What do you pay for plating?, Got a quote that seems kinda crazy Options

[bbrock]

Finally got a quote from a plating company recommended by one of our respected vendors. It seems a little nuts though. I have about 50 lbs. of clean parts that need either yellow cadmium or yellow zinc. Another very small batch in black zinc. They asked me to separate out hardened and non-hardened parts because they only bake the hardened stuff, and send pictures. I did that. The hardened yellow amounts to about 2 lbs. of parts. The black zinc, maybe a pound. They also said they'd let me know if yellow zinc would be cheaper. Here's what I got back:

Black Zinc Plate and Bake 14 hours at 400 F. Group lot
$115.00

Yellow Cadmium Plate Group
$200.00 lot

Yellow Cadmium Plate and Bake
$ 215.00 lot

$200 for the main batch doesn't seem bad, but having to separate out sure adds up for a small amount of additional hardware. I'm just wondering if this is typical of what others are paying. I may just plate and bake the hardened stuff myself but man is that a PITA. Here's what will be in each of those lots:

Black Zinc baked $115


Yellow Cad no bake $200


Yellow Cad bake (except for the hose clamps which will be moved to the no-bake per recommendations and I just noticed a few other pieces that shouldn't be in there) $215