I don't have a horse in this race, but since I've been looking at health clearances for my own dogs recently, here's my contribution.
Hip rads here (NC, USA) run about $75 each - perhaps someone was quoting you the price for fully sedated xrays with multiple views and submission costs? Anesthesia will raise costs significantly.
My malinois, who I have no plans of breeding, will be xrayed and submitted to OFA at some point because 1. I'm curious and if I get xrays I might as well submit, 2. the info would be helpful for my breeder, and 3. the info would add to the data available on rates of dysplasia in my breed. There's no reason to suspect she'll have anything but nice hips, but that's not the point - it's to further the progress of the breed. I really don't understand having the xrays but not sharing the results.
FYI OVC is no longer taking hip/elbow rads for certification. Your options are PennHip (which could easily be close to the figure you quoted - last I checked it was nearly $300) or OFA ($30 for prelims, $35 for adult dogs, $15 each if you submit 5 or more dogs at the same time:
http://www.offa.org/).
I personally will never buy from someone who doesn't have breed appropriate health clearances on file. In malinois, that does limit my options, but if I want a crap shoot, I'll get a dog from a shelter or a rescue.