Actually if you do the prep work such as final block sanding etc I have seen halfway decent paint jobs from the cheapies like Maaco. A wet sand and buff can work wonders.
Given the fact that some paints can run hundreds of dollar per gallon $450.00 to paint a car is cheap.
I spent about $600 on material on the last one. All that said what kind of car? is any of the paint lifting or just rock chips? There are some inexpensive single stage stuff at Summit. Are ya willing to put in a little work?