The ritual makes the cult victim pliable and open to the cult's suggestions. That works out to be about 380 per hour. That covers the costs of the counselor's time, the administrative personnel, the case supervisor and the whole infrastructure. The cult doesn't do anything for free. Some people take a few courses and that is all they feel they need out of Scientology.
Some people follow the whole path towards a higher spiritual state.
And in fact most people are smart enough to twigg to the scams that this criminal cult try to pull, and they twigg early. The total combined cost for the whole journey to Total Freedom as a being is a VERY relative figure, considering how much it is influenced by the individual's personal responsibility level, ethical level and the amount of hand-holding he'll need. In Scientology, Hubbard is never wrong. And since these frauds and scams are all lies, the fault is placed with the cult victim, never Hubbard. But I believe it would be fair to say that in the course of a lifetime one would invest about the price of a house.