I live in a area with 4 dealerships and roughly 20-30 repair shops in 10-15 mile circle, you won't find a shop that charges "cheap" labor. It's 90-100 bucks an hour, most dealerships are 90-95 an hour. Parts become cheaper though because of all the business but for a motor swap it's never cheap. And 2-3k for a R&R of a engine is a good deal, plus you get a warranty with my work anyway.

Also figure a motor can cost say 500 bucks to any joe blow on the streets, but a shop needs to mark it up to gain money off the part and most customers have no real clue what a engine cost or even how they run in general.