Pedals for Gravel Bike: Why so expensive and heavy?

I am looking into replacing my pedals and am leaning towards platform.

Boy was I in for a shock: Platform pedals weigh a ton, including the more expensive pedals. Am I missing something here? Is it really necessary for pedals to weigh nearly a pound? I am not a weight weeny, but these things are pigs. 

Can't someone make a light pedal for $100?

I will give them a sniffabout. I don't mean to sound like an old man, but a lot of the tech and material advancements I have seen in the 25 years since I was a biker are pretty impressive. Looking at the weight savings around cranks and wheels vs cost I think a lot of the weight loss stuff is legit.

But if I can get a carbon/lightweight crank for $400 I would think that a pair of pedals could come in a lot lighter and a lot cheaper than what I have seen. 

Plenty of nylon flat pedals out these days around $60 that are pretty reasonable weights.

Or did you mean clipless pedals with a platform? Plenty of those as well that don’t weigh a ton, yet cost around $100..

Of course. That is considering a pud to be a reasonable weight.

But, if you want truly lightweight, you will always end up having to go to XC style clipless pedals. Flat pedals and large platform clipless pedals simply have to much material, in a spot that needs to be resistant to frequent, hard impacts and scratches, to ever be light.

Ti spindles drop some weight, but will never be affordable.

So, like Shaggy said, choose what matters most to you: cost, weight savings or a big platform

Consider the OneUp and Raceface Chester if you want tough pedals. I use them on my MTB and they are great and affordable. As mentioned, get the nylon version, as they tend to bounce and slide off obstacles. And they are cheap. 

Large metal pedals will be heavy as a rule. 

Thanks. This bike is never going to be that light anyways, so I am going to go with some big platforms made of nylon. Bike is a blast in the mud/dirt. Got my son on it today and he did some descents and now likes the bike. I am going to swap out the grips pedals and maybe add some bar tape. True up the rims and it gets the job done. As my son grows I will add a longer stem.

If I really want a light gravel bike I will start from scratch with hopefully at least a 2k budget. Probably 6 months from now. I have a new road bike I can ride also, although my interests have shifted to gravel.