Okay, so having been working with models for a little while now, and running into a variety of frustrations (many of which I can see others have run into before me), I've had the opportunity to make various suggestions to the support staff via email. However, in one of my latest email exchanges, the support staffer suggested that I post my ideas here. So, here goes...
Part Rejections:
I've seen in the rather epicly long thread that this is a frustration for a LOT of people. I have a few different thoughts here.
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Short Order Hold: If the designer can upload an appropriately modified version of the file to address the reasons for the rejection within some reasonable timeframe (something like 12 or 24 hours comes to mind), the order should be help until then. This would probably only be allowed once or possibly twice per part per order (i.e. if the same part was rejected again, it would not be held again). This would allow correction of issues, and help shop owners save face with customers. It would also allow for shop owners to contest a rejection based on printing history.
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Better analysis tools for part review staff: Right now it seems that the review staff eyeballs the parts looking for areas that are too thin, too long, etc. This can lead to rejection based on some tiny little areas that are actually highly supported from the way they are engineered. (A thin flat sheet is far more fragile than a thin walled egg, for example.) By putting some basic Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tools in the hands of the reviewers, these tools would quickly highlight areas where the reviewers should look more closely and which areas can be safely ignored, regardless of whether or not they are close to or violate the design guidelines.
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Preprint Evaluation: Offer a service where, for a small fee, models can be evaluated as if they are going to be printed, without needing to be printed. This way, shop owners can get models or changes to models pre-approved, and won't need to worry about a model being rejected when purchased by a customer. This service would depend on the proper functioning of a flag for the models to by-pass the review process if they've been pre-approved or previously printed.
Shipping:
Here's another topic that I know a lot of people aren't completely satisfied with. I've been frustrated because I find the $6.50 rate quite high, especially when ordering a part that costs $3.00. So, here are my thoughts...
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More Options: The recent addition of options other than UPS Ground is nice, but these are again quite spendy. I'd like to see some other options like USPS Priority Mail (which, in my experience, is one of the best bang-for-the buck shipping options out there). If I was living closer to Shapeways location, I wouldn't have any issue with UPS Ground. Being halfway across the country from them, I've seen UPS Ground take a week and a half to deliver, where I know USPS would deliver in four days.
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Merge Orders for Shipping: If I have an order already placed and being processed, I would like to be able to place another order and have the option to have the two orders ship together, which would automatically have the shipping date for the earlier order bump out to the shipping date for the second order. Again, with something like this, there would need to be some reasonable restrictions put on it.
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Free Shipping Service: Think of Amazon Prime. I would actually be more likely to order a lot more models if shipping cost wasn't an issue. So, if I could pay an upfront cost to get free shipping for a year on all models that I order, I would do it in a heartbeat (assuming the upfront cost wasn't exorbitant).
Order Handling:
A few thoughts on order handling that either compliment or go beyond things I've already mentioned...
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Order Editing: Adding to and subtracting from orders. This would be big. If, within a reasonable timeframe after the initial order is placed (say a day or two?), I could add additional models, change quantities, remove models, etc., this would help out a lot.
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Order Splitting: I mentioned merging orders for shipping purposes before, but splitting orders is also a desirable thing, sometimes. I've had some of my orders sit with most of the models showing "DONE!" while one model is still "PROCESSING". In cases like this, it would be nice to be able to go in and say "Ship what's done now, ship what's left when it gets done, charge me for the extra shipping".
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Order Hold: If, as a designer, I realize that I have an error in one of my models that will result in it getting rejected, it would be nice to place a hold on the order in order to allow me to fix my own mistake before it gets rejected.
Money Handling:
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Allow Sales to be Store Credit: A much requested item. If I have sold a model, I'd like to be able to use the profit from that to buy more models for myself. Sometimes, not always, naturally. But, a method by which I could transfer money (I would want to be able to specify the amount, naturally that is scheduled to go out as a payment into being store credit would be highly beneficial.
Store Handling:
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Customer Communications: There simply has to be a direct communication channel set up between a customer and a shop owner. If someone has bought something from me, I need to be able to communicate with them. It can be an internal communication system, revealing no contact information outside of Shapeways, but the communication channel has to be put in place.
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Allow for Loss-Leaders: There are some times when there are parts that are accessories to other parts, and I want to be able to sell those parts for LESS than the Shapeways production cost. I'm willing to pay for that difference, because I'll make it back on the "core" part.
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Allow for Kits: Sometimes it would be nice to have several parts produced in different materials, but be sold together as a kit.
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That's all for now. I'll post more as I think of them.