A major issue that I have seen in the market for Sefer Torah, Tefillin, mezuzot and Megilot is that there are major quality differences. Don’t expect to get the highest quality of these products from Judaica stores or from Sofer Dealers who regularly visit your shul. I have successfully competed against these  dealers because my work is  always written clearly and never scribbled. The Sefer Torah from a dealer who marks up between 30% – 50% pays the Sofer who actually writes less than minimum rage.

 

It takes 16 – 20 hours to write the Pershiot scrolls for a quality pair of tefillin. In addition it takes even more man hours to produce the Batim boxes for these Tefillin.  It takes about two and half hours to write a Mezuzah,  about 55 hours to write a Megilat Esther and over 2000 hours to write a Sefer Torah. Additionally the klaf parchment is very expensive and can be up to 30% of what the Sofer charges.

Megilat Esther on Goat Skin,  3400 Shekels

See
http://torah.milknhoney.co.il/products/megilat-esther-goat-skin/