Another point to consider is the REACH directive.
I don’t really know, but I doubt very much that Asian manufacturers can comply with the REACH directive and still maintain such attractive prices.
Dear chris9,
you may look in the internet for suitable supplier. Especially for germany I have a little experience with q-print.de, now Homepage DE | mypcbshop.com. Here I got a quite low cost double sided board some years ago. In between I switched to we-online (mostly due to multilayer pcbs). Maybe they are not that “cheap” like chinese parts, but why are they so cheap…?
Hi Bob,
One of my friends told me that so low price just is for very small board, small quantity and simple board.
Linda
You may be correct. That one order I refer to included a 100 mm square two layer and a 100 x 37 mm four layer. The four layer was (I think $8 for five pieces) I could have ordered 100 mm square, four layer for that price. But I wanted the smaller dimension to fit into my enclosure (which is a pill bottle!)
It is possible that they offer a low price on a small order to get people hooked. However, once I have done the design in KiCad, if I want 1000 boards after ordering 5 boards, I could still comparison shop. I am a professional EE but seldom now have the need to order boards for my job. Mostly if I order boards now, it is for my own use. 5 pieces of 100 mm square is enough for much of what I would want.
Maybe. But large area jobs leave unused margin in the large panels they process so why not sell that area also.
Hi Bob,
If there is special technology, such as edge plated, half holes,blind-buried vias and so on, their price will change.
PCBs factories will choose the maximum utilization of the material. Usually, there are many boards will be panelized on the same big production panel. So the unused margin won’t be much.
Maybe, A sheet material can be used to make one big size board. But the same size material can be used to make many small boards.
Linda
If cost is important. I have used JLCPCB, and will be using again. They will do the assembly, too, but they are a little bit picky about documentation and parts.
The cost of a board for commercial devices rarely exceeds 10 percent … Multiboards are usually made not to save the cost of boards, but to save installation time, where the smt machine installs on several devices at once …
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Sure, panelizing the board can save the assembling time. When the board is too small, PCB factories will also panelize.
I wonder when there is error such as open or short circuits in your file, whether they will confirm with you? Or just follow your Gerber file?
If there are no special requirements to check, then they will follow the gerbera… Track only their errors merging tracks, short circuit between layers, etc…
Hi Chris9,
I use JLCPCB a lot: They have always delivered good quality in good time at a really cost effective price point.
I would highly recommend them.
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Hi Stewart,
When small simple board and small quantity, maybe JLC PCB or PCBway is your best choice.
But when big size and complex boards, maybe other factories will be better.
Linda
Hi Linda,
absolutly agree… However, in this case Chris9 is only looking for “…30x17mm, 10…20 pieces…”.
Good luck with the boards,
Stewart
Hi Stewart,
I also agree with you. 
Linda
Hi Linda,
I also wasn’t aware of your company and your services, so this could be a usefull reference for me in the future.
Thanks again,
Stewart
Time to mention a site I like: https://pcbshopper.com/
It’s a price comparison site with the usual suspects. But not all so check the others also. Also sometimes there are seasonal specials which override the normal prices.
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Some years ago I made a last minute change to my board. I added some vias between grounds on bottom and top of the board. One via was mishit, it shorted ground and supply voltage. The manufactured board had the short, luckily it was easy to fix. But now, I am not 100% if it was JLCPCB or someone else.
Edit: But they have online chat, Which woirks
Oh, you fixed easily, you are very lucky! Online chat is convenient.
Hi Stewart,
Our position is different from JLC and PCBWAY.
Our main customers also are different, I think.
If you are interested in ours boards and assembly service, please fee free to contact me. 
Linda