Your simple description left a lot out to give a real quote. You won't
find many(any?) shops that will quote you something without some sort
of drawing.

How many flutes? what size? full length?

If $45 per is too much for you, I suspect this project is doomed. Any
shop that can crank them out fast enough(ie CNC) to make them cheaper
is going to have expensive equipment to amortize. Anyone who is doing
it by other means(lathe, shaper, mill) is going to have substantial
labor time to bill you for.

JW