This. We aren't talking a commodity here. And the bike builders purchase boatloads of the components which results in them getting a silly lower price, and since I am ordering only one set I get to pay more. And consider retail/wholesale: If you are purchasing a $1000 gruppo, the dealer price is probably more like $600. Because you aren't purchasing in quantity, you get to pay that margin, plus the quantity doesn't get you into the next price tier.

Painful to pay $300 for a pair of shifters, but the economics of the game put you there. Again, Sora ain't too expensive, but we all usually want "better."