Hi all, Recently, I uploaded my model and the cost was USD$165. After receiving the FUD price restructuring news (which I thought was to make FUD cheaper), my material cost became USD$20. The volume stats: Size in cm:2.542 x / 12.89 y / 4.682 z Part Count1 Material Volume2.9953cm3 Machine Space23.1062cm3 Surface Area85.2417cm My question is this: Wasn't the revision of the FUD price meant to lower the cost? Why did my material cost increase then? Please help! I'm trying to make my products more affordable for JP fans
The entire pricing formula was changed to include "machine space" and other factors, with the claim that models would become cheaper on average and customer prices would end up closer to actual production cost with no more cross-subsidizing between small/compact and large/wireframe models. There is a long and heated discussion in the Announcements forum, basically if you cannot redesign your model to take the newly introduced cost factors into account you can only shop around for cheaper offers.
here's what really happened: shapeways found a new formula to increase prices and earn more money. to do so, the tiny small items became 1% cheaper while biger & expensive products became much more expensive. shapeways managed to trick low cost sellers who now feel happy because their products are 1ยข cheaper, while planning to additionally tax expensive products
Only comparing prices (for your own models) with their major competitors will tell you if any "tricking" is involved now - it could be that they sold below cost in the past to grow their market. The problem as I see it - apart from shapeways' "Iraqi Information Minister" tactics already seen during the grand WSF repricing some two years ago - is reliance on a single supplier. (Where would you stand in the purely hypothetical case where shapeways has to discontinue the material or even go out of business if they are not able to make enough money?)
yesterday, someone started a thread for alternative factories offering services for fud 3d printing. guess what, the thread magically dispappeared within minutes
Well, you cannot seriously expect to discuss names and advantages of competitors on shapeways' own company forum...
ofcourse not. by same way, shapeways cannot seriously expect sellers to stay here after the new exaggerated pricing on frosted detail plastics. a simple google search helps a lot to find other competitors who offer same frosted detail material quality with half price or less
Thank you all for replying, I really appreciate your time. I'm a new member and new to 3D printing. Shapeways has a pretty strong marketplace with lots of sellers. Unfortunate the price revision is a bummer. Guess I gotta find an alternative then...
Guess there is not much that can be done to improve the pricing of your dinosaurs, except something drastic like cutting them lengthwise and expecting the buyer to glue the halves together. Hopefully someone here can come up with a better idea, or you can find a supplier with a more amenable pricing calculation...