Thanks @PeterMake3D and @JATMN will check those out coming days!
Hi, I’m quite surprised at how violent this thread turned out to be. As I see it, the new update is not an insult but a step forward to a clear pricing in which the client is in control and knows from the beginning what to expect from each Hub. For certain countries like Spain (my own), this system is very useful since our national service Correos, priced by the gram, is shamefully unreliable and big international companies like UPS, FedEX and DHL are too expensive. My choice here is a small company that offers semi flat rates depending on the overall size of the package and urgency of the client, so I can make good use of this method. I’m tired of offering my clients all the options everytime, when they could have known from the beginning.
Peace out,
Lucía
Hi,
For me as well, pretty much all my orders ship at €5 locally. Size doesn’t matter and weight is from 0 to 2KG. So optimal for me to show the customers how much i will charge for shipping. It would be nice though, to include that the size and weight of the print could increase the nominal shipping rate.
Otherwise nice feature, 3DHubs!
Christophe
How big can this $6 part be The only order I have ever shipped with $20 shipping was going to Canada where 1oz costs $10. My highest shipping cost in the US after more than a hundred shipped orders was $12 for priority mail and that was a $600 order that used an entire spool of filament. I charge $3 for most orders and fanatically track everything and am generally a few cents in the black on shipping costs (postage, padded envelope and thermal label) overall.
One of the big benefits of selling 3D printed parts is that they are light and you can offer low priced shipping to overcome the objections US consumers have to paying for shipping. You are also the manufacturer and can self insure pretty easily. Buy more sizes of padded envelopes, most parts go in the 6x9, but I have two larger sizes for other stuff that does not fit in the smaller one. At 25-35 cents each in low quantities they really cut down your shipping costs compared to boxes unless you are shipping truly massive volumes (You have a 40% or greater UPS discount).
You probably need to look at lower price postage options like first class for $6 prints, you are wasting a lot of money using priority mail for inexpensive items to maybe get it to the customer a single day faster. I can ship you an 8oz part from Seattle to Miami for $3.40, I can’t think of a part under $30 I couldn’t ship in a padded envelope first class.
I would never mail a part in a padded envelope. I use small boxes from uline. Most fit in a 4x4x4 box. Part of my shipping cost is also to pay for the box, bubblewrap, and the label.
Most items can ship first class. But once in a while it needs to be priority or ups due to size of the parts or padding needed.
Don’t be afraid of the padded envelope there is really no safety advantage to the box, in many automated facilities they are treated more harshly. I worked in logistics for almost 10 years and we tracked it, the only reason to use a box if you have a choice is to comply with insurance rules for dead space which a 4x4x4 is not going to meet anyways. Packing boxes is also much more labor intensive.
I have a hub close to me that sells only on price. The prints are not so good, but they sell on price alone. They also do not do the standard 20% infill.
This keeps my pricing low, because I have to be competitive. So I sometimes do parts where my margin is a buck or two.
If I have to eat a half a dollar or a dollar because of a flat rate shipping situation, that hurts. So yeah, I am really not interested in offering a flat price for shipping. It will hurt my profits.
Also, this competitor charges $2.50 for shipping on all items. My average shipping cost is over $3.00.
So with the new proposed model, I am now competing on shipping costs as well as price of the model, further eroding my margins. In countries where shipping is standard pricing, I see how it would work. Or if an API determines the pricing, then yea, it would work.
But, if a prospective customer looks at the price, and now the shipping, in the quote, I am now really getting squeezed. Not only by the bad competitor, but by 3dhubs shipping mechanism.
I just ran some simple tests on stamps.com, which is where I get postage quotes. A change in a few ounces and two zip codes over changes the price of a package sometimes pretty noticeably! Try it out.