Signage HELP please...

So we are moving from our starter location to a much better location. Of course, the new location (in a popular shopping center) requires that we have certain signs. The one of concern for me is the outdoor frontage sign. It must have back-lighted, channeled letters that are 24'' tall for uppercase. My company name is 4 letters. Long story short our local sign maker wants to charge me $5500 for 4 letters and said it could take a month to complete. This sound absolutely ludicrous to me. I went online to several places and found I could have the letters built to my specs and shipped for $600.



I'm not super sure what I'm asking, I guess...

1. does $5500 seem crazy to anyone else?

2. Has anyone bought channeled letter signs online before?

3. Am I missing something?

4. Any help with good signage you can offer will be of great help.





Thanks much folks!



Guy