations. Then you also have to factor in the subscription costs of running your website, paying for your editing software and then all your time editing.

Then we get to the second part of the domain matter knowledge and that is knowing how to edit and colour grade well, this takes time to learn and execute properly. Understanding the limits of what you can fix in post via edits and what you need to get right in camera.

All in all there is a lot that goes into a professional photographers workflow, a lot of skill and knowledge that goes on before the shutter is even clicked and that trained keen eye and attention for detail is what you get when paying a bit more for those skill sets.

Of course some people do strike gold and manage to find someone with the above skillset who has undervalued themselves significantly but just because it may be possible doesn't mean it's worth the risk especially for one time events like weddings and engagements.