The lowest I've ever seen the TD class was $300.00 and that was back in 94 when they came out.
You don't have to send all of your Techs. and I have never heard of anyone loosing their Cert. for not selling enough systems.
It's actually quite reasonable. all of the major players charge for training. Your nortell and some of the Avaya systems are up into the thousands.
If you like the systems then you get certified.
If you don't like them, don't sell them.
It's that simple.
If you serious about your business then you should realize that part of your overhead is for training and certification.