*Shakes head* They'll lure people with the word "cheaper", typical marketing ploy as tapers can get expensive. However, it's exactly like you pointed out, it's more work to make that which is guaranteed to not be sterile or accurately measured versus actually buying your own or taking a trip to your piercer to get stretched. So, in the long run they're not saving anything.

Off-topic, but I'm also cringing at the instructable on how to "painlessly" pierce your septum with magnets and a pen right below this one.
Stupidity never fails to amaze me. :/

By the looks of it, the MATERIALS might cost under a buck, but by the time you got the thing done, you've spent more than you would have if you'd just bought a good steel taper to begin with.

Considering most people don't have these tools just lying around...and most of them are quite expensive...

I assumed that one was a joke. But-- the "ultimate piercing guide" someone took the time to write out is pretty good.