[jacquesm]

> As someone who has never built a wheel but as someone who has spent hundreds of dollars getting a wheel trued up

That sounds like you were ripped off. It isn't hard to do and it isn't hard to do right. It takes very little in terms of investment in tools (the most important thing is a stable stand so you can rotate the wheel, an old fork with a guide attached will do fine for this, and a $15 hardened spoke key).