A pair of cowboy boots from Lucchese, one of the great American heritage bootmakers, starts around $595 and runs to $3,995. The bestsellers sit near $895 to $1,295.
A pair of Tecovas cowboy boots starts at $245. Their exotic leathers, caiman and python, run $625 to $995.
Both are handmade. Both use premium leather. A large share of both come out of the same city in Mexico, made by people trained in the same tradition.
So the interesting question is not why Lucchese costs more.
It is what exactly you stop paying for when a boot company decides it will not use stores.