I did a quick Google and found cloth cakes on sale for $129 CND. Not sure what that is in USD.
From a personal point of view, the diapers I have bought and used, I could put a cake together for $150 that did infant and premium sized prefolds, covers and snappis with cloth wipes. That would cover maybe 2 years of diapering, though in truth you would want at least another $150 worth of fancier diapers too to supplement-maybe even another $300.
But keeping it in perspective, thats less than $500 for two years of diapers. If you were a tight wad with your sposies and only changed the kid six times a day (and I didn't, it was eight to twelve times, because sposies stink when wet) then you would be spending at least $1100 in diapers in that two years. Then there's wipes, another couple of hundred dollars.
Thats taking an average cost of 25c per diaper, not counting the fact that by the time you get to pull ups you are talking 50-56c per diaper so it could be a lot more. Then there is the fact that cloth diapered babes tend to potty train earlier, so you can add maybe another year in the highest priced diapers on top of that, plus wipes.
Finally, you can resell cloth when you are done, they have a high resale value on the premium brands. Or you can use them on a second, or even third child if you have more than one. $500 and you are done, diapering for three lifetimes of children.
Yep, it's an expensive cake, but the value is comparatively huge!
