A few years ago, I was approached by a supposed painter. He said he could do my car in metal flake for $600. Yea.... $600 WITHOUT removing the body! . And you know what, I almost did it, but I decided to do a surprise visit to his shop. Talk about a hack shop. I'll bet that shop spends more on bondo, than paint. He showed my some of his "high dollar" work and it was scary. Over spray everywhere, like they forgot to tape and paper stuff off. Needless to say, I politely refused.
On another note, I met another painter/fabricator and went by his shop. "Bare Bones Customs", ask for Tim. I didn't have my T at the time, but he sat me down and gave me a long, in depth chat about paint jobs. He told me about the different types of paint and prep to do a job right. He told me his cheapest paint job was $8,000, but that customer won't need a redo for a long time. So, when ever I hear or read about someone getting a paint job for cheap, I cringe and wish them well. Because, unless you do it yourself, a GOOD, CHEAP paint job is a hoax. And even doing it yourself, the cost of paint and associated supplies will blow your mind.
Don't believe it? GOOGLE it!