Mastercamguru's $1500 post was probably for a high end machine with lots of High Speed Machining features. Not all posts are $1500. I write posts for a living. Some are as little as $175. Some are $3500 (5X posts). For most people, if it's a 3X fanuc compatible control and they take the time to include the correct information about their machine, it can usually be done for about $250 +/- $100. So you have to ask yourself, do you want to spend 12 hours writing a post? or would you rather pay someone $300 to get it done ASAP?
You said something about "posts being so valued". It's not the post that has the value, it's the persons time and knowledge. What's your time worth.
Mastercamguru just helped someone write a post for a Fanuc 7 (I think it was). I commend him for his work. I saw the output code in these messages. He did a good job. I knew when I saw the request, it wouldn't be impossible, but it wouldn't be a quick post modification. I'm sure it was an excellent learning experience. Then you have to watch out for the... "Oh can you fix this one more thing..." . :-)
Mike Mattera
Tips For Manufacturing Training CD's, DVD's for Mastercam, SolidWorks, Inventor, G-Code Training & More
http://www.tipsforcadcam.com