RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
I feel bad for Prusa, because they are losing LOTS of business, but it's partly their fault as well. If PrintedSolid is not working for them, and it appears it isn't, it's very easy for them to get a US warehouse, stock it with supplies, and ship it from there. There is NO reason they should be shipping individual orders from Europe, and this was true WAY before the tariff/shipping nightmares. There are many companies that handle this just taking a small fee from every order, or for flat fees. This is something that has existed for years and years and so many other companies do it this way. And, since Prusa owns Printed Solid, there is no excuse on how they are running it.
You have to wonder about Prusa management, if they really have the right people for the job.
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
Stuff from Prusa sent to States is ironically faster and cheaper than buying from PrintedSolid. Sure they offer free shipping over $50 but the also jack up the unit price by 15% or more which negates that free shipping plus I have to pay sales tax. Don't really see the point of buying from them.
- Bob Marley
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
Stuff from Prusa sent to States is ironically faster and cheaper than buying from PrintedSolid. Sure they offer free shipping over $50 but the also jack up the unit price by 15% or more which negates that free shipping plus I have to pay sales tax. Don't really see the point of buying from them.
I want to add that I've ordered parts from Printed Solid and then Prusa a day later and received the parts from Prusa before Printed Solid even shipped my order, so typically I would not order from them, but I just got hit with my first Trump tariff this week on a Prusa order delivered by DHL, $31 in duty fees on $89 worth of parts for the Core One that were out of stock on Printed Solid.
So, there are no good options, right now.
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
holy hell that's a huge fee. ugh...
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
[...] $31 in duty fees on $89 worth of parts [...]
Thanks for that datum. Did DHL break the charge out to you at all, e.g., base tariff, "reciprocal" tariff, and handling/broker/processing fee? Not that it really matters... just curious.
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
Got any friends in Canada? You could have it shipped to them, then have them ship it to you. May take a bit longer, but cheaper.
RE:
[...] $31 in duty fees on $89 worth of parts [...]
Thanks for that datum. Did DHL break the charge out to you at all, e.g., base tariff, "reciprocal" tariff, and handling/broker/processing fee? Not that it really matters... just curious.
I got a txt msg from them stating "Import duty payment required for delivery of DHL Express (order number). Returned in 5 days if not paid", with a link to pay.
The fee breakdown was:
$1.31 for Regulatory Charges
$13.43 Import Export Duties (the actual tariff, I assume)
$17.00 Duty Tax Processing
for a grand total of $31.74 for a parts order of $89.55 with $22.94 in shipping charges. So, my $112.49 order cost $144.23 after tariff.
*edit* I'm realizing now how this is rife for fraud. I order so frequently from DHL that I have a txt msg chain from them that goes back years, but I could see someone getting their first "Duty Fees" txt and just getting totally ripped off by a scammer.
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
Thanks for sharing the breakdown. I noticed that FedEx now has an "FedEx International Connect Plus" service that Prusa offers. In addition to being less expensive than DHL, their page describing the service for CZ-based merchants says they can "Choose whether your goods clear customs with Duty paid by you (Delivery Duty Paid/DDP) or the receiver (Delivered Duty Unpaid/DDU)." It would be great if they offered the DDP version, but as it's less expensive than DHL, I suppose it's probably only the DDU service right now.
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
You know to never click links in text messages, right?
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
You know to never click links in text messages, right?
I do, but I wasn't refering to myself. I could see somebody else getting taken who doesn't do much international shipping.
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
I decided to give Printed Solid another try. Finally got my CORE One load cell working (knock on wood*) so I ordered the Advanced Filtration and Accelerometer. Not reliably in stock at Printed Solid, but I'd set notifications and they both were available so I placed the order around noon Saturday. Not surprisingly they didn't do anything over the weekend, but they had issued a USPS tracking number by Monday noon; USPS "received" the package that afternoon and "accepted" it late that night. It should be here Friday per USPS tracking (289mi / 5.3hr by car according to Google Maps). I'll post again if there's an issue with the shipment.
Prusa cost (based on cart): $75.99 filtration, $17.99 accelerometer, $16.45 FedEx International Connect Plus (cheapest option) = $110.43 ... plus who knows what in tariffs. Probably at least 15% or another $16.56.
Printed Solid cost (ordered): $94.99 filtration (24% markup), $19.99 accelerometer (11% markup), $0 "free" shipping = $114.98 (only 4% more than Prusa)... and no worries about tariffs or related fees.
(* Prusa sent a replacement main cable. So far at least, DHL has not attempted to collect any duty/fees on that post-de minimis shipment.)
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
Similar experience. I just ordered something from PrintedSolid. Roughly $4-$1 more expensive from PrintedSolid depending on shipping. Tariffs are hit and miss. Out of 6 packages, I've received one invoice for tariff fees 3 weeks after I received it.
- Bob Marley
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
I decided to give Printed Solid another try.[...]
TLDR: Well done; no problems; wouldn't be fair to expect anything to have been done better.
Package arrived Thursday (USPS has been padding their estimates by a day for a few years I think, probably recognizing the wisdom of Montgomery Scott's approach to time estimates 😉 ). One slightly smooshed corner and one not-all-the-way-through hole in the side made no difference because the items were in their own Prusa boxes inside. Printed Solid didn't add any void fill (just a sticker, a candy, and a packing list), so the accelerometer box was sliding around a bit on top of the filter box (which was a very close match to the length/width of the shipping box). They use fiberglass-reinforced paper packing tape printed with their logo which is both very strong and would be some indication of tampering if that's an issue where you live. Both items are now installed and are working.
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
I submitted my order on the 8th, the label was created on the 9th, the local post office received it on the 13th and (according to tracking) estimated delivery date is the 18th. So 9 days for a domestic shipment... So even though it's "free shipping" it seems like it's the cheapest post option. From now I'll just order from Prusa direct. It takes 2-3 days. I'll take my chances with the tariff charge. Out of 7 packages I've received only 1 invoice after receiving the items.
- Bob Marley
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
I hope Prusa can make things work with PrintedSolid or with some other state-side warehouse. It's immensely more efficient to load an entire 40-ft container with printers/parts/etc and ship it as one unit, spreading the few thousand dollar shipping fee across hundreds of printers. Furthermore, because they're moving wholesale components, the tariff is paid on the wholesale cost of the machine, which is likely 50-70% lower than the retail price. The only negative is that they have to collect sales taxes.
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
This is exactly the plan yeah, with the addition that we are trying to source some parts locally where we can match the quality (a good example would be boxes and packing material, why ship those as they take a lot of space?). We are looking forward to a lot of improvement soon, but sadly it couldn't come soon enough.
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
I want to update that I recently placed two separate filament orders with Printed Solid that were filled really quickly, and the price was less than if I would have ordered directly from Prusa (due to tariffs).
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
Received my order today, so elapsed time from placing order to receive was 6 days. Not as bad as I was expecting but wish there was an option for faster shipping.
- Bob Marley
RE: Printed Solid as a vendor
Indeed, that doesn't seem too bad considering there was a weekend and a federal holiday in those days, plus your profile timezone suggests you're nearer the west coast where Printed Solid is on the east.