New price structure

Discussion in 'Official Announcements' started by stannum, Sep 21, 2011.

  1. stannum
    stannum Well-Known Member
  2. aegidian
    aegidian Member
    Will the $25 minimum still apply?
     
  3. 65166_deleted
    65166_deleted Member
    Nope! There will not be a minimum order size anymore.
     
  4. mctrivia
    mctrivia Well-Known Member
    yah to no minimum order. Boo to Changing prices before implementing CSV Input. That is a rediculous amount of work to adapt for new pricing scheme
     
  5. 65166_deleted
    65166_deleted Member
    Who says we won't release a new tool before the pricing changes? ;) It might even be a CSV...
     
  6. mctrivia
    mctrivia Well-Known Member
    well that would be great. Mentioning something like that before releasing price change notice may stop a few people from having heart atacks. Without CSV that would be a good 20+ hours work.
     
  7. glehn
    glehn Well-Known Member
    $19.99 for shipping to the rest of the world? My orders will become VERY expensive... :(
    I believe most of my customers are from US and Europe so they may not feel that. But all the test prints that I order for myself... :(

     
  8. mctrivia
    mctrivia Well-Known Member
    maybe shapeways can offer a testing service. Say $3 will photograph in high quality for you. $5 will do some simple tests. Then instead of shipping they recycle the print. May be worth it for some people.
     
  9. duann
    duann Member
    Thanks Stannum,

    Please direct any questions here or to the blog so that everyone can find them easily and we can respond to any feedback.

    I will try and generate a few case studies on pricing.

    Attached is a spreadsheet with all pricing and a calculator, enter cm3 to get a price for your models, also a column for mark-up if you want to test that too.


    UPDATE: See Later iteration of spreadsheet now attached
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Sep 22, 2011
  10. bluelinegecko
    bluelinegecko Well-Known Member
    Since the majority of my models for sale were made in the 2-2.5cm3 range, the new pricing structure in stainless just increased the price of most of my models over 20%. Not having the free shipping will probably cost me the majority of my potential sales :(

    The sad thing is that I thought with the opening of the NY distribution center that the prices were actually going to go DOWN.

    From my rough calculations it looks like the majority of us wont see any benefit to the new pricing structure unless the models exceed 7cm3 in volume.

    If shapeways wants to reduce some of the time spent on determining if a model is printable or not they need to find some way of designating models as printable once the are successfully printed. I've had a few models incorrectly rejected more than once for the same reason (They assumed the model contained multiple parts even though it was one piece intended to look like multiple parts).

    Is there a typo on the price list for stainless steel? I mean... it only cost $1.50 more under the new price to have ANY size model in the bronze finish, and only $3 more in the new price structure to have an Item GOLD plated? I would think you could cut plain stainless a bit of a price break. And you guys have always been a LOT better priced than ponoko in the past.

    Stainless Steel. (2.5 cm3)

    Shapeways current pricing (2.5x$10/cm3)
    $25 + $0 shipping

    Shapeways NEW pricing
    (2.5 x $8/cm3 = $20 +6.00 handeling fee = 26.50
    +6.50 shipping (U.S. assuming 1 model bought) = $33.00 (a 32% price increase)

    PONOKO's pricing (non member)
    (2.5 x 10.53/cm3 = 26.33 + $5 shipping = $31.33 total)

    PONOKO's pricing (prime membership)
    (2.5 x 10.10/cm3 = 25.25 + $0 shipping = $25.25 total)

     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2011
  11. duann
    duann Member
    Hi bluelinegecko

    This change does reflect the cost of production, at 3cm3 stainless steel matches the current price, after that it is cheaper.

    Calculating the postage means that bigger orders will lower your shipping cost. I am also unsure about the shipping calculations for Ponoko as a comparison. In my experience within the US something of that scale would cost a minimum of $9 to ship? Unless there have been some changes.
     
  12. stannum
    stannum Well-Known Member
    Taking current prices:

    Code:
                                       start  cm3
    Alumide                            1.5    1.99
    Antique Bronze Glossy              0      *    12.|10.|9.|8.
    Antique Bronze Matte               0      *    12.|10.|9.|8.
    Frosted Detail                     5.     2.39
    Frosted Ultra Detail               5.     3.49
    Full Color Sandstone               1.5    0.99
    Gold Plated Glossy                 0      *    23.|11.|10.|9.
    Gold Plated Matte                  0      *    20.|11.|10.|9.
    Grey Robust                        0      2.50
    High Gloss Black Glass             5.     6.99
    High Gloss White Glass             5.     6.99
    Milky White Matter Glass           5.     5.99
    Sandstone                          1.5    0.99
    Silver                            20.    20.   (min 1 cm3)
    Silver Glossy                     30.    20.   (min 1 cm3)
    Stainless Steel                    0     10.
    Transparent Detail                 0      2.77
    White Detail                       0      2.89
    Black Detail                       0      2.9
    White Strong & Flexible            1.5    1.5
    White Strong & Flexible Polished   1.5    1.75
    Black Strong & Flexible            4.     1.78
    Dark Grey Strong & Flexible        4.     1.99
    Indigo Strong & Flexible           4.     1.99
    Red Strong & Flexible              4.     1.99
    
    * Each band billed differently and accumulative:
      1 cm3 minimum | 1st-5th | 5th-10th | above 10th
      (8 cm3 will be A + B*4 + C*3 + D*0)
    
    The results are that:
    - No matter how big the model is, prices increased for TD, WD, BD, both Silvers & all Glass (and then add shipping increase).
    - No matter how big, base prices are the same for Alumide, FD & FUD, but shipping is extra so prices increased by that amount.
    - The rest is variable depending in volume and destination. For example WSF is cheaper above 65-200 cm3 (for non dense items), Robust above 17-44 cm3 or SS above 6.25-13 cm3. Best seems to be Gold Plated Glossy with 1-2.27 cm3.

    Corrections and extra examples welcome.
     
  13. bluelinegecko
    bluelinegecko Well-Known Member
    Yes, bigger orders will lower my shipping costs and when I order my own models in the future I will surely place larger orders. But this greatly affects my co-creators. All of my sales have been single orders through them, so that effectively raised those potential customer prices 25-33%.

    Even if I chose to take orders through ebay/etsy, etc and have the items shipped to me to save on shipping, the price will be just as high for me to ship the items out to my customers directly.

    I still don't understand the pricing as it relates to gold plated/bronze/stainless. I would think the post processing would cost more than $1.5 - $3.00

    How about giving free shipping or a discount on the handling fees to co-creators items only?
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2011
  14. stannum
    stannum Well-Known Member
    Larger orders is a logical step, and one thing has to be enabled or given as option with this new structure: all-or-nothing orders. If one item is cancelled, automatically cancelling the full order was a reasonable action, now even more so.

    Say you order a handful of items and all but one or two are unprintable, or maybe half of them. That is pretty common when testing. Before it was just waiting for enough items for 25 again, now if you are unlucky it would mean paying shipping for every one or two, negating the incentive to group items and hit the declared target of efficiency.
     
  15. tebee
    tebee Well-Known Member
    Eh? I've just downloaded the spreadsheet in the above post but the cost (column "E") appears to be a fixed figure and not calculated from the volume.

    I'm using Libre-office, but I'll double check on the computer downstairs with MS Office when I get up.

    Tom
     
  16. duann
    duann Member
    Hmm, weirdness.

    Export from google docs, worked in (ahem) apple numbers

    Let me retest,

    Formula is easy B2+C2*D2

    copied down it should work.

    Let me know how you go.
     

    Attached Files:

  17. Will multiple objects per file be allowed ?
    (Especially for all the "Detail" materials...)


     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2011
  18. roofoo
    roofoo Well-Known Member
    Except all my models are less than 2cm3, I'm selling jewelry, not airplane parts. Not to mention import fees and UPS fees for orders larger than about $35-$40. So this really does hurt my bottom line tremendously. I'm still not clear how it costs the same to handle a small model as it does large ones. I would think it takes less time and effort to print and finish smaller objects than large bulky items.
     
  19. 92934_deleted
    92934_deleted Member
    I'd suggest a line for WSF with > 10% density, for the discount. I'm not sure how many people this affects, though (I'm borderline, myself).
     
  20. mo_design
    mo_design Member
    Hello,

    first of all I want to say that I like the systematic of the new price system. So it is clear for each customer for what he pays.

    Of course I dislike that you increased the cost for most materials. But if it is necessary to fit your afford than it has to be done.

    As you claim now handling cost for all materials I highly wish that you invent an (semi-)automatic sprue system. 3D printing is a flexible technology and it should still be possible to order a collection of small items for a reasonable price.
    I can create bulks of my products, but than the flexibility for the customer is lost and he is limited to products of one designer. That cannot be the idea of 3D printing.

    So on you have to check my designs every time I upload a new bulk collection, whereas with a server side sprue system the items in the shops will not change each order. Also you can arrange the items so that they fit optimal the production space in the printer. The handling costs will reduce for you and also for the customer.

    At least as long as your site updates will be in this quality, I am not willing to design sprues in my bulk packages. Because I have no benefit of it, only more design time and higher volume.

    King regards
    Michael