$45 for a wheel's worth of spokes is, in my opinion, much too much. But there's no denying that spokes can cost that much, especially when purchased through a shop that has to stay in business somehow. So I don't regard that price as anything criminal. It's just an expense I would not pay, ever. I buy the cheapest butted stainless spokes I can find, and build/true/tension/dish it all myself. 100% success? No. I've screwed up a few times. But no catastrophic failures either, and a lot of money saved.