The laser/water cutting for the branding alone will be well over $100 of that cost. I'll wager most of the contoured cuts (holes & cup holder areas) are cut this way too. Geez, I'd guess that could amount to half of the cost if they outsource that. If they do it themselves (plasma?) it'd not be as bad, but still.
The design has a potential problem. Specifically, it seems to me that spillage/drippage could run along the underside of the perforated stock to the edge, and wick down between the pullout tray and the side of the base. You don't want to have to run a rag all over the inside of the base every time you withdraw the pullout tray, nor do you want to have to wipe down the entire pullout tray's exterior every time, nor have leakage from such wickage come out the end of the unit between cleanings. Even if you didn't have serious wickage to the border, you'd have to run a rag on the underside of the perf, reaching into the thing to do so.
It's a good looking design, though.
If there's anything you can do to reduce the number of operations required to fab the thing, that'll absolutely cut down on cost. The high price is also almost certainly connected to low quantities. If you ordered 50, the price would drop dramatically.
One cost-cutting suggestion that also eliminates the wicking hazard and makes cleaning the underside of the perf easy: drop the pullout tray. Section the unit so that the perforation merely rests on the tray. Lift the upper section (perf upwards) off, and dump the tray into the sink. However, a method to secure the perf to the base (tray) might be important if the base is too narrow to ensure stability via gravity alone.
