What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?  

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

There may be import duties on a product from Prague, that would not be additional to the resellers price, so I guess the issue is, will the import duties be greater than the local transport costs.. 

regards Joan

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

If it helps your cost decision, people have reported $100-150 CAD in import duties on their orders, if they've gotten them at all. 

Beware of Canada DHL, they will ding-dong-ditch your parcel and then mail you a bill a week later so you don't even have a chance to refuse the parcel if the duties/fees are outrageous. (So don't think you're in the clear if they deliver it and don't ask for payment) I had this once and had to pay $12 for a prototype item I was working on on 50 cents of tax. I'm tol d UPS is worse but I've never used it for imported personal goods in CA

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

I thought the free shipping only applied to current owners, as a "thank you" from Prusa.  Now I am bummed.

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

Thanks. By import duties, do you mean sales tax in Canada?

I contacted the reseller in another city. They replied: "We do not recommend the Prusa i3 MK3 for schools; it needs to be assembled by the customer, which means that the printer's reliability is entirely dependant on the customer and not the manufacturer, thus it comes with a very limited warranty and no electrical certification. Its open design, with exposed wires and moving parts, can also be problematic, especially in a public environment. As a DIY kit aimed at makers and tinkerers, the Prusa i3 MK3 is more at home in a garage or personal workshop than in a school or a library."

Then, they tried to sell me much more expensive printers like the Ultimaker...

Do I have to worry about the issues they mentioned? If I buy direct from Prusa, is the warranty the same regardless I buy the kit or the pre-assembled unit?

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

Also, besides the printer, what else should I order? A few build plates? A few print nozzles in case of cogging? One of the 3D printers I used in the past required changing of the build plate after each build. However, in practice, it could be used for 3 times before it lost adhesiveness.  

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

Sales tax and courier customs brokerage fees. The latter can be avoided if you live near a port of entry and are willing to do the leg/paperwork to clear your item yourself. It's usually worth it as that brokerage fee can be pretty steep, as in $50 or more. Sales tax is just your standard HST/GST/PST as they apply where you live, of course.

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

Thanks. 

I am puzzled by what the local reseller mean by "a very limited warranty and no electrical certification". It sounds like if I buy the kit from them, the warranty is limited. How is the warranty for the kit vs. the pre-assembled model if I buy direct from Prusa?

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

You'll get tech support and replacement parts regardless if you have the kit or assembled from PR and they do their best to assist; the difference is for pre-assembled I've heard tell that they've had people ship the printer back for investigations or repair; I'm betting they don't do that for user-assembled, which kinda makes sense. (would YOU want to work on someone else's assembly job?)

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

Posted by: peter.c20

Thanks. By import duties, do you mean sales tax in Canada?

I contacted the reseller in another city. They replied: "We do not recommend the Prusa i3 MK3 for schools; it needs to be assembled by the customer, which means that the printer's reliability is entirely dependant on the customer and not the manufacturer, thus it comes with a very limited warranty and no electrical certification. Its open design, with exposed wires and moving parts, can also be problematic, especially in a public environment. As a DIY kit aimed at makers and tinkerers, the Prusa i3 MK3 is more at home in a garage or personal workshop than in a school or a library."

Then, they tried to sell me much more expensive printers like the Ultimaker...

Do I have to worry about the issues they mentioned? If I buy direct from Prusa, is the warranty the same regardless I buy the kit or the pre-assembled unit?

The reseller is definitely trying to sell you Ultimaker. Although I would agree that a boxed printer might be better suitable then an open one for schools because of the exposure of moving parts and different air flow. But all the arguments he provided are just not true.

• You can buy fully assembled version (same like UM)
• Reliability is always dependent on the customer. You need to buy an external service contract if you need this (same like UM)
• Same one year warranty applies (in Canada/US) . (same like UM)
• Prusa printers are all electrically certified as they need to follow a regular certification process like any other company (same like UM)

If we are not talking about private school where the budget is open, I would rather setup 3 MK3s  printer instead of one UM for multiple reasons.

In general there were issues reported in regards to local reseller. As there are no official reseller, you're tight to them in regards to warranty/service questions. PR can't guarantee that you got original one or modified one so there might be issues if you try to contact PR live support or try to get replacement parts directly from PR.

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

Thanks for all the comments. I decided to buy direct from PRUSA. I ordered the kit but now I am wondering if I should have ordered a per-assembled one. From various forums, it seems to be that it is very easy to assembly the printer even for users with no engineering background. However, how easy or difficult it is to assembly a printer that can product good results? How tight is the tolerance?

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

You should be fine if you've ever built anything (LEGO, model kits, ikea furniture, k'nex...) or have any technical aptitude. And even if not, the guide is very good - go slow, read the instructions (and user comments) in the online guide carefully, and just make sure you understand exactly what you're being asked to do. Most assembly problems I've seen here are from folks that have rushed steps, jumped ahead, or misread something. 

Most of all, if something isn't working or doesn't seem right, that's the time to stop and double check. If you get frustrated, put it aside and come back the next day with a clear head, and don't set yourself a time goal, let it take what it takes to do it right. And don't forget to enjoy the experience; when you're done you'll have the added bonus of being familiar with the ins and outs making it much easier to service!

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

The Voxel Factory in Canada is a good reseller.  They have stores in Vancouver and Montreal and will ship from either one.  However, they only have the Mk3s Kit, but they also carry quite a few Prusa accessories and parts, as well as some other brands of 3D printers.  They also have phenomenal support and after sales service too.  Highly recommended and shipping was only $2o for the kit, but of course, you have to pay GST/HST applicable to where you live.

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

Assembly is not hard, just don't rush - it's not a race, fast doesn't always win 😀 Read instructions, and also comments, those would have saved me 2 re-dos had I read those ... If you face difficulties or just unsure 'what the hell does that picture mean and am I doing it right?', customer support is available through chat. There's also Discord server run by community https://discord.gg/cjk3FuJ people there can help you too.

If you want to order additional stuff to go with printer, I recommend thermistor, heater cartridge and an extra nozzle to be thrown in the package. For when blob happens and you damage wires trying to clean it up, you have spares at hand. Other tools you probably already have as you write you have experience with printing. Meaning liters of IPA, acupuncture needles, heat gun, small brass brushes, set of allen keys, pliers, lubricant, and some sharp objects to trim prints. Notice the missing scraper blade ... normally you don't need it, spring steel sheets will spoil you.

RE: What are the pros and cons buying direct from PRUSA vs. from a reseller in a nearby city that I am unable to take the printer to?

Posted by: @vintagepc

You'll get tech support and replacement parts regardless if you have the kit or assembled from PR and they do their best to assist; the difference is for pre-assembled I've heard tell that they've had people ship the printer back for investigations or repair; I'm betting they don't do that for user-assembled, which kinda makes sense. (would YOU want to work on someone else's assembly job?)

For self assembled printers they actually _do_ want you to send the whole assembled thing back if you need their support. Though it requires a bigger box than the kit comes in. All detailed in their packing guide: https://help.prusa3d.com/article/x6lxmh2nz1-packing-printer-for-return

Big red box saying "Do not disassemble the kit! Do not try to cram the assembled kit into its original box!"