Crafting a bag of holding-material components

So, my character wants to craft a bag of holding. All construction requirements are met, but the total material components cost for the spell to actually complete crafting process is higher than market cost of this bag. The bag itself on the market costs 2500gp (t2), so crafting cost is 1250gp, but the worst part is the spell "secret chest", which costs 5050gp. So, is it a bug or feature that buying the bag is actually cheaper than craft it?

The chest is a focus, not a component. It is not consumed, so you don't need to pay for 50 of them. You buy one and then use it to make as many bags as you wish.

The cost of any relevant material or focus components is already reflected in the construction cost of specific magic items such as this. You only really need to worry about it when figuring out the cost of constructing custom items or "choose-your-own-spell" items like potions, scrolls, and wands. For example, you don't need additional diamonds when a ring of three wishes--they're already factored into the 97,500 construction cost.

Edit:

Note that in the case of wondrous items, you don't even have to have the material or focus components at all:

If spells are involved in the prerequisites for making the item, the creator must have prepared the spells to be cast (or must know the spells, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) but need not provide any material components or focuses the spells require

You're still paying an equivalent cost, though, as that cost is part of how the construction cost is calculated.

TL;DR: No chest required, and no additional gold need be spent above the 1,250 gp gold for constructing a type I bag of holding.

The game assumes that casters can generally cast the spell in question.
I'd agree that casting material and foci are not needed for crafting wondrous items (you DO need them for wands & scrolls...).
There are extra rules to cover when a caster is not able to cast a required spell or meet some requirement(s) in the crafting process.

Thanks everyone for clarification! I am quite new to pathfinder, so some mechanics are unclear:)

Thanks everyone for clarification! I am quite new to pathfinder, so some mechanics are unclear:)

Don't worry. It gets less clear from here on out. : D

ferrometallic wrote:

Thanks everyone for clarification! I am quite new to pathfinder, so some mechanics are unclear:)

Don't worry. It gets less clear from here on out. : D

True, but limiting the books you use help. I strongly suggest not to use the Advanced Race Guide and the Advanced Class Guide until you know the game very well.

blahpers wrote:

ferrometallic wrote:

Thanks everyone for clarification! I am quite new to pathfinder, so some mechanics are unclear:)

Don't worry. It gets less clear from here on out. : D

True, but limiting the books you use help. I strongly suggest not to use the Advanced Race Guide and the Advanced Class Guide until you know the game very well.

Sound advice.

The chest is a focus, not a component. It is not consumed, so you don't need to pay for 50 of them. You buy one and then use it to make as many bags as you wish.

Foci are not part of the cost of crafting magic items.

The game assumes that casters can generally cast the spell in question.

No it doesn't.

/cevah

Diego Rossi wrote:

The chest is a focus, not a component. It is not consumed, so you don't need to pay for 50 of them. You buy one and then use it to make as many bags as you wish.

Foci are not part of the cost of crafting magic items.

Material components affect the price of the item, but are not are not actually part of the crafting.

Azothath wrote:

The game assumes that casters can generally cast the spell in question.

No it doesn't.

The spell (or slot) is expended as if cast, but nothing states you actually cast it.

/cevah

i always assumed that in this case the magical bag to be crafted is used as the focus for the spell instead of the chest (the spell normally send the chest into a different plane, and that interdimensional part is used for the bag, but you don't really use a chest along with the bag of holding)

Magic items can be different than the spells used to make them. There are not many examples unfortunately (that I know of).

The Lyre of Building can produce the work of 100 humanoids laboring for 3 days in the period of half an hour. This works differently than Fabricate, but both are magic for crafting things. Pearls of power don't need any spells; it just needs the ability to cast spells. The Boots of Elven kind doesn't need any spells, it just needs you to be an elf. The Ring of X-Ray vision works differently than True Seeing.