[grues-dinner]

Scissors have never required less labour to make and steel is maybe not quite as cheap as 5 years ago but still mind meltingly cheap in historical terms. The metal in the handles of an all-metal pair of scissors is maybe a dollar. Bulk steel is 50 cents a pound.

Scissors also don't have to be "consumed", or at least not substantially over the course of a human life. I'd expect them to be durable goods. It's more than possible to make a pair of scissors, for not even that much more that a shit pair, that outlasts the first owner. We just generally choose not to.

[mech9879876]

It's a lot cheaper to cut the blades out of flat sheet metal and affix the injection molded plastic handles to give a nice 3d sculpted ergonomic handle than it is to cast/forge/machine the ergonomic handle out of steel. For 90 percent of users it will be just fine to use plastic, and the plastic will last for decades without issue.