# Reddit Research: Shop/Supplier-Side Pain in Finding Customers

Research date: 2026-08-07. Method: Codex CLI (web search + Reddit fetch) run in two passes on a persisted thread (id `019fddf6-e07d-7ce1-92e0-6132d929515d`), targeting r/Machinists, r/CNC, r/machining, r/smallbusiness, r/manufacturing, r/Welding, r/InjectionMolding, r/metalworking, and r/fabrication. WebFetch to reddit.com and old.reddit.com was blocked in this session's sandbox (network policy), and the WebSearch budget for this session was exhausted by other agents before independent corroboration could be run, so the quotes below rely on Codex's own web-search-and-fetch tool rather than a second independent verification pass. Local caches at `~/code/agents/reddit_data` and `~/code/reddit_capture` were checked and contain no manufacturing/machinist content (they are populated from a different capture stream, mostly SaaS/consumer subs). Treat quotes as high-confidence but not double-verified; URLs are given so anyone can spot-check.

## Bottom line

Job shops do not have a demand-generation problem in the sense of "no channel exists." They have a demand-generation problem in the sense that every channel they've tried has some combination of low win rate, terrible margin, or wasted quoting labor, and the thing that actually works (word of mouth, cold door-to-door, a long-tenured owner's personal Rolodex) does not scale and does not survive an owner's retirement. This is exactly the gap Phil Shatkin is describing: directories and marketplaces have the data, but nothing replicates a warm intro. The Reddit corpus below is heavily one-man-to-20-person shop voices (not large manufacturers), which matches Xometry/ThomasNet's own stated customer base and is probably close to the addressable market for a BOM-upload matchmaking product.

## Category 1: Demand generation (how shops actually find customers)

The dominant, repeated answer across threads is: there is no reliable inbound channel below word-of-mouth and personal relationships, and paid lead sources (directories, marketplaces) have a bad reputation.

1. **"Where would a new machine shop find first customers?"** r/Machinists, 2023. Shop owner: "When I was starting my shop I went door to door to around 20 shops... None of them ever sent me any work... Most of my customers found me through my website or google maps and the rest I found through email marketing." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/12gwa9x/where_would_a_new_machine_shop_find_first/

2. **"How do new machine shops find consistent work?"** r/Machinists, late 2025. New CNC shop owner: "We're a newer CNC shop and currently pick up occasional jobs through Xometry... We tried MFG as well, but we haven't won any quotes and most potential customers never respond." Another commenter, on their steady source: "We're at 10 workers. They're still our main source of work... Once you get some work and it's a good fit for your abilities, keep them happy." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1pe7hqk/how_do_new_machine_shops_find_consistent_work/

3. **"How do you guys find more customers for your shop"** r/Machinists, 2024. One-man shop: "I've got one customer who's steady ($55k last year) and I get some side work from my boss when he's up against it." Another commenter: "'Good parts, on time, at a fair price'... are prerequisites... not marketing differentiators." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1hxcxqq/how_do_you_guys_find_more_customers_for_your_shop/

4. **"How to approach customers for machine shop?"** r/Machinists, 2024. Machinist-turned-owner: "Never done any selling. Just wondering what to expect when calling to customer to advertise machine shop." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1dktn8d/how_to_approach_customers_for_machine_shop/

5. **"Tips for finding new customers?"** r/Machinists, 2022. Small shop owner: "We're too small of a shop to have a dedicated sales person to spend all day calling people. We've sent out a bunch of emails and aren't even getting any responses." Contrasting advice: "Walk into packaging companies, tell them you make and repair parts. You'll get the opposite of the problem, too many jobs." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/yxsaft/tips_for_finding_new_customers/

6. **"Just opened a machine shop in rural West Virginia"** r/Machinists, 2023. Commenter with outside-sales background: "You're going to have to go knock on doors and make phone calls... Prepare yourself for 95 to 99% rejections." Same thread: "You've got to be salesman and machinist now... When you get RFQ's, do them accurately but also do them quick." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/18enpd7/just_opened_a_machine_shop_in_rural_west_virginia/

7. **"Making my own welding business right after Welding school, good or bad idea?"** r/Welding, 2022. Experienced welder: "Where are you going to get customers without connections or a reputation?... It's just a really hard gig until you have a few steady clients." https://www.reddit.com/r/Welding/comments/u3v99b/making_my_own_welding_business_right_after/

8. **"Need some advice with starting a fabrication business in the UK"** r/metalworking, 2022. Fabricator/owner on the invisible cost of business development: "You don't bill for the time it takes to do your taxes, or the time to quote, or the time to clean your shop, build a website... There is always time that you are not attributing to a specific client." https://www.reddit.com/r/metalworking/comments/tu2k3q/need_some_advice_with_starting_a_fabrication/

**Reading**: shops that succeed at growth describe website/Google Maps/email or in-person cold outreach, not directories. The "too small to have a dedicated salesperson" line recurs almost verbatim across threads years apart, meaning the underlying pain (owner-operators who are machinists, not salespeople, and can't afford to hire one) hasn't changed.

## Category 2: Platform take-rate / marketplace resentment (Xometry, MFG.com)

This is the deepest, angriest vein in the corpus, and it is the direct evidence for why "another Xometry" is not the wedge.

9. **"Experience with Xometry?"** r/Machinists, 2022. Supplier: "Most of the time it's low-ish volume, jobs don't pay well, and timelines are generally unrealistic... material cost alone is 75%-100% of the value of the job." Small (8-person) shop: "Need to keep the job board up and keep an eye on it because good jobs go quick... most times you won't have time to quote material." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/vnh7xc/experience_with_xometry/

10. **"I've ran over $200k in work for Xometry, AMA"** r/Machinists, 2024. Shop owner: "There are a LOT of low paying orders on Xometry. But all you do is not accept those... there are some really nice diamonds in the rough." A 10-person shop owner, pushing back hard: "They were charging the end customer DOUBLE what they were asking on the job board!... If the parts were $500 on the job board they were charging $1000 or more... Xometry may help get your business off the ground but it will never build your business." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1df2kyt/ive_ran_over_200k_in_work_for_xometry_ama/

11. **"Feedback on Xometry for small machine shop?"** r/Machinists, 2020. Garage shop: "Some are ok, others pay less than material and finishing cost." R&D machinist: "The job pay very bad... Parts cost $55 plus shipping, they pay $57/part... But that's an 8-10 hr job if your setup and efficient." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/jxpaaa/feedback_on_xometry_for_small_machine_shop/

12. **"'Uber-like' Machine services. Is it a mistake to join them?"** r/Machinists, 2023. Small shop, ex-Xometry supplier: "We're a small shop that competes with Xometry and we're technically still a Xometry supplier, but haven't done a job for them in years now." Buyer-side commenter, on the anti-relationship design: "The same part number can come from a different supplier each time you order, no contact between the customer and the shop." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/140npuz/uberlike_machine_services_is_it_a_mistake_to_join/

13. **"Fun experiment with Xometry, MFG.com, Tangent"** r/Machinists, 2023. Shop-side commenter, quantifying the spread: "That got me thinking about what the 'Delta' difference is on Xometry. Meaning, what the customer pays vs. what the supplier gets paid... The supplier rates are often so unfavorable that we rarely accept projects." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/175b1xm/fun_experiment_with_xometry_mfgcom_tangent/

14. **"MFG.com worth it?"** r/Machinists, 2023. Shop owner: "Complete waste of money. I never actually won a job from them, although I quoted probably 50-60 times." Another user: "Horribly ineffective at getting work and/or building potential customer relationships. Total bust for my shop." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/173ze4g/mfgcom_worth_it/

**Reading**: the take-rate complaint isn't abstract, it's that suppliers can see (or infer) a 2x markup between what they're paid and what the end customer pays, with zero pricing power and zero relationship equity accruing to the shop. Every repeat order re-opens to competitive bid with no continuity. That's the precise inverse of a warm intro.

## Category 3: Aging owners / succession

15. **"Help me save my father's dying CNC machine shop"** r/Machinists, 2026. Family successor: "The main problem seems to be sales and customer base as they essentially put all their eggs in one basket... Combine our nearly only customers work slowing down and the other major company being bought out and ending our relationship and we have been net negative." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1qcbpr7/help_me_save_my_fathers_dying_cnc_machine_shop/

16. **"Taking over the family injection molding business, looking for advice"** r/InjectionMolding, 2026. Successor: "Most of our work has historically come from one large customer... starting to slow down. I'm starting to realize how risky that is long term." A separate business buyer in the same thread: "Since we bought the business getting companies in the door has been tough. So far we have added 1." https://www.reddit.com/r/InjectionMolding/comments/1s1t8nt/taking_over_the_family_injection_molding_business/

17. **"Opportunity to buy machining business"** r/Machinists, 2025. OP (family buyer): "The owners are ready to retire and want to hand off the business to someone who will keep it running." Advisor: "Running a business is much more work than solely the machining. (Accounts, HR, customer acquisition, project management)." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1lgtk1g/opportunity_to_buy_machining_business/

18. **"Interested in taking over a retiring shop"** r/Machinists, 2026. Prospective buyer told bluntly: "Running a machine shop wioth zero experience in Machining is a recipe for disaster... Unless you have a background in sales or prior experience, you may find you don't enjoy the customer side of being on the phone and solving problems." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1tzyhm2/interested_in_taking_over_a_retiring_shop/

19. **"few questions for the owners of the 2-10 person operations out there"** r/Machinists, 2026. Employee negotiating a buy-in: "I've been in talks with my bosses about buying the Swiss machine shop I currently work at over the next couple of years as the owners get closer to retirement... They want to retire in 4 years. Its a 6 machine shop." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1ur1yk1/few_questions_for_the_owners_of_the_210_person/

20. **"Machine shop owners"** r/Machinists, 2025. Employee being offered equity: "I've been presented an opportunity to be gifted stock in an established niche machine shop. We do 4 to 6mm/year in revenue. Current owner wants to retire." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1jhgcx0/machine_shop_owners/

**Reading**: the customer base is treated by everyone in these threads as the single riskiest, least transferable asset in a shop sale or handoff. Nobody talks about machines or workforce as the succession risk; they talk about the owner's personal book of relationships walking out the door with him. That is a direct argument for a product that can systematize and de-risk demand generation ahead of a succession event, not just after a shop is already struggling.

## Category 4: Quoting burden / RFQ spam

21. **"I'm a customer, what am I doing wrong?"** r/Machinists, 2022. Shop-side: "It takes time/money for shops to even quote those... They don't want to lose money on stuff like this." Another: "We blacklisted a company years back when they kept sending us rfq's but never went ahead with the work. 80+ hours quoting these jobs is a lot of time wasted." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/tyczum/im_a_customer_what_am_i_doing_wrong/

22. **"Any estimator here? What software do you use for quoting?"** r/Machinists, 2025. Estimator: "It takes me a lot of time... sending emails to metal suppliers for latest price, and then sit back waiting." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1loyicv/any_estimator_here_what_software_do_you_use_for/

23. **"How do new machine shops find consistent work?"** (same thread as #2), trade-show advice on early RFQs: "You will get a few RFQ's. They are going to be shit parts you don't want to do... Quote them cheap and get in with the companies and you will grow." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1pe7hqk/how_do_new_machine_shops_find_consistent_work/

24. **"I can't get any shops to call me back about a quote"** r/Machinists, 2016 (buyer-side frustration, shop-side reply shows the asymmetry): "You sent rfq's for molds on Thursday and are freaking out about not hearing back by Monday?... I'd give them at least a week to respond." https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/5go0d3/i_cant_get_any_shops_to_call_me_back_about_a/

25. **"I got tired of waiting 3 days for quotes. So I built something"** r/CNC, 2026 (a buyer-side founder describing the same pain from the other end, evidence someone is already trying to build a quoting tool here): "Every time I submit a drawing to a machine shop, I wait 2-3 days just to get a quote back... The shop owner is up at night redoing spreadsheets, hoping the math is right." https://www.reddit.com/r/CNC/comments/1tpykmd/i_got_tired_of_waiting_3_days_for_quotes_so_i/

## What shops actually pay for marketing/leadgen today

- **ThomasNet: ~$200/month, sold as a 12-month contract (~$2,400/year)**, with widely reported zero to poor ROI. "I am at month 7 of contract. Nothing to show for it. ZERO inquiries, ZERO sales." r/smallbusiness, 2020. https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/comments/ki73yp/is_thomasnet_worth_it/
- **ThomasNet described as pay-to-rank**: "Thomasnet is a dying company. It's a glorified yellow pages... charging businesses to bump up their ranking." Also flagged as a conflict of interest because Xometry pays to intercept ThomasNet's own traffic. r/CNC, 2024. https://www.reddit.com/r/CNC/comments/1dl05ln/how_thomasnet_makes_money/
- **MFG.com: reported at both ~$1,500/quarter and ~$500/month** by different posters in different years, both describing it as a poor spend. "Is it worth the $1500 a quarter?" (r/Machinists, 2021-22, https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/rlk3om/mfgcom/); "the company was paying MFG ~$500 per month in fees" (r/CNC, 2014, https://www.reddit.com/r/CNC/comments/1x27en/idea_validation_manufacturing_directory_with/); "Complete waste of money. I never actually won a job from them, although I quoted probably 50-60 times." (r/Machinists, 2023, https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/173ze4g/mfgcom_worth_it/)
- **Google Ads: small spend, credited with real revenue** by at least one shop: "We've managed to get about $35k in business from new customers off Google ads (about $500 out of pocket so far)." r/smallbusiness, 2021. https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/comments/pg6avj/advertising_on_yelp_and_was_charged_more_than/ — notably the one clearly positive ROI story in the whole corpus, and it's a paid-search channel a shop ran itself, not a directory or marketplace.
- **Xometry's implicit take rate**: suppliers repeatedly describe the end customer being charged roughly double the supplier payout ("If the parts were $500 on the job board they were charging $1000 or more"), implying an effective platform margin in the 40-50%+ range on many jobs, though Xometry does not publish a flat commission percentage and the spread varies by job.
- **Commission sales reps**: a family-owned shop's 2017 job posting offered a "Commission Paid Sales Rep," "Potential to make $100,000+ annually entirely dependent on you," i.e. straight commission, no base, reflecting how thin margins are for shops trying to fund a dedicated sales function. r/Machinists, 2017. https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/60wl68/wanted_machine_shop_sales_representative/
- **A lead-broker idea being floated by a Redditor**, not an existing product, illustrates what shops might tolerate in commission terms: "You charge them 20% commission on the order of $5000... Maybe I pay you 15% for the first 6 months, then 10% for 6 months." r/CNC, 2024-25. https://www.reddit.com/r/CNC/comments/1gtj9p5/business_idea_for_acquiring_machining_contracts/

## Implications for the "Boardy for supply chain" thesis

1. Shops already tried the "post my capacity, get matched to demand" model (Xometry, MFG.com) and the dominant sentiment is resentment, not gratitude, specifically because the platform captures the margin and the relationship while the shop absorbs the quoting labor and the bad jobs. A new matchmaking product has to solve the take-rate and relationship-ownership problem, not just the discovery problem, or it will read as "another Xometry" to this audience.
2. ThomasNet's failure mode (pay upfront, no attribution, no guaranteed leads) is exactly what a modern, quality-scored, BOM-driven matching product could beat on: pay for outcomes, not visibility.
3. Succession is a real, underexploited hook. Multiple threads show buyers/successors explicitly worried about losing the outgoing owner's personal book of business, an audience that would plausibly pay a real premium for something that professionalizes and future-proofs demand generation, distinct from the "we're growing and drowning in RFQs" audience.
4. The quoting-burden pain (RFQ spam, tire-kickers, 80+ hours quoted with nothing won) suggests any matchmaking product needs a pre-qualification/scoring layer on the demand side, or it just becomes a firehose of low-intent BOM uploads that shops will resent exactly like Xometry's job board.
5. Evidence of willingness to pay is thin and mostly negative (ThomasNet, MFG.com regret stories dominate); the one clean positive-ROI data point in this corpus is self-run Google Ads, not a directory/marketplace, worth stress-testing further before assuming shops will pay a subscription or success fee happily.

## Sources

- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/12gwa9x/where_would_a_new_machine_shop_find_first/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1pe7hqk/how_do_new_machine_shops_find_consistent_work/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1hxcxqq/how_do_you_guys_find_more_customers_for_your_shop/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1dktn8d/how_to_approach_customers_for_machine_shop/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/yxsaft/tips_for_finding_new_customers/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/18enpd7/just_opened_a_machine_shop_in_rural_west_virginia/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Welding/comments/u3v99b/making_my_own_welding_business_right_after/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/metalworking/comments/tu2k3q/need_some_advice_with_starting_a_fabrication/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/vnh7xc/experience_with_xometry/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1df2kyt/ive_ran_over_200k_in_work_for_xometry_ama/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/jxpaaa/feedback_on_xometry_for_small_machine_shop/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/140npuz/uberlike_machine_services_is_it_a_mistake_to_join/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/175b1xm/fun_experiment_with_xometry_mfgcom_tangent/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/173ze4g/mfgcom_worth_it/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1qcbpr7/help_me_save_my_fathers_dying_cnc_machine_shop/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/InjectionMolding/comments/1s1t8nt/taking_over_the_family_injection_molding_business/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1lgtk1g/opportunity_to_buy_machining_business/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1tzyhm2/interested_in_taking_over_a_retiring_shop/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1ur1yk1/few_questions_for_the_owners_of_the_210_person/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1jhgcx0/machine_shop_owners/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/tyczum/im_a_customer_what_am_i_doing_wrong/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1loyicv/any_estimator_here_what_software_do_you_use_for/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/5go0d3/i_cant_get_any_shops_to_call_me_back_about_a/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/CNC/comments/1tpykmd/i_got_tired_of_waiting_3_days_for_quotes_so_i/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/comments/ki73yp/is_thomasnet_worth_it/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/CNC/comments/1dl05ln/how_thomasnet_makes_money/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/rlk3om/mfgcom/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/CNC/comments/1x27en/idea_validation_manufacturing_directory_with/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/comments/pg6avj/advertising_on_yelp_and_was_charged_more_than/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/60wl68/wanted_machine_shop_sales_representative/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/CNC/comments/1gtj9p5/business_idea_for_acquiring_machining_contracts/