External printing services - Extortionate prices?
Hi All,
I have just picked up 3d printing as a hobby in the last year or so with my MK3S+ and using blender for my designs. I had the idea of designing and checking the prototype quality on my printer and then use the "Etsy E-commerce Integration app" ( https://support.shapeways.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022154433-Etsy-integration) to sell my prints on Etsy platform.
However, I received a Shapeways Quote for one of my prints, to the value of a hefty 461$!! My Slicr stats show the following -Size: 200*70*190, Used Filament 95m, 280g and cost 7euros.
How is the printing service cost so high? Sculpteo also indicate high prices. Its seems I will have to throw my idea out the window as the prices are too high. I would have to scale down the print to an equivalent size that matches my intended sale price but then the design is no longer appealing.
What are your thoughts?
RE: External printing services - Extortionate prices?
Of course every time you add a middle man, they'll take their share, whether it's a fair share or not. There's a calculator somewhere in the Prusa Knowledgebase to price out your prints, if you want to factor in all your costs. I'm sure Shapeways etc then add a 2x, 3x etc multiplier. I don't see using any of those services as a manufacturer as a viable option, but I'd be happy to stand corrected by others with more experience in that area. If you're planning for larger scale, you may be better off setting up your own print farm or exploring options to use Chinese companies for injection molding.
Having said that, I'd say 3d printed objects are still largely niche markets. I'm sure we'll hear soon from everyone who sells thousands of copies of something with mass appeal but if you look at sales numbers on Etsy, most are very low. I have a few designs I sell on Etsy. I'm not using the Prusa calculator; to truly recover all my expenses including my own time, I'd have to price things so that no one would ever buy anything. For me it doesn't matter, 3D printing is a hobby and I only sell things on Etsy for small enthusiast communities (e.g., dog trainers and boardgamers with someone out of the mainstream games). For me it's more of a way of giving back to those communities, and I'm not even making enough to pay for my printers.
RE: External printing services - Extortionate prices?
Also I think those services don't use fdm printers to produce parts. They have VERY expensive industrial machines that produce a lot more detail and a better finish than most fdm printers are capable of. While its both 3d printing, its not really comparable.
RE: External printing services - Extortionate prices?
How did you determine that sales numbers are mostly low on the Etsy website? I would be interested to see what the traffic is there for 3d printed items. I have set up an account there but no shop yet.
RE: External printing services - Extortionate prices?
As mentioned by @fuchsr and @neophyl the machines used by Shapeways are industrial in scale and not FDM. See "https://www.shapeways.com/materials" for more detail on what methods/materials they use. I was unaware of Sculpteo myself, but they seem to be a company that offers similar services and materials in which FDM would not really be comparable. I saw they do have list FDM as a service, but I was unable to upload a model that would allow my to select that material/service.
I have used this online calculator to give me an idea on pricing my prints, but in general has been close to 3-5x the cost of the material used plus 15%. (Price of Filament)(weight of print in grams)/1000g= filament cost.
You can also gauge prices by searching for similar 3d printed object on Etsy to get a ballpark of what others charge. In the end its up to you to decide what price is worth the time/materials/labor invested.
"sales numbers on Etsy"- If you look at an item on etsy, just below the shop seller's name (and next to their review star rating) you can see a number of sales that the shop has made overall.
I don't know what you are thinking of selling, but instead of scaling the print down, if that has significance, you could also play with varying print settings (layer height, infill) to reduce the time to print or possibly alter the model itself to make it more cost efficient.
RE: External printing services - Extortionate prices?
See if there is a local 'makerspace' in your area.
These are often sponsored by local tech groups, community colleges, etc.
We have Do Space here, and as a member you can sign up for four-hour blocks of time on a printer, or, if you want, just leave a thumb drive with your .stl at the desk and the staff will run your job as time permits and they only charge for materials.
RE:
You might want to check out Mark Wheadon's service. I have no idea of prices, but the quality is high. He is in our Prusa community. He posted my Steampunk Dragonfly in multiple colors as a make and I asked him to send me one. Beautifully printed. https://www.gallerymarkw.com/seaside3d/
Mk3S+,SL1S