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Jun 2016

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

Hi Pete,

Indeed the biggest challenges seem to be in the US. We’re adding States to the regions right now, so at least you’ll be able to set a estimated price per state so a bit more granular than just on country level.

You can also use the description field to manage the customer expectation, I think that will be very useful in preventing disappointed customers, we’ll make sure to show it to customers in the checkout.

At the same time we’re looking at estimating weight for prints, but that might take some time as we have hundreds of materials in the DB and we would have to estimate packaging materials somehow as well. At the same time predicting parcel size based on print dimensions is going to be tricky and fairly inaccurate as well. If you have time tomorrow it would be great if you can join the call with Jatmn so we can discuss these challenges, I’ll send you the invite so I can hear your ideas.

Brian

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.

Would it be possible to update the customer’s shipping if they select the wrong option? I offer three shipping options listed on my hub page; Standard shipping if the order fits within a 5" x 3" x 3" dimension and under 13 oz, Priority Mail for orders under 13 oz and any dimension, and Priority Mail for orders over 14 oz and any dimension. So shipping prices can vary from $3.80 to $13.45 depending on weight.

Though what 3d Hubs is proposing for shipping profiles is fine by me as I only offer 3 options, my main concern would be updating shipping for the customer if needed. Is this going to be doable on my end or would I have to contact 3dhubs to update the order? Since there is no weight calculation on 3dhubs for the order, how is the customer suppose to know what shipping option of mine to select? What is to stop the customer from automatically choosing my $3.80 option no matter the size and weight for the order? After reviewing a order is when I know the exact weight of the to be printed design(s) as Simplify3d outputs a weight calculation when it slices the design(s). The software has been very accurate about weight of the final printed order and I this is what I use to determine best shipping for customers on and off 3dhubs before printing.