It just occurred to me that I received a payment from shapeways to my paypal account and then turned around and spent the majority of it at shapeways. Might there be a way to maintain a shapeways account so that we could choose to transfer to paypal or keep the money at shapeways and thereby avoid paypal fees and simplify accounting? Just a thought, i realize it is probably a complicated thing to implement. Thanks, Erica
I've been wondering the same. Paying fees both ways can get expensive. I'd prefer to keep the money on account and use it to buy models. Also, when I do choose to receive money, I'd prefer to pay a fee to get a check, I have a problem with Paypal which causes me much frustration.
Dear Erica Thanks for your suggestion! I agree with you and it's already on our development wish list. It would be nice if you could either choose to buy something with your accrued earnings or have it paid out. And yes, it would save some money for you. You are right it will take some meticulous work to get this implemented, so do not expect anything overnight. But, please bare with us........ somewhere in our Shapie future we will take this direction! About the checks for PhotosfromRob. We use Paypal as it is quite widely accepted in the world. Any form of international payments costs money, checks do to. Next to that, it can take up to two weeks before the money clears and you as the shop owner receive it. Right now we try to remain efficient so we can keep the mark up fee for admin costs as low as possible. Of course we will keep track of payments developments that could enable you better. Please let me know what frustrates you about Paypal. I am interested to understand. Kindly, Marleen
I have an idea! Have an option to not pay out every 30 days when your amount equals what ever it's set too. Then when you order have an option to pay with your account!
I also am not very fond of Paypal. As I'm unable to extract my balance to my bank account. (long story short : uncorrectable first-name mismatch and Paypal charges money for failed attempts) Would it be possible for Dutch (European?) shop-owners to receive the markups by normal bank transfer (in euros) ? That is usually free. I would be still happy to pay a small transaction fee though. Next to that, an account at Shapeways would also be very useful ! Cheers, Stijn Ps. I'm am still very much amazed that overseas money transfer in a digital age is so ridiculously expensive. Usually the easiest and cheapest is to UPS/Fedex a box of cash.
I don't know how much help this is, but OneBookShelf.com, who run RPG Now, Wargames Vault and other download shops, have a system much like is being suggested. Any revenue you earn, either through selling your own items or referring other buyers, is accrued into a running total in your OBS account. The funds stay in this account, and you can spend them directly in OBS online shops. On request, you can have any money in the account transferred to a PayPal account for a $2 processing fee. Here are the FAQs on the DriveThruRPG site, to give a little more detail. Andy PS: Stijn, where's the typo problem, with the PayPal account or your bank? Is it possible to open a second PayPal account with the right details using a different e-mail address? I assume you've tried contacting PayPal about the mistake?
Apparently my money "bounced" due to a first name mismatch. They charged me for that I'm still not sure what the exact problem was, but my bank seems to only use my initials, and Paypal uses my full first name. Paypal will not allow me to use the initals as first name and I could not get my bank to understand the "problem" as they have my first name on file correctly. Eventually I gave up on trying to find a solution, neither my bank or Paypal were very helpful in the process, both suggest things should be fine, but I'm not going to keep trying since failed attempts cost me money. I do have a few workarounds and I'm thinking of switching banks anyway. I hope it will work then. Cheers !
I think that things like this happen on Paypal because it is so automated. For example: I recently moved - Right before my new Paypal debit card arrived - and the card was not forwarded. So...I went onto paypal, changed my address. Then I noticed that you had to deactivate the old card before they would send you a new one. So i did (citing lost or stolen) changed my card address for the new card and clicked the GO button. Sure enough, a few minutes later I receive an email stating that my accound has been locked due to "Questionable Usage" and i had to add a new CC to verify my account. THEN they say that since i was tecnically denied from having hte debit card, I cant reapply for 30 days! Just figured I would share my experiance, your not alone Stijn!
Perhaps Shapeways can start using iDEAL for dutch customers? It's, in my opinion, one of the best payment systems that works directly through your own internet banking without sharing any details.
Hi guys, Thanks for all the suggestions. There were I few I didn't know, so I will take these into account. All in all, I see there are two wishes: 1. Alternative way of getting paid (bank, google, etc) 2. Spending your balance at Shapeways without transfers back at forth. Kindly! Marleen
In this case (2), I guess the $30 minimum isn't needed ? This could allow the users to benefit from their markups, even if the amount is less than $10... I guess the majority of shop owners (I, too) will have to wait years to accumulate more than $30 markups on their account...
If you're waiting years to make a $30 markup then your markups are too low. It pains me to do it, but I mark up on shapeways the same way I mark up for real life sales.
Markups too low, but perhaps, not enough visitors to your page for sure! Publish some designs at relevant pages, put them on your facebook / twitter and in general tell people about it. You would be surprised how this increases your sales! F.I. your shark steel opener would really resonate well at notcot.org !! And have a look here: https://www.shapeways.com/betashops/how_to_promote_your_shop Peter
A graph showing some data about the markups on Shapeways could be useful ! Thank you for the hints, Peter. I'm always cautious about promoting because the border between promoting and spamming is always very very thin... Shapeways recently featured someone who sold for more than x thousand $. However, I think that statistically (powerlaw) a lot of seller won't even reach $10 a year... This is my point: to allow these people to spend their markups on Shapeways without having to reach the $30 minimum.
That said, there's still a $25 minimum on orders anyway, unless paying directly from a Shapeways account could help circumvent this. Andy
The minimum order size of $25 is to ensure we can actually cover all our costs. I doubt it would make a difference if you paid it from your shop's credit... Bart
I suspected that was case, just thought I'd mention it. The main point I was actually raising was that using the Shapeways account wouldn't help much from a "minimum amount before you can use it" standpoint. It would still save you money, since you wouldn't be paying transfer fees back and forth as money is sent between yourself and Shapeways and vice versa. But FX2 mentioned being able to spend it on the site before reaching the minimum $30 transfer threshold. My point was that you'd still need $25 to make an SW order anyway, so there wouldn't be much difference from that point of view. Andy
Hi FX2 I'm always cautious about promoting because the border between promoting and spamming is always very very thin... Although it is a thin line, it is essential to promote your designs if you actually want to sell them, and people are often on the lookout for something original to buy for themselves or as a gift. Your key holder & letter opener are cool designs that will sell if people are actually exposed to them. I can easily imagine them in a 'nifty gifty' type store, if you are not comfortable promoting your work online perhaps you could try a local designer/gift store? I can also imagine the shark letter opener as a corporate gift with a logo or as a bottle opener. If you would like me to help you promote your designs through some online channels please let me know at duann(at)shapeways.com
Hi Fx2 Just wanted to let you know I spent about 40 minutes a few days ago promoting your design online (no emails, no spam) just blogs, twitter and facebook. Following are the links I have found to date along with the twitter traffic. https://designyoutrust.com/2010/07/27/shark-stainless-steel-l etter-opener/ https://pichaus.com/technology-design-product-3d-@5c27634a5c3 d5c92549d287b58894091/ https://upcoming.current.com/search?q=%E2%80%9CShark%E2%80%9D +stainless+steel+letter+opener https://upcoming.current.com/art-and-style https://www.existingvisual.com/2010/07/26/%E2%80%9Cshark%E2%8 0%9D-stainless-steel-letter-opener/ https://www.streaminglinks.com.ar/2010/07/%E2%80%9Cshark%E2%8 0%9D-stainless-steel-letter-opener/ https://duann.posterous.com/the-shark-3d-printed-stainless-st eel-letter-o https://friendfeed.com/buildingconstruction/a37dc624/shark-st ainless-steel-letter-opener https://www.designspotter.com/product/2010/07/Shark-stainless -steel-letter-opener.html https://www.materialicious.com/2010/07/shark-stainless-steel- letter-opener.html Twitter shapeways RT @doobbe: "Shark" stainless steel letter opener: Designed by fX3D. Customizable & 3D printed by Shapeways https://bit.ly/anfIn9 11 minutes ago via HootSuite Duanns RT @xROGUEDEADGUYx: "Shark" stainless steel letter opener: Designed by fX3D. Customizable & 3D printed by Shapeways. https://bit.ly/aZ1A30 38 minutes ago via TweetDeck Lyndonology "Shark" stainless steel letter opener https://is.gd/dLCiJ about 2 hours ago via API cad_jock The "SHARK" 3D Printed Stainless Steel Letter Opener https://post.ly/ox5X about 2 hours ago via Posterous Alltop_design "Shark" stainless steel letter opener https://bit.ly/drU9Gv Design.alltop.com about 2 hours ago via twitterfeed HotInFashion "Shark" stainless steel letter opener | Design You Trust https://tinyurl.com/23klww4 about 3 hours ago via Twitter4J galternativa Design You Trust :: "Shark" stainless steel letter opener https://bit.ly/bNiX7B #art #design about 3 hours ago via twitterfeed ikabnews "Shark" stainless steel letter opener https://bit.ly/a9pBLH about 3 hours ago via twitterfeed soteropoliarte "Shark" stainless steel letter opener: Designed by fX3D. Customizable letter opener 3D printed by Shapeways. Adver... https://bit.ly/aZ1A30 about 3 hours ago via twitterfeed perlssdj Design You Trust || "Shark" stainless steel letter opener https://bit.ly/9uErYV #art #design about 3 hours ago via twitterfeed SnrDesigner "Shark" stainless steel letter opener https://bit.ly/aZ1A30 #Design about 3 hours ago via twitterfeed doobbe "Shark" stainless steel letter opener: Designed by fX3D. Customizable letter opener 3D printed by Shapeways. Adver... https://bit.ly/anfIn9 about 3 hours ago via twitterfeed Bonapps Design: "Shark" stainless steel letter opener: Designed by fX3D. Customizable letter opener 3D printed by Shapeway... https://bit.ly/aZ1A30 about 3 hours ago via twitterfeed twitipsmv "Shark" stainless steel letter opener: Designed by fX3D. Customizable letter opener 3D printed by Shapeways. Adver... https://bit.ly/aZ1A30 about 3 hours ago via twitterfeed inspirationtwt dyt - "Shark" stainless steel letter opener https://bit.ly/a9pBLH about 3 hours ago via twitterfeed designyoutrust "Shark" stainless steel letter opener https://designyoutrust.com/2010/07/27/shark-stainless-steel-l etter-opener/ about 3 hours ago via Twitter Tools