Residing in Asia, we have been paying $19.99 and haemorrhaging cash all this while since we place orders ever so often to restock our brick and mortar shop as well as for prototyping. Now that fees are raised to $26 for us, I think it's going to be untenable for me to continue printing with Shapeways. It has been a good journey this last bunch of years and I hate to see it end over something as inane as shipping costs.
What strategies will Shapeways be providing to ease the pain? Coupon codes? Free shipping days? How often would these come by? And if everyone holds off on their orders for such opportunities, won't that defeat the purpose of a price hike in the first place? (Not that it's not happening already.)
How far in advance will we be alerted to such events? I usually find myself either caught unawares and had to rush out an order, or sit around on a full cart for weeks not knowing when the next free shipping code will come by. And as an owner of a brick and mortar store requiring regular restock, I can't survive on this sort of unpredictability.
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There was a period when UPS felt really good to use. Even though we are paying $20 each time, shipping times were prompt and rarely late, and we can see a box taking 2 days to circumvent half a globe to us.
Nowadays we are seeing delivery timings of 4 - 6 days to Asia, and I had some deliveries stuck in shipping facility an extra day for no discernible reason. Timing is very important to me for my testing and restocking processes so this 'delay creep' feels very sinister. And now we have to pay even more for worse service? (This rant is directed toward UPS, not Shapeways.)
I am not sure what's going on behind discussions between Shapeways and UPS but this is not healthy for everyone here in Asia. Surely after years of using UPS there are alternatives in shipping that we can consider? Alternative strategies?
This is my last point, we
were caught by surprise. The moment I received your email on shipping changes I went to my cart and saw that my rates have already shot up. We had no chance to anticipate.