Holy cow, math boy. Is Mustad making their hooks outa platinum now? Where'd you get the $1.75 per in materials?

Don't know much about tying quill-bodied flies, so let's go with a parachute BWO, which, I imagine, probably weighs about the same as a Quill Gordon.

Assuming we use high quality, expensive supplies, I figure:
TMC 100 = .19
Whiting Hackle from a 100 pack = .15
Thread + dubbing + calf hair + cement = .01

Taking off my socks so's I can count on my fingers AND toes, looks like $0.35 per fly

Now, let's assume we're starting with nothing and we want to buy all the stuff we need to tie 100 flies.

Hooks = 18.60 (4 packs of 25 TMC 100s @ 4.65)
Hackle = 15.00 (whiting 100 pack)
Dubbing = 1.60 (small package)
Thread = 1.60 (spool)
Calf Body = 1.80 (patch)
Head Cement = 3.00 (Bottle o' Dave's)

After tying 100, you'll end up with a bunch of extra stuff, but we're still at less than .42 per.

If you're buying enough supplies to tie up ounces or pounds of dry flies, your material price per fly should drop significantly.

Now I'll be the first to admit that fly tying is no bargin. You gotta account for the tools. Then there's all those materials you buy then waste or plain just don't use. And, of course, once you factor in your time, you're probably better off, money-wise, just buying them off the internet.

I would venture to say that very few of us tie flies to save money. If you are, you're probably fooling yourself.

But, damn, don't tell me your "average of materials costs" is $1.75. I think you blew a whole afternoon working off a faulty premise.