I used to pay $20 for a reed that my tutor made (about the same price as a box of nice clarinet reeds). It's possible they could be produced more cheaply in another part of the world, but you need a bassoon to test on (again, not cheap) and the manufacturer should themselves be a skilled bassoonist to capably test the reed across the instrument's significant range. A reed's musical qualities are influenced by local conditions (humidity, etc.) so a reed that works well in one place may sound terrible in another. The current model, where accomplished bassoonists and teachers make reeds to meet the small, local demand, seems to at least be workable.

I pointed out reeds as only a secondary issue because there seem to be more oboists than bassoonists. Oboists have the same challenge of finding a good reed-maker, or acquiring reed-making tools and canes, and learning the craft themselves. Oboes are much cheaper than bassoons and sometimes can even be rented (good luck finding a place willing to rent a bassoon -- the vast majority of bassoonists get their instrument from their school system).