Milling a paperclip is absurd and does nothing for the argument as it's just not sane.
There are many people that can afford a <$400 printer, yet at that price range it might be totally inadequate for what is actually needed. Some people are willing to not spend that money for a one/two off project in that manner, but would rather spend that money with someone that already has the right gear and experience using that gear to just produce the thing needed.
yeah - that's like PCBWay, et al. You can make boards yourself (even etch your own if you want to). But a lot of people opt. for the convenience of out-sourcing it.
