Hrothgar,
You started your inquiry with "not trying to pee on your parade". How am I supposed to take that? It's funny that in common usage, when someone starts a phase with "I don't want to..." or "not to..." etc, they generally mean to do exactly that

You then end it by trying to point out that (in your opinion) you could get something similar to it for 1/4 the price.
I guess I'm confused why you would want to act this way in public, and then when I politely suggest that you can contact me by PM (which if you re-read my original post is how I requested any inquiries be handled) or start a new thread discussing the merits of various wasters, you insist on once again publicly replying in a churlish manner?
I repeat:
This is not the place.
I am more than happy to share my impressions with you via PM. However, I not really sure how useful they will be to you as I have never handled or even heard of these "local" wasters you vaguely refer to. What you're asking me to do is to compare apples to oranges (when I haven't even seen the orange)! More properly, you are asking me to defend my price (or actually Raven Studios price, upon which my price is based) to you. This is behavior that is generally considered unacceptable and is downright banned in the classifieds section on the majority of forums that I participate on. This forum may be a bit more
Laissez-faire than most, expecting more of us, but it doesn't make it any less rude! As I pointed out, you would be better served asking the gentlemen at Raven Studios; I don't have a copy of their business plan. If you phrase your question to them as you did to me, I doubt you would receive a reply. If they were, however, nice enough to give out such information, I'm guessing it would go something like this:
"Dear sir,
Our price is based on.... $x per board foot for Hickory, $x for purpleheart, $x per ounce of glue, $x per hour for labor (probably rediculously low...most craftsmen in our hobby work for way under what they could probably make in a "regular" job), $x per month in rent, heat and other overhead expenses + a tiny bit of profit = the amount charged per waster."
As I said, I don't have these totals. What I can say is that it is a very solidly built product, made a quality materials, and assembled in a such a way and with little details that show quality craftsmanship. It also is built by a company that has been in business for years and has earned a name for themselves. As for your local waster, I have no idea.
It could be a quality product built by someone as a hobby (not needing to feed themselves with the profits) or it could be as "similar" as a SLO is to an Albion Brescia Spadona.....I have no way of telling.
If you have further questions about the weight, length, etc of the piece, ask away. However, I will not derail my own thread by directing it away from its purpose (to sell a piece that is in very nice condition for less than its original selling price), in order to start talking about the merits of various waster companies. That (as I previously pointed out) is better discussed in a new thread in the appropriate part of the site.
Take care,
Dan