Today I created a 3D puzzle with several identical parts. In ordering the pieces I found out that the "start up cost" of 1.5 USD is added for each and every piece. For this specific design with all parts well under 1 cubic cm it means that this "accumulated start up cost" is the biggest cost driver for my design. Wouldn't it be more fair (for the buyer ;-)0 if the start up cost would only be counted once per specific part? I understand Shapeways is here to make money but still... Well, I ordered the pieces anyway because I am in a hurry. But next time I will make sure to connect all the little pieces via a thin strip that I can just cut off.
Hi! As I understand it, part of the startup cost has to do with the manual cleaning of the pieces. Especially relevant with lot's of small items. You can combine multiple items in one file to get around this. (not necessarily connected) If parts get to small or many, they sometimes build a "box" around it, so parts don't get lost. Cheers
Yeah, I understand how the start up cost works. Why I was considering to connect the pieces is to make sure I only have to pay start up cost once. Instead of 8 times when oredering 8 identical (small) pieces. For my next order I will first try to put all components in one file as suggested. Thanks for your feedback, Ralph
Wanted to ask the very same question and then I found this post. So did anyone find out if its cheaper to connect multiple identical parts together to be printed? Alternatively if you printed (to use cubenovice's example) 8 pieces in one file,without connecting them, would you still pay one startup cost or 8 startup cost?
1 start up per file, not per item in the file. So to save 7 x 1.50 (you still have to pay it once) put all items in the same file.