The PINE A64-LTS alone is $40 + shipping + taxes, so you cannot have a $17 total cost.

I assume that you mean that the card with the switch circuit alone could reach $17, if made in a large quantity.

However, you cannot make a managed switch with that card alone.

If your current cost has been $40 for a card with the switch circuit, adding the PINE A64-LTS + whatever you have paid for shipping and taxes must make the total around $100, exactly like I have said.

I meant the cost of just the switch obviously... It can hook up to whatever Linux machine you have running and I happened to have this one in the drawer.

The point of this was not to make the fastest or cheapest or most featureful switch available, it just had to fit in a case and none of the options have one port facing backwards so it doesn't require an ugly loop cable on the front of the final case.

It's also possible to make a managed switch with that card alone, there is a footprint for a NOR flash chip, if you load the netgear GS105E firmware on that (which is available on the netgear website) then it will be just a GS105E without leds and one port on the back.