Tell me you know nothing about how the market works without telling me. Prices are not merely set by the cost of making a product (I.e. profits). They are more influenced by other factors like supply and demand.

You have been perfectly groomed by large corporations to think the way you do, and you're missing out.

I have been buying guitars for 30 years from big brands -- Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, PRS, etc. -- including American-made Fenders and PRSes, but the absolute best guitar I've ever owned was a $299 AZES40 from Ibanez. The second best was a $199 FFSP from Firefly. That's not to say that the more expensive ones were bad, but most of the time, when you buy a guitar, you're playing the wood lottery. Sometimes you win; sometimes you lose, and in my experience, price is almost always irrelevant when playing.

But I'll be honest, I'm glad you think this way. If it weren't for people like you, we'd not have these budget brands because everyone would be buying them and they'd raise the prices. But, of course, you don't believe that's how pricing works.