Answering my own question, this appears to be a "small batch friendly" supplier of ABS granules that is located in the US:
[
www.backyardengineer.com]
$32.00 for 10#, which is a bit more than half what filament is costing me.
I have not ordered from this vendor yet.
I've also found small batches on ebay at a price that would exceed the cost for 3mm filament, so that makes no sense at all.
I was hoping to pick up a 50# bag at a fifth or a tenth of the cost of the filament, but no luck.
PolyPropylene is also stocked at $15.50 for 10#
--
My blog's Reprap feed: [
blog.markbova.com]
I'm currently working on a stock Mendel build with a Seeeduino Mega and four Pololu A4983 stepper controllers.