Scott,
Have a think about it, I'll use thick tail geckos as an example. You can buy these guys for around $70 dollars each, Now he breeder has to of fed the parents to get them to breeding size, has to used their time to look after them and then once the animals lay which is only about 6 - 10 babies a year he has to feed them, Hatchlings eat alot and food isn't cheap. All of this aside though it comes down to what people are willing to pay, if people would only pay $20 each then thats all they would be worth, hats why N. wheeliri (cant spell) are so expensive because their isn't many and people are willing top pay $8k a pair of hatchlings.
Also if your after a cheap gecko go buy a a marble gecko they cost about $30 dollars each.
Hope that helped
Scorps