Since I just typed a long reply to a guy accusing me of "fanboy bullshit", might as well pin it since you might find specific examples helpful. These are mostly high-end sword makers, with a few mid-range examples as well:

Lockwood Type XVI longsword without scabbard - $1150
Lockwood Type XVI longsword with scabbard - $1700

Castle Keep sword without scabbard -  £1100 and up
Castle Keep sword with scabbard -  £1950 and up

Longship Armoury swords - no scabbard included
Angus Trim swords - no scabbard included
Arms & Armor - no scabbard included (with a few exceptions)
Baltimore Knife & Sword - no scabbard included
Del Tin - no scabbard included
Lukas Maestle-Goer - no scabbard included, unless purchased with the sword

Valiant Armoury does offers swords with scabbard for around $1200-1300. However, although I like their swords and have nothing bad to say about their quality, they do not reach the standards of $1200-1300 swords from Albion or Lockwood. They're great but I can still tell the difference.

And here is a price estimate from the website of Fable Blades:
"Swords: As a ballpark guide most of my swords range between $4,000 and $8,000 USD (6-12K Au$) before adding scabbard work, which usually ranges from $1,000 to $5000 USD, depending on inclusions."

Whether you realize it or not, you do pay extra for a scabbard. If it's included in a moderate price, that tells you that corners were cut somewhere compared to a sword for the same price that does not come with a scabbard. This does not mean that budget or mid-range swords at affordable prices that come with scabbards can't be good. Of course there is good quality in that category. But can it live up to high end stuff? Of course not.

Long story short, if you want a scabbard with an Albion sword, be prepared to add about $500 to the price.

King Arthur: “Does my new sword come with a free scabbard?”
Merlin: “Your new scabbard comes with a free sword.”

And this folks is why Tod of Tod's Workshop charges so much for a scabbard

This reminds me of the story about a kid who gets caught trying to steal a vest from a tailor store. When asked why he stole it the kid says that he couldnt afford it and that the vest couldn't be worth the price it was being sold for. So the tailor decides to make the kid create an exact duplicat of the vest he tried to steal so the kid can learn, stitch by stitch, why the vest was as expensive as it was. Sometimes you just can't understand the complexity and value of something until you try to make it yourself.

Leaving in mistakes and showing failures is one of the main things that makes Adam Savage's build videos so good, it's important to show the failures or else anyone who tries to get into making for themselves is going to get disheartened and give up at the first major failure instead of iterating and adapting their designs.

The one dislike is the guy who tried to make a scabbard, failed, and refuses to admit it.

I never knew it was so hard to find suitable things other than people to stick swords in

As someone who makes furniture for a living, I can tell you that it is a good idea to make sure the wood is dried well before processing it. Take for instance a piece of Oak fresh off the tree and dry it completely and it will contract about 12,2%

The working of the wood is this extreme because you use pine. Generally, scabbards tend to be made out of a hardwood or wood that has a tight grain. But never use oak tho, the acidity of the wood will mess up the blade. If I remember correctly, the scabbards of Japanese swords were made of magnolia wood, for it's hardness and lack of sap, but I could be wrong on that one. Most woodglues are quite acidic as well(construction foam not included)so I recommend just making a starch based glue out of rice or flower. However you will need to apply lacquer because water will dissolve it. Alternatively, if you can find a glue that isn't acidic and works with wood, that would be the best. Anyway, great video.

I have no issue with a scabbard being sold separately... as long as one is available to fit that blade.  When I do take issue is when there is no scabbard available at all.  Just finding a sheath or scabbard to fit a blade purchased elsewhere can be a nightmare in itself.  Bladesmiths need to make an appropriate scabbard available, even if it is a separate purchase.  Thanks Skall :)  Adventure on my friend, Phat

Knifemaker here. I sheaths are harder to get perfect than knives. If made from leather. Say from a brand like Bark River often the sheath costs more than the knife it comes with.

My takeaway:
Make it out of plastic, and lie to your friends when they ask what type of wood it is.

Archeologists are gonna think you're a warlord with all these swords in your house.

When you make something like this, use a wood that is not hygroscopic (like European cedar), or that was thermal treated. Those woods wont swell, when they get wet and they wont shrink, when they dry out.

The "too tight" -joke becomes a lot better if you know, that the German word for scabbard is "scheide" whuch is also the German word for vagina

The reason behind a scabard being "loose" is to allow for the expansion, contraction, and possible warping of the wood core. Having a "low profile" tight scabard is a recipe for blade binding.

I've made several scabbard for myself and have had requests to make them for other people. I average one failed blank to each success. Getting the fit right is very tricky and what seems to fit when clamped fails when glued. I carve mine out btw.
I found a looser fit at test clamp tightens up when glued and tightens further when the leather is wet formed, glued and sewn on and its just really tricky to get right.
I've also changed recently to using hide glue rather than PVA wood glue. PVA is uncorrectable but hide glue can be heated to unstick and fix mistakes. I think this will make a huge difference in my attrition rate.
Lining the inside seems to give a bit of wiggle room too for fit errors as the squish in the lining gives a titch of leeway but still  holds snug to the blade

I've made a few scabbards and didn't have any of the difficulties you had.  If you want the sword to fit, don't try to use the wood itself to do that: that's the liner's job.  Just get some nice floofy wool in there -- a little at the bottom to prevent klanking and a little at the top to get a nice secure fit.  With that, leather wrapping isn't a problem at all.  The scabbard will contract, but the liner will take up the slack.  It'll also be a suitable barrier to any wood glue, at least for a short time (they always say not to store swords in scabbards!)

The main problems I had were 1) some leather dyes are not great.  They are, in fact, hot garbage.  Finding this out on a completed scabbard is irritating  2) putting in any intricate detailing on on/under the leather requires a level of artistic ability that is beyond me.  Plus if you want ridges or spines, you pretty much have to abandon the wrap method and switch to gluing the leather to the scabbard, otherwise you won't get the definition you're likely looking for.

its a tropical Scabbard
only works in humid conditions

what do you get when you mix a machinist and a carpenter? cabinets that only open in winter.