Its hard to find good honest crafts people.
Unlike days of old, part of the modern expense may also partly be related to a potential liability issue. We're talking about a seat with an air bag device in it, not the sport seats in my '80 Scirocco.
I own a set of hog ring pliers, and I've been through my MkIV front seats swapping covers, cushions and air bags to keep everything plug-n-play compatible. It's not an overly difficult endeavor, but the MkIV seats I went through were also the third set of VW seats I've torn down. Installing the Passat lumbar setup took some extra time, while I had things apart.
I haven't put any miles on my Bestleatherkits.com seats I recovered for my Corrado. Installing them, they were not quite the same quality leather as the OEM leather, but they also were not OEM priced. I don't know whether they have a solution for vehicles with integrated air bags. In the world of aftermarket and overseas shippers, its seriously: Caveat Emptor.
As for labor to install seat covers, "good honest crafts people" are looking to pay the same bills the rest of us have. On my third set of seats, it still took me a good long afternoon to go through them swapping parts, washing foam and covers. That's not counting the added fun of installing the lumbar mechanics.
Tricks: when rebuilding seats, get yourself a twin or full sized package of "high loft" quilt batting, and use it to create filler pieces to bulk up where you get wrinkles in the fabric, whether it's leather, OEM fabric, or the black sunbrella we used on the Scirocco sport seats.