We Owe You The Courtesy Of Knowing That We Will No Longer Be Carrying Some Of The Materials

Your recent email:

Does that imply HP plastics will be released for sale in Products?

Was there any rational to the matte steels being on the list, it seems that is just polished, without the polishing step?

Hi MichaelAtOz,

Thanks for reaching out regarding the changes we're making. We understand Shopowners have specifically requested our HP Nylon material to be offered for sale in products.

Please understand, we hear you and is something we're planning on offering in the near future. As soon as we choose to offer this material option to everyone, we will let the community know!

As far as the Matte Steel options, our Matte Gold Steel option is extremely close in finish to our Polished Steel option and as such we believe it seems unnecessary to offer both types of finishes to help reduce confusion regarding material finish.

All the best,

I'm wondering why I did not get the email... I get other emails and I checked my spam folder too.
I have candleholders with the primary material being matte gold steel and for larger objects I really like the finish - the matte has a lustrous warm finish while the polished is not as nice (I've ordered both).
So should shopowners change their listings or is shapeways changing this?

Hi seriaforma,

Thanks for reaching out and I'm sorry to hear you never received the email! We sent out the email to all designers that met the criteria for models offered that have sunsetted materials but it's possible some of the emails were not sent out as part of the auto emails sent.

We won't be able to change your listings but the material finish will automatically be removed from the product offerings, but for your Matte Gold Steel option, we recommend using Polished Gold Steel instead as that material finish is very similar(almost the same material finish) as the Matte Gold Steel option.

If you still have any questions regarding our material changes, please feel free to reach out to us at service@shapeways.com

All the best,

I too did not get the email, from what I gather above, does it mean you are taking away castable wax?

We just invested a lot of time and energy in using elastoplastic in this seasons jewelry line, and out of nowhere...we get a SIX DAY notice that it's being discontinued. Luckily we had just placed a huge ordxer to fulfill a shipment to a wholesale client, and don't have any other orders pending, but it could have been a disaster, and it will DEFINITELY hurt our sales for this collection (half of it is going to have to be discontinued now) and it REALLY makes me nervous to rely on SW at all for our business.

They basically pulled the rug out from under us and their customer service response was just to say "oops". No thanks. I get changes happen but we live off this stuff. give us some NOTICE.

While this particular change doesn't have high impact for me, I agree.
SW is treating shop owners/designers with disregard. (again)
I'm down tools until they replace the model pricing. No point doing new stuff till then.

Seconded. None of the materials I use were on the list (this time), but how are we expected to trust a supplier who makes such sweeping and unannounced changes (and at a time when many parts of its web frontend are in disrepair) ? The new CEO has made some noises about helping with "brand building", but who is going to spend money on marketing their shop when we cannot even be sure its contents will be available for another day ?

Shapeways was just trying to protect itself from us not the other way around. Let's be honest here, if you had two weeks notice that a material was being dropped completely wouldn't you try your hardest to get as many of your models that were made with that material ordered before it was all gone.

So now that you placed that big order along with thousands of others thinking the same thing, look at it from this perspective. Shapeways dumped materials that were losing money, not just a few cents but dollars on evey print. Now all of a sudden they have an influx of orders for that money losing material, millions of dollars worth of orders means millions of dollars of losses. Companies cannot sustain losses indefinately, at some point investors want their money back and that takes profits.

We all need to remember that it isn't always about us.

What if there were no Shapeways?

From what I saw in the meeting with Greg, the new CEO, he is most definitely highly competent and is making painful, but necessary, moves to get Shapeways back on track. I think in the long run one of Shapeways main goals is going to be to better provide to all those who are using Shapeways as a manufacturing partner for their businesses. He asked that we keep the details of the meeting confidential, so that's all I'll say, but I feel that we'll all be in a much better position by the end of the year. I'm highly excited for what is to come concerning the future of Shapeways.

Yeah, that one got axed as well. I never ordered it because it was too expensive! Did you ever order it for any of your jewelry projects?

Yes I did, for my signet rings for a friend. He wanted the engraving to be a bit more organic looking, more brush stroke like. I wasn't as skilled back then and wasn't using Blender, so I took the wax to a Chinese jeweler and had them fix the calligraphy and cast it. I have a few molds made for some of my other designs in case there's a rush order that can't wait the 2+ weeks from Shapeways.

Well, thanks for sharing your low view of this community. If this is really the view Shapeways has of us, I will be taking my leave for certain.

At my day job, all our steel and aluminum suppliers have informed us that they may not be able to get the same amount of material for us or at the same costs due to the tariffs. There isn't a buying frenzy. We are trying to figure out how to use less material. Maybe I'm crazy, but it seems like good business relationships do a little give and take. Shapeways seems to be on the path of just take.

If the product were indeed unprofitable (but who knows? Shapeways won't tell us anything about anything) then they could have announced that they will be dropping printable wax in 3 months while in the meantime there will be a steep cost increase so they can "remain a profitable business and still provide their customers with the parts they need to fulfil orders" (Shapeways desperately needs some PR people).

And I think you've missed the point that if Shapeways pulls moves like this we don't trust them anymore. We won't continue developing if we don't trust them. Will more materials struggle if they don't try to build back trust? I know I'm buying less and testing out parts from competitive service. Why not? There's nothing to lose.

Shapeways has made a bad choice that damaged a lot of trust. They have doubled down on their bad choice and decided that they will not be trying to build back that trust with more open communication.

Fun fact "competitive service" is an auto correction! Haha, It starts with "sculpt" and ends with "eo"

Don't shoot the messanger, and I was just illustrating basic human nature. Whether you agree or not doesn't change the fact, that behavior is typical.

But who am I to draw conclusions for you, take Lise's (lise@shapeways.com) offer on the other forum post about the exact same subject and ask to be included in the next discussion with Greg and judge for yourself, You can even ask him point blank.