It sure does seem pricey, when you look at it that way. Was that the actual list price, or did you have to buy from a vendor? (Who bought from another vendor, etc)
When I was working for a spares broker we would often come up against a minimum order fee (Usually $50-100) so if we were just buying one bolt, or a handful of washers, we would increase the order quantity to take in the minimum fee, and we would then have a few spare ones for stock.
Another thing you could try, assuming that this is a US-built aircraft, is to call a few aftermarket suppliers (not the main distributors or manufacturers) in America, and see if anyone's got some surplus stock for sale - if they have, let's say, 25 of them that they want to shift, offer them 30% of new list price each for the whole lot - they might grumble and want to negotiate, but you could still go up to maybe 45-50%, then have the lot and use them on your customer's aircraft, and charge him list price less 15% - he'll be happy, and so will you!
In these troubled times, many suppliers are falling over each other to get a sale - if you've got the cash to spare, make the most of the low prices on surplus gear. Trade-a-plane magazine is a good place to start.