Comment by unregistereddev

A fair price for an electrical resistor is roughly $0.02 - $0.08, depending on what you are ordering. Buying it from McMaster will probably cost you $0.12 - $0.50.

Not every component is this trivially inexpensive, but we are working in a price range where it's very much worth paying the high McMaster prices. Let them hire the entry level CAD guy and spread the cost across many more prototypes than your company will make.

When you refine the product for mass production, then it is worth shaving pennies.