Okay lets do some math......
Depending on what you are heating, I will just use an 18 in wide shelf which is what a 28 and 41 qt tubs use.
$100 for 50 feet of what you are looking at is $2 a foot.
You would need at least 3 passes on a shelf so you are talking about roughly 4 1/2 feet not including the rise to the next shelf.
This would put you at about $9 per shelf.
THG heat tape is $2.20 for 6 inch and this would only require ONE pass per shelf for about $3.30 not including the rise to the next shelf.
Not hard to figure out what to use.