I have finally decided to get rid of my keyboard problems and start fresh on a hitbox. Given that “official” hitboxes shipping is half the price of the box itself I was looking for someone who could make me one either in Europe or from the US at a more affordable price.
Hit me up on the thread rather than private message, I forget to log in from year to year 
there’s a trading forum for this.
we, or the good guys - not me, can help you building one, but this is not the right place to buy stuff
Oh, my apologies. Packing my stuff and moving there.
Warring
DIY methods are not always cheaper, specially if you are hiring a Modder to take their time to make one custom for you.
For the Cost, The offical Hit Box is the cheapest option.
I recall finding several hitboxes built out of Humidors (cigar boxes), seems like that would be the cheapest way to go if you have a drill and know how to wire a stick.
and the correct drill bits.
Price of tools should be consider in a total cost of a project.
Should be able to get 24mm and 30mm Forstner for about $10 each, might be easier to find in store for him since he’s in Europe.
In USD, costs would be approximately (minus shipping):
$35 for a Cthulhu, or $60 for a PS360 (less for a padhack, which would require more tolls that the OP probably doesn’t have).
$35-$40 for buttons.
~$10 for wire
<$5 for .110 connects
$20 for Forstners
…and the cost of the box, which could be very cheap at minimum.
…So yeah, I guess buying one straight from the source wouldn’t be a bad deal- although shipping costs may be very prohibitive where he lives.
$95 to $135 without a case or box.
a cheap Humidor is about $12 but they average about $40
So $107 to $175
Which cost more if you hire someone else to do all of this.
In addition to Darksakul’s prices above, shipping costs don’t magically vanish if you hire someone else to make it.
(just clarifying what I meant with my post)
I didn’t even factor shipping costs and those vary wildly based on location, distance, type of shipping and speed or urgency of the shipping.
Also most smart modders add a finders fee for every part and material they have to procure.
So basically you’re telling me the $210 (ship inc.) the official one costs is pretty much the way to go.
This post is from 14 hours ago.
The fact that going with the easiest option that has the highest production number is the cheapest is true for literally everything manufactured.
Yes, I learned the hard way that DIY/ Custom routes are not the cheapest.
Like I should not be sinking more money at Radio shack then how much the damn case cost me.
$10 for wire is a rough guestmate, as soon as you add 5 more cheap items the cost adds up and then next thing you notice you sunk another $40 for just wiring, barrier posts, solder and various connectors and accessories.
I would suggest a building it slow.
get a tek case (cheap solid case)
pick up a used ps360+ (should be people selling em now that new systems are out)
grab some used buttons
heres one i made
or just buy a used one. a lot of people sell them because they can’t adapt.
Not to take away from Hitbox’s business, but I built my own hitbox because I did not like the dimensions of the official hitbox. They make it so that you can’t rest your palms on the case which is something I prefer when using a hitbox. They recommend you use it as if you were typing with your wrist and palms in the air but I don’t like using it that way. So you may want to consider that when deciding to go official or get one built.
Keep in mind budget is a deciding factor.
I definitely ended up spending more than I had anticipated on my first mod and first build, mostly on tools (old soldering iron was a POS, needed better solder, hot glue gun, dremel, tip tinner, forstner (30mm), hole saw (24mm). The build, which I had envisioned as a cheap stick made from leftover Madcatz parts and a digital PS1 padhack, would have stayed really cheap had I planned better from the start- the biggest wastes were buying .187" disconnects at Radio Shack and cutting my first box wrong (used a Viewlix template I though was printed to correct scale, it’s spaced for Shaq hands now). I would have saved about $30 had it not been for those, around $38 had I not used terminal strips.
The flip side is that a) I had a lot of fun doing it (so much so that I want to build/improve more now, despite having no need for more sticks) and b) I learned a lot and got much better at soldering.
On that note, here’s a relatively tough and cheap box I found, which has the bonus of being the perfect thickness for snap in buttons. Spade bits, which are generally cheaper, will work fine for drilling it as well: http://www.containerstore.com/shop/collections/hobby/partsBoxes?productId=10009772
I don’t have a workbench nor the capacity or space to do some DIY work at my place 
Work bench? Isn’t that what a table\carpet\vacuum are for? =)
Unless you have the parts, I think the cheapest way would be to buy someone else’s stick they don’t want.