Shapeways

Overall, I am satisfied with the service Shapeways delivers, but I miss the old material listing where all selections are listed with green/red light for if you could choose that particular material.
The website does not work in my normal browser Pale Moon but I have to use the Opera browser to select the material on the models I want to buy.

The customer service has always been professional to me and helped with the problems I have had or concerns.

A small detail I have missed for a long time is that the model/product title/name is not on the bags that the model/product comes in, and that the image on the label is out of very poor quality.

I use Shapeways to unique models for model railway and here it is perfect, but it costs more today than when I started using Shapeways, so I think of once extra before a model comes out on my shop.

I contacted the customer service few months ago and everything was fine. Not only I've got response within 24 hours (also on weekend, not that usual somewhere else), all the questions were clarified but on top of it I could communicate in my native languege which made it much easier, definitely. So far I'm moreless satisfied. Of course, some items could be more pricey (hence -1*) but because of the rare items and frequently quite difficult model it's overall OK.

After having assembled the parts of my H39 tank engine (ETS, scale 1/35) I got the idea of doing the same job again with the engine in scale 1/16, which was produced on special demand. Shipping was extremely fast although I hadn't chosen priority shipping. This time I preferred smoothest fine detail plastic and a version with internal parts as crankshaft, camshaft, pistons, connecting rods. I had to be very careful with these components, but the result is outstanding! It was a pleasure to work with this high quality material. I would like to stress that I am really happy with my choice!
Andreas from Germany

I've given shapeways the benefit of the doubt over and over. Their plated material is crap, their 14k gold plated material turns fingers green in 4 hours and they tell me thats normal and won't issue a refund. I ordered their green polished plastic and it was so rough and not shiny at all. Not even smooth, it looks like mill wax. Their customer service is pathetic and condescending. I hoped to spend thousamds with them manufacturing my new jewelry line, but I will never work with them again. Absolutely terrible and not worth one cent.

Christel is the best customer service that I have encountered at Shapeways. Christel was very thorough when describing the details that will be needed to complete my order. Without Christel's expertise, I would have not been able to proceed. I hope that Christel receives the proper recognition for a job well done.
Thank you Christel!

There are lots of places to get things people make, like etsy and even eBay. What Shapeways adds to this is that they have 3d printing capabilities, which lets the inventor upload a pattern and customer can then buy it in different materials. Do a creative outlet where you do not need to stock the items, and the customer can get it how they want it. All that is great.

Actually doing the work and making the pieces is not always easy. The customer does not need to worry about this, but if you are a designer, things like not being able to make working metal hinges and other limits can be problematic. So there are limits, and it is not perfect, but it is a great link between designers and the general market.

I try to refrain from writing negative reviews but the customer service was terrible. I realized I made a mistake in my order and submitted a cancellation request immediately after placing the order. They ignored it and began printing 24 hours later. When I contacted them to ask why it printed, they said that they saw the order first. Since it was already in the printing process, I asked if they could change the shipping terms to basic, that was the original mistake I made. They said they could but would not refund me the difference. I asked for a supervisor or a manager and was contacted by Lefteri, a senior customer service representative. Everyone in this process was beyond useless. I don't know why they have a customer service team at all. Decent printing though

When I ordered six rings to be customized for my hyper mobile fingers, I went over my numbers multiple times before I send them to the maker. I got them in the mail only two of them actually fit. They said they could refund one of them because it was broken but I said to wait because they were supposed to be remade. They were never we made. I even took a new measurements of my fingers and resend them. Understand that shape ways itself is supposed to be a hub for 3-D printers to get work through, but you also think that they would know if their printers were reputable or not. Not fun to waste money.

Asked to cancel order minutes after I placed it.
Customer service rep. Responded by asking if I was sure I wanted to cancel it. After 5 emails back and forth they had waited so long the order went into production then they refused to cancel it

Can't recommend Shapeways.
I've purchased several items over the years and found items are often under scale or over scale for scale modelers. This is no fault of Shapeways but the developers of which there's no way to monitor there work. Shame there's no way to rate designers so people can judge for themselves if they want to run the risk and to be guided by customers reviews. (I suspect there's a reason for this).
However on my last occasion a print received was clearly incorrect from advertised / pictured description as advertised. I contacted Shapeways who saw the issue and I was advised to use the Shapeways messenger system to contact the developer. They failed to respond. I contacted Shapeways again and they messaged the developer. Again I recived no answer. I sent another Email to Shapeways. They offered me a one-time only refund which I refused plus they wanted the item returned (I suspect at my cost).
I found Shapeways to be generally unhelpful in this matter and seem to have little power of the developers that use there platform. The item is still available to purchase for the next unsuspecting customer and for this reason alone, I would urge extreme caution if you wish to use Shapeways. The item shown and advertised on Shapeways may NOT be the item you receive. Developers are not held to account and don't have to respond to any issues.

Date of experience: 09 March 2023

I attempted to upload a file for 3d printing on my own, to no avail. I'm not familiar with the process and kept getting error messages. William Magley helped me through numerous emails back and forth, fixing the file type and getting it sized correctly based on my estimates. He even loaded it into my cart with the proper material. I appreciate all his help!

Horrible business unless you are flexible and fine with over two month waiting periods, multiple refunds due to insufficient check points, and terrible (barely existent) costumer service.

Rude and unhelpful staff with "no phone service" due to their small sized staff (but with international business?)

Horrible! Terrible customer service. The process is fine in the beginning until you have a question or problem. If you upload a file, use a coupon, and then they reject your file, you can no longer use the coupon. Even if you do print anyway, just a dumb policy. Plus the prices are outrageous! I can have the same item cast in silver for $2 more than they are charging for plastic. They basically won't work with you at all and are terribly disorganized (as far follow thru and answering questions, they have several people answering the same question and then they don't follow thru on what you ask). If you are considering creating pieces for resale, do yourself a favor and find someone else!