I bought my A8 for Christmas 2016 and paid about 170€. Today its only 116€ ($136) on gearbest. However, in hindsight I should have bought something else. It is worth your time to invest in a product that saves you so much tinkering around to get it just the way you want. On the other hand you learn a lot.
I like to see more 3d printer stuff here (so I upvote+follow you naturally).