PCB Fab - Online Pricing Difficulty
My company has ordered bare PCBs from Sierra Circuits a couple of times recently. We had no complaints about the service or quality of the materials provided. Our "beef" was the "bait-and-switch" pricing. We used the No-Touch PCB online direct quotation feature, which supposedly provides an instant job pricing based on inputs to maybe 10-12 questions related quantity, turn-time, and basic technology. Of course, this quotation is limited to relatively simple, standard technology - which we believed our job to be - and bare PCBs only. The pricing came in at around $500-$600 - and we submitted for quotation at least 4 times, always with the same results. We awarded the job to Sierra Circuits (they were much cheaper than any other bidders). Then came the actual cost to us - nearly quadruple what the online service had quoted. Our cost was still lower than the competitor bids, but the No-Touch online quotations were total nonsense. My advice to other users is that you won't get the bargain that you think. You will get acceptable products, at a competitive price, but don't believe their online quotation - your actual cost will be a lot closer to the market price. Also, I tried to get some direction as to what in our design drove the price through the roof. After a bit of a run-around, I was directed to one manager, who flatly refused to provide any technical justifications for the four-fold difference in cost. Yet in review, we believe our design met all of the "technical" limitations for using this service.
The experience above was partly due to user unfamiliarity. We have since ordered from this company several times, but were careful to understand and use the servive precisely as defined in the fine print. They do offer the inexpensive service, but you have to submit the order online, and have to follow several very strict guidelines. If you ask for any human intervention, you will pay a higher price.
To their credit, Sierra Circuits offers a lot of useful engineering help - some of it free. And their quality, delivery, etc.; seem to be top-notch. My only complaint is that the online ordering system, free engineering tools, and other services can be difficult to navigate. And it is sometimes difficult to contact someone in person to get clarifications.