This is a terrible idea for US customers, and completely unworkable.
Right now, I calculate the weight and package size, and that is what the customer pays.
It is impossible to offer a standard rate. Impossible by region, zip code, state. Just impossible.
A 4 oz print is a different shipping price than a 5 oz print. A print sent to a house a few blocks from another house can be a different price.
There is no way to do this fairly to the customer or the hub.
This leaves two options
1.free shipping, which means changing the pricing of my hub, which is perfectly honed, and I do not want to do, and screws with my margin in a possibly terrible way.
2. flat rate shipping, which is unfair to me and the customer. Flat rate shipping caclulations in the US ALWAYS is more expensive than calculated shipping based on package and pricing.
This is truly a horrible idea to put forth in the US. Now not only am I trying to offer profitable services in a competitive market, I now have to start dealing with shipping charges on quoting, NONE OF WHICH will be correct when quoted.
I want to print things, charge for the printing, and have the customer pay for the shipping.
Now, I am dealing with how to price shipping into a quote. Ridiculous.
I understand you have received input from customers. But what customers? I run the hub, I am your customer.
You are confused if you think the person ordering the print is your customer. They are my customer.
You say “Finally, we would like to stress that this is by no means the final shipping feature, but the starting point to make ordering a 3D Print a better experience, by creating more clarity about what a customer can expect from different Hubs that are available.”
I recommend you do not put it up, until it is the final version, a version that works for all your countries.
“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.”— In the US, the pricing for shipping that is quoted will not be the price the customer ends up paying, unless I either overcharge the customer for their shipping based on the quoted shipping, or take a bite out of my thin margin when the shipping is quoted and is less than what it ultimately costs.
If you don’t set up shipping options your Hub will not be shown to non-local customers. — Please define non-local.