I think shapeways needs to reexamine its prices for larger items. I have a very simple model that is 10" x 6.9" x 6.9". It is quoted at nearly $2200 for the basic white & flexible. Um, wow... Without mentioning a competitor, this price is not even close to market competitive. They can charge whatever they want, but they are making a mistake using a linear price structure with only one price break. Does anyone know if they might offer a non-automated quote that might be more reasonable. Thanks.
Well, you can always ask service@shapeways.com (though at the moment, NL is probably asleep and US is huddled under the table). OTOH, are you sure that your object is correct, i.e. hollowed out where possible and with suitably large drain holes for the hollows ? Pricing for everything except ceramic is per volume, so solid vs. hollow can make a dramatic difference.
A mostly-linear price model is not out of line. The bulk of the cost is the raw material used and amount of electricity consumed to operate the machine for the (hours) that it takes to print your model. For several of the printers, it takes the same amount of resources to print a hundred small items or one very large one of equal volume. That's also why they can't offer "bulk discounts" for large quanity orders. It's straight up volume of material consumed.
Pricing models. Profitable. Consistent. Competitive in all cases. Pick two. If you don't choose Profitable, in a year your business won't exist. If you don't choose Consistent, you can't deliver automated quotes or transparent pricing. And if you don't choose Competitive, some users will print some models at other service bureaus. I think Shapeways has made a reasonable choice.
The technology is still newborn and so prices are still "high". But if you compare to what prices were to make some items some years ago, I wouldn't say it's expensive. Some years ago a private simply couldn't print a part without spending a fortune. Now he can. This doesn't mean that prices should be as accessible as to give freedom to print 1 cubic meter of stuff for 10 dollars. And I hope it will never get to that line, I can't imagine the production and pollution that would come out from lower prices...
Hey, we cannot offer manual price quotes as we get way too many uploads of models on a daily basis. You are right to say that our model can always be improved, there is always room for improvement and making large models more affordable is something we definitely are working on. For now making models hollow will help, but size definitely influence material and machine use, which are very important cost drivers. Hope this helps. Pete