I looked into resin molding to make cigar molds today. I think the cost of materials will still be in the $30-$50 range, minimally, for one mold, but would come down slightly for future copies after the silicone mold is made, which is around half the materials cost. That doesn't count the cost of the original mold, which would likely be 3d printed. The only shot I think to make $30-$50 molds with materials that cost less than that is out of some spruce and that requires CNC equipment, which is not negligible as well. Even some other woods can get too expensive, according to my searching on the Home Depot app. I can see why molds are typically $100 or more after researching this, as it allows for some profit plus you really only ever buy one, for home rolls, so repeat customers won't be there to make it financially viable. The rule of thumb for profit is 2-2.5 times the material cost, from what I've read. That is about $40 of materials for a $100 sale price, which is just about right. People expecting to get $50-$70 per heavily used aged mold (or ones with cracks and such) is excessive, in my opinion. The new wood ones for sale on lo aren't designed right, in my opinion. I'd stay away from those, as I don't think it'll give you results you are probably hoping for unless you aren't picky about your construction. And none of this takes into account making any arbitrary bunch shape and size like Salomon, Perfecto, etc. There may be only one person that wants one shape and size, which would cost the most, definitely with the resin route, than 10 people wanting that shape and size. I'd have to get a feel of what people want, how many people, what they would realistically pay, etc before I could see if it was economical to produce more and better molds for our hobbies.
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