How much should this cost --- really?

I have scanned through your request and it seems like a moderately difficult project. There would probably be few hundred hours of work needed plus considerable amount of time for a testing and debugging.

Of course you could get some company from a third world country (India, Pakistan and such) to do it relatively cheap ($1,000 - $2,000 - there is even a chance you would find someone to do it under $1,000) but I highly doubt that the quality (security of website, speed-optimization, accessibility and ease of maintainance) would be good enough. I recommend you to look for a local company (based in US - possibly UK or some other EU country might come into play but there could be problems with communication) with an extensive portfolio of quality professional websites. My guess is you should be able to fit into $10,000 (maybe slightly more) for a pretty professional website of that kind.

 

that seems a lot of work for $500 as said above someone will always come along and undercut others but you got to think quality before value. if you can get a mix of the two then great but dont go with the lowest quote unless you are 100% sure they can really do the site.

 

I think more than £200 (about $400) is a bit much

 

Well I was shooting to find a quality company I can trust and I was willing to pay the 10 grand for it, but the problem is, they are asking quite a bit more than that......

 

Well, alternaively you might want to try googling some web development companies. You might find something more affordable even inside US, or as a last resort you might give a chance to offshore company - but be careful when choosing one and ask many questions before you hire anybody.

 

anything above £300 (about $600) is a rip off

 

Not really. Anything around $600 is very cheap. After rereading (and properly this time), I am still a little unsure on exactly what it is, but all the database optimization stuff would be around $300 on my schedule alone.

 

I am trying to stick with a local brick and mortar company. Maybe I am being unreasonable, but I am really concerned about this project being screwed up and ruined by someone who doesn't care or just doesn't have the skill level it takes.

Problem is, I don't feel THAT much safer with the local companies that are charging ridiculous prices.