OK, got some more PMs already and its only been a few hours.
It doesnt pay me to ever pay retail since everything i buy for machines needs to be in reasonable numbers. if i had to only do one or two machines u would buy off ebay/retail, but for anyone wanting to do more than a few machines, its going to pay for me to get a bulk deal. it works out well for me and everyone else, so we can all save a dollar.
