Why are honesuki/garasuki so expensive?

I've been looking at Japanese boning knives and noticed that honesuki and garasuki are pretty expensive. Obviously knives aren't sold by the inch or the ounce, but I'm curious. Is it because they are more difficult to forge and/or grind, or is it that they don't sell as many compared to something like a gyuto or santoku, or something else?

Lower Production quanity, Smiths are less familiar with them so they take longer to forge than say a 150mm petty, most are also using more complex bevels(mine is single bevel), lower production volume(most Japanese smiths are banging out large quantities of blades at a time and find a rhythm as they work). There are several decent offerings sub 100 dollars though, Japanese knife imports and Japanese chef knives both sell 75 dollar variants that people adore.

Not sure where you're looking but Korin has several Honesuki offerings from Masamoto and Misono in the $150 and below range, JKI's stainless is under $100, and the GGinga is under $200. Garasuki is a little more knife, more steel, more labor and are priced a little higher. I don't think any are priced unreasonably. Custom makers may charge more of a premium (not sure).

I was more talking about how within a single line of knives, it seems that the price of the honesuki is frequently (but not always) closer to the price of the gyuto than the petty, and I've come across a few where the garasuki is 30mm longer but almost twice the price of the honesuki (although I've now seen some geometry shots showing garasuki as much thicker than honesuki). I figured it must be some combination of the factors Godslayer mentioned; also, I didn't consider that these are single bevel or close to it, so comparing to pettys (petties?) and gyuto might not be valid.

For the very reason you've mentioned, and the function of the knife (boning out chickens), I decided to get the Rinkaku SS from JKI. At $80, I'll run that knife through hell without a worry. If I chip it (which I haven't), I'm not mortified about chipping a $350 knife.

This gives me more confidence to use the knife for what it is: a tool for a tough job.