I am the inventor on four patents and the average cost of each was $15,000 to $18,000. That is cheap, compared to the cost to defend them (two defenses - one at $50,000, one at $100,000). Fortunately, I do not own any of the patents and thus did not pay for them or the defenses. Bottom line is, if you do not have the money to defend them, it is probably not worth YOUR money to patent them. There are a number of ways to get the product to market, but coming from someone who has had several dozen products sold at the retail level, it is much easier to invent than to sell. You might at least begin the patent process so you will be covered by a patent pending for a while, until you determine if there is merit in your product - this way, you don't spend a bunch of $ on the entire patent. Make a drawing of the product, and create a description of the features and what it does, and get it notarized. This will provide you protection if someone else comes out with it two years from now, you will be able to provide "prior artwork" and may be able to prevent them from obtaining a patent or they might provide you with compensation. If you approach a potential manufacturer, you can attempt te get them to sign a non-disclosure agreement which will prevent them from making the product for a year - but a lot of them will not sign one. I have been doing this stuff for 20 years, and I have learned a lot of lessons, mostly the hard way. Good luck and don't give up too quick if the going gets tough. If you have any specific questions, you can shoot me an email and you don't have to tell me what your working on.