Shapeways has gained a ton of popularity in Transformers customization lately. You designers make some top notch work.  

But I would like to hear how ordering goes for those who buy from shapeways. Since I'm in the US It'd probably be best to hear from those also in the US as well.

I haven't actually ordered much out of the country and I just need some reassurance and clarification. This is mainly for someone I'm telling about shapeways, but I could use it too.

Thanks.  

 

Curious as well, going to start ordering a few things from them myself.

 

i'm in australia but i have made (1) order and it went pretty smoothly. customer service is pretty spiffy, the only delays were because the model i made had some flaws but they were quick to point it out.

have heard a few horror stories of misplaced parts, but these are outweighed by the, uh ... non horror stories of free replacement bits. and i have to mention it again, their customer service is spiffy.

 

Okay, guess i better chime in as one of the designers on this board.

Firstly, i started with Shapeways 2 years ago, when they were nothing more than a fledgling company. They rocked back then, free replacement parts, great customer service, they were awesome. But then they moved to New York. And now they're a bigger company. As such, their fatality rate, and customer service, has gone downhill. No more free replacement parts, and slow responses to emails. That said, they're not bad, just don't expect the miracle stories to happen anymore.

Secondly, there's a $25 USD order minimum. If your products cost less than that, you'll be charged $25 regardless. This price (and all prices on their site) include worldwide shipping, US or outside, doesn't matter. They ship very fast, and their guarantee of it arriving within 10 working days is very strong indeed, i've never had an order go past that (except for one where a model failed to print, but that's the model's fault).

The final thing is materials. Most of us here design with WSF (White Strong and Flexible) in mind, as that is the cheapest plastic material, and generally best overall. If you want to use another material, then search the list on the model's page. The designer will limit materials to only those he/she thinks will work. For instance, i allow my WFC Minions to be printed in WSF, but not in Alumide. This is just because of design specifications and printer limitations. As long as you select from the list provided on the model's page, you should be fine. Go with WSF if you aren't sure.

And, most importantly, care to click on the link in my sig?  

 

Okay, I still haven't ordered from Shapeways yet. And I've got a couple of reasons why.

Believe it or not, I haven't ordered anything outside of the US. Ever. *gasp* So main concerns are credit card safety and US customs. Can any Shapeways buyers from the US help me?

Sorry for the ignorance!

 

You can pay with Paypal. Then they don't have direct access to your credit card info. I've ordered from them multiple times with no problems, I live in central Florida. Each time the packaging was excellent, lots of packing peanuts in good sized boxes, and very quick shipping time. I absolutely, highly recommend using them for the excellent quality of the materials used.

 

They no longer operate solely from the Netherlands. They have a NY headquarters which they set up a while ago. I'm not sure if they have any US production facilities, though.

And you can use PayPal which means Shapeways never gets anywhere close to your card info. So far, I've used Paypal for all my online purchases without a problem yet.