yep, I had a very high quality set of molds made in China for $8k, and by allowing the manufacturer to hold onto possession of the molds, I only had to pay half

yep, I had a very high quality set of molds made in China for $8k, and by allowing the manufacturer to hold onto possession of the molds, I only had to pay half ($4k). However, getting a price this good wasn't easy; my team is passionate about low-cost sourcing, we speak fluent Mandarin, and our parts are small compared to some of the large parts in a 3D printer. We even had to take things one step further and pretend our company was based in China. Due to the principal of Guanxi (Chinese business ethics where you treat family and friends very well but it's OK to cheat foreigners), Chinese companies will often charge 5x the domestic price if they think they're selling to a foreign buyer.