Shapeways: price increase

[3Dsf]

Just a warning - if there's a product or two that you've been thinking of buying that's fulfilled by Shapeways, buy it now! Prices for many if not most "detail" plastic products will be increasing on 4 February 2019.

Sadly, Shapeways continue their price increase strategy. Their new pricing system is extremely opaque and difficult to predict, but basically anything with multiple objects in it is going to skyrocket. I have one set for sale that's going from $26 US to $127! No joke. By spruing the hell out of the set I'll be able to bring that back down, but not to the original price.

Most stuff on my site is going to go up by about 15%, which isn't crazy, though still a bummer. But I'm going to have to spend a ton of time reworking all the multiple-part sets to make them a bit more affordable.

 

[Analyzer]

I've been reading this thread since I was notified by someone I recently ordered a 1/144 antarctic troop set from

Pricing Changes

and the pricing does seem a bit bizarre and the 5% handling fee tacked on as well

 

[Sindariel]

Time for alternatives.

 

[Analyzer]

As printers become more affordable and more people have them for personal use, it would be nice to have a Shapeways type of shop, except where you can buy the actual 3D printer files from designers instead

 

[3Dsf]

There are several sites where people sell prebaked .stl files already. I don’t know how popular they are. One big problem is that people tend to redistribute the finished files, so if you’re trying to make back your labour costs it’s not a great model. :/

 

[NathansPROPS]

****, Really? a $26 dollar model to be priced new at 127$! I have a shape ways shop and know of them changing the prices but I fear the worst. I just hope it isn't as bad as it sounds.

 

[Jaitea]

As technology advances & the demand & usage of the service increases, you'd honestly think the price to the customer would decrease, thats the way things normally go

J

 

[3Dsf]

****, Really? a $26 dollar model to be priced new at 127$! I have a shape ways shop and know of them changing the prices but I fear the worst. I just hope it isn't as bad as it sounds.

That was the worst increase of the lot. The price increases were all over the map, but as I said, the average was 15%.

If you're a Shapeways designer you can download a .csv file containing the delta changes in price.

 

[pave spectre]

I seem to have gotten lucky with my stuff, most of it is only going up by a couple of dollars.
It's not just Shapeways changing their prices. i.materialise will soon be requiring a 30 euro order minimum. Stuff can cost less than 30E, but they will add on to the price till it costs 30E

 

[tarnyloo73]

This is bad news for me, I don't get a lot of sales and the price increase might kill them off completely. Don't know what the alternatives are, I certainly couldn't afford a 3D printer at the present time.

Was hoping to put out a couple of full dinosaur skeletons this year, maybe it's time to move on and do something else.

 

[Fett_Ish]

I've personally always thought the pricing was inexpensive for what it is, but have been surprised when I sell things to other people. I have had a little "rush" lately and I guess the impending price increase is the reason. Really wish I had a resin printer of my own, but the prices are still a bit out of reach.

 

[Jedi Dade]

With these prices going the way they are - buying a good 3D printer is getting more and more attractive.

Jedi Dade

 

[Dedalus5550]

Out of curiosity, how much is a 3D printer? I don't want to just do a google search because there might be some real differences. Maybe the cheapest are only suitable for small projects for children. Is there a price for something decent for us casual modelers and is there a price for a product that Shapeways uses?
Thanks,
Mike Todd

 

[3Dsf]

While everyone's comments on getting a 3D printer are reasonable, remember that this only addresses one use case. 3D printers are great if you're willing to invest the money, spend countless hours building your own 3D designs (or accept the stuff that some people have posted free/for sale) and so on.

But an important part of the Shapeways model is it means people can buy the work of other people. And designers don't have to run their own fulfilment services and ecommerce sites.

 

[Jedi Dade]

True... But with the price increases they are opening the door for Alternatives... If I were to seriously try to build a 5 foot Millennium falcon for example a good printer would be a cheaper route than Shapeways. and the amount of freely available models is pretty substantial... and of pretty high quality by and large... at least for things that we around here on this board (building models/parts of models).

Jedi Dade

 

[Jaitea]

True... But with the price increases they are opening the door for Alternatives... If I were to seriously try to build a 5 foot Millennium falcon for example a good printer would be a cheaper route than Shapeways. and the amount of freely available models is pretty substantial... and of pretty high quality by and large... at least for things that we around here on this board (building models/parts of models).

Jedi Dade

Yes I agree & the RPF is a site full of creative folk,.....Shapeways increasing their price may just be enough to push us to creating & printing things ourselves instead of relying on other artists

J

 

[3Dsf]

True. And, in fact, the cost of getting prints is one of the factors that got me into designing 3D parts a couple of years ago. I figured, how hard could it be?

And it's not. It's quite easy. It's just an insane buttload of work!

 

[Fett_Ish]

True. And, in fact, the cost of getting prints is one of the factors that got me into designing 3D parts a couple of years ago. I figured, how hard could it be?

And it's not. It's quite easy. It's just an insane buttload of work!

...and the other reason beyond price that I haven't bought one. Building in 3D is a laborious process. I am not a CAD guy so my process (poly/sud-D) can be a bear for printing. I worry if I got a printer I would spend countless hours on the computer and very little actually building and I allready spend my work day on the computer. The upside would be I love 3D modeling. My wife would hate it though.

 

[FZ6]

A 3D printer is not easy to make it run properly, unless you spend 5.000 bucks...
A Form 2 is great, but you need to pay 500 bucks yearly for tech support, 150 bucks for 1 liter resin and the time to create the STL mesh with supports...

I have a new DLP printer but I haven't started it yet. I have to do it...