The cost of the current best tools comes down to scarcity of some of the materials involved. Certain gathering nodes can only be revealed temporarily by spending a currency we have a limited allowance of each week. It's kind of long and hard to make too, but it's that material scarcity which is making the end products in short supply and high cost.

But then if the mats were unlimited and people mass produced the fry pans and other tools, the value plummets, there wouldn't be much of a crafting endgame. So the options are just spending a lot of time getting these things now or wait for them to no longer be the best and the grind nerfed. There's always going to be a top tier of stuff that takes considerable effort. Being on the cutting edge of content, be it crafting or raiding, takes some serious dedication.