Shapeways files for bankruptcy.

[seadude]

Just saw this on Facebook.
https://www.tctmagazine.com/additive-manufacturing-3d-printing-news/latest-additive-manufacturing-3d-printing-news/shapeways-ceases-operations-and-files-for-bankruptcy/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0B9N-Oxdb9thdUu4zB0rudq29BgajsTY9kj-Gi7Pk68heuY3r5fDD0FJU_aem_F0En1O6MAfq3Wu5Kc7jLLA

So if you ever needed anything from Shapeways for any model projects, then you're out of luck.

[Gondor]

Good job I have all the bits that I believe I need.

Gondor

[PR19_Kit]

How ever they managed that with the outrageous shipping prices they charged defeats me!

[kerick]

Some retail types like to charge low price then nail you on the shipping which after you've made your selections and decided to buy.

[PR19_Kit]

In my most recent Shapeways buy the shipping cost £14.00+ and the item cost £9.00. That's daylight robbery.

Quite why COVID should have quadrupled postage costs worldwide I've no idea, but someone, somewhere is having a laugh!

[Hobbes]

Well, that sucks. I hope a successor will emerge.

[zenrat]

In my most recent Shapeways buy the shipping cost £14.00+ and the item cost £9.00. That's daylight robbery.

Quite why COVID should have quadrupled postage costs worldwide I've no idea, but someone, somewhere is having a laugh!

The thing I hear most commonly at the Post Office counter from those sending overseas is "the postage is more than the cost of the gift!".

[sandiego89]

I wonder if more vendors/printers will go direct?  There were some tasty items on there. 

[Pellson]

In my most recent Shapeways buy the shipping cost £14.00+ and the item cost £9.00. That's daylight robbery.

Quite why COVID should have quadrupled postage costs worldwide I've no idea, but someone, somewhere is having a laugh!

The thing I hear most commonly at the Post Office counter from those sending overseas is "the postage is more than the cost of the gift!".

Try getting something slightly bigger or heavier from the UK to mainland Europe. Like Land Rover parts.. 

[Joe C-P]

Not everyone can afford a 3d printer.  I had items I was going to order over time.  This takes away a broad source of a wide variety of items.  I hope at least some of the makers who used Shapeways can find a new outlets, like Model Monkey.

[drwells42]

Sites to Watch:

Model Monkey abandoned Shapeways quite a while ago:

https://www.model-monkey.com/

Micro Master moved some of its stuff off previously. It will be interesting to see if they move the rest.

https://micromaster.co.nz/

DiStefan 3D Print says that they've moved everything. Their new website it a bit awkward, though.

https://distefano3dprint.com/

Model Fun Shipyard has told us to watch their Facebook page for future announcements:

https://www.facebook.com/ModelFunShipyard/

Dutchfleet Naval Miniatures

https://www.dfnm.nl/

[frank2056]

Shapeways is coming back, now owned by the original founders. The original stores and models have been deleted, which is mildly annoying.

[PR19_Kit]

Unless they make major changes to their outrageous postal charges, I'll continue to ignore them.

[Hobbes]

Shapeways is coming back, now owned by the original founders. The original stores and models have been deleted, which is mildly annoying.

That is interesting. I was intending to find an alternative supplier, but Shapeways' marketplace was unique.

[Weaver]

Unless they make major changes to their outrageous postal charges, I'll continue to ignore them.

It's a bit like the era of the internet café. When there was only one in your area, you'd drive half an hour just to get to a PC with an internet connection. Then they prolifierated and there was one within a ten minute walk. Then everybody got their own internet connection and all the cafés went out of business and disappeared.

When there was only one 3D printing company in the world, you'd pay their rates plus international postage because it was the only way to get some oddbal thing you couldn't get any other way. Then when they proliferated, and there was one in your country, competition drove the prices down and you'd deal with that one's cheaper postage instead. Now more and more people have their own 3D printers, and even more people know someone who knows someone who's got one, you can pay them in favours and beer money and walk/drive round the corner to pick the results up.

We're already in the era of "oh my god, how do you even function without a smart phone?"

The era of "what do you mean you don't have a 3D printer? You're a modeller aren't you?" came over the horizon well before yesterday and is now speeding towards us.

We've already seen at least one garage kit maker go all-digital (Industria Mechanika) and more will surely follow. How long do you think it will be before Airfix or Bandai start testing the waters with accessories or conversion sets that are only available as 3D print files? Airfix have already tried selling their own-brand 3D printer (currently £135 on their website). Ironically, this might see a temporary revival of the Local Model Shop as a 3D print farm with more and bigger printers than you can reasonably buy/store at home, plus a store full of paint, glue and finishing accessories. The increased cost of a bigger model will come from the cost of going to the LMS to get it printed rather than doing it yourself.

The new owners of Shapeways had better have lots of local branches, within pickup/cheap-post distance of most cutomers, with perhaps some kind of demand-sharing deal with other local branches, or their new business will have a strictly limited lifespan.