Why are Buck’s USA Knives so Inexpensive?

[Hickory n steel]

i am relatively new to buying good knives buy have amassed quite a good collection of Spydercos, Benchmades, ZTs, ESEE, etc. Also a couple of customs.

I recently started looking into adding a few Bucks as I always enjoyed my old 110 that I bought as a teenager. In the last couple of weeks, I have bought 6 USA Bucks (low end Bantam to midrange 102/103/119, etc.) and I didn’t pay more than $50 for any of them and most were under $30. I think the bantam was $15.

So why are Buck’s USA knives so cheap? Pretty amazing to be able to buy a tried and true USA Made fixed blade like a 103 or 119 (as an example) for about 1/4 the cost of one of my ESEEs or other USA Made blades. Not exactly apples to apples, but we aren’t talking about Buck using crappy materials and steels and others use super high end materials to justify a huge price difference. This just isn’t the case.

What am I missing? P.s. I’m not complaining.

They get the most out of the cost effective steel they use, and the knives have it where it counts.
For example the fuller on my 119 isn't perfect and is left in the as machined finish, it could look a bit nicer otherwise but it doesn't effect it's function in any way.

Their knives aren't the most finely polished knives in the world but they've got it where it counts.