i used to do some powder coating. first set of bike wheels i coated i forgot to take the bearings out and the grease in the bearings boiled out ruining the bearings and the powdercoat finish. that sucked. but nothing looks better than a translusent powdercoat over chrome you can make blue chrome etc.
btw you guys are getting ripped off bad. it should never cost over like 100 per rim. it isnt very hard to do. for a grand you could buy all the stuff you need to powdercoat anything(wheel size or smaller, big ovens = $$$$)