Like most things, technology is driving rapid change in the industry. The newest automatic printers today are sooooo much better than what labs had just 2 years ago much less five years ago. I had excellent prints from several online places where I uploaded my file and all they did was hit the print button. My largest was 24x36 and it was very impressive (both the print and quality
) Cost was about 25 bucks for a single unit.
I still print quite a bit here but they are "proofs" and handouts. Nothing for sale, it is just not cost effective any more.