Yes, It is the price. There is atleast 3 version of the 1uzfe. Might be a liitle more now. That is the price i got when i enquire last 3 months.
If you were to buy the 1uzfe engine, please choose with the wirring and ecu with it.
I saw 3 different kind of 1uzfe. The main different in these engine is the oil pan. Some version is in the back, middle and front.
The next problem will be the wirring and ecu. All 3 types comes with different type of wirring and ecu.
Other small problem is the mouting bracket, fuel rails are also different. Some come with normal 4 cams engine, some with TRC and the last is VVTI type. So far i haven see any on the VVTI type. TRC version is very common, but i recommend to get the first version which is the normal 4 cams type because it is much easier to understand its system and also the characteristic of the engine. The less the electronic the less problem that you will be facing.
Halfcut normally comes at a price of 4k.