It's also worth pointing out that swords haven't remotely benefited from large economies of scale in the same way that other modern manufactured goods have simp

It's also worth pointing out that swords haven't remotely benefited from large economies of scale in the same way that other modern manufactured goods have simply because swords are a niche good in the modern day and aren't manufactured in the millions annually like other things are. If you want to compare like-for-like, look at goods that are as important in the modern day as swords were in medieval times. One similar enough modern example (because it's also worked metal) would be silverware; you can easily get stainless forks, knives, and spoons in bulk for less than a buck nowadays. Metal silverware in the medieval era was so expensive and thus such a luxury good that only the elites had it. Common people ate with their hands or roughly whittled wooden cutlery. There's also the problem that stainless steel wasn't invented yet, and other metal substitutes for it in cutlery applications are either much more expensive (silver/gold), or rust.