Shapeways

My D&D miniature orc 3D print came out in VERY poor quality compared to its MASSIVE price! $7.15 originally, came out to about $16 dollars for a very SMALL & low-quality print!

Not only is Shapeways such an astonishly low-quality for its price, but it is misleading when it comes to its MASSIVE added shipping prices. They will hold onto your item in order to make you pay more to get it quicker. And the day they say it will ship IS NOT the arrival date, but instead, it is the day they sent it out! Is there a delay when paying extra for faster shipping? Too bad!

Communication from Shapeways was poor, resulting in additional printing and additional costs. Their team put their profits as a priority over my company's satisfaction and project success.

Always a pleasure to work with Shapeways about my projects and 3D files. The customer service is great, quickly, and helpful with answers to one's questions.

So, I was a little surprised they received so many negative reviews, as my experience has been overall positive. However, I am reviewing from the perspective of a small enthusiast, and used Shapeways a few times over the years for metal prints (I have my own plastic 3D Printers at home). I have always had great customer service, from fast replies to answers for very random / specific questions (I once asked for estimated weight of a steel print).

I still design some small knickknacks here and there with the intention of ordering through Shapeways, so I am, and have been, a repeat customer.

Over the years, their site changed a bit, and is slightly more difficult to navigate, but overall materials are laid out in an easy to find manner. However, the amount of new materials begin to confuse me as I don't always keep up to date with all the types of plastics and new printing technologies. It can get a bit overwhelming. Perhaps more and up to date photographs of example prints might help a bit.

I have noticed some price changes, but some of my prints seem to have even dropped in price? (I could be wrong). So overall, my experience has still been on the positive end. But I do hope they continue to work towards better pricing and clearer descriptions of materials.

Shapeways created a 3D print for me of a Japanese style Buddha that I modelled in 3DS Max and converted to VDB for complicated booleans in Houdini. The model was then converted back to a poly mesh and was reduced to about 900k polys. I wanted a print just to get a visual feel for the scale before doing a sculpture so I chose their "first available material option" as I wasn't concerned about the quality as much as just getting a comp in my hand to see and feel. They used versatile plastic, I believe its called, and the finished print turned out AMAZING! Just beautiful. No finishing work was needed, amazing detail, no banding, just perfect. So good, in fact, that I'll show it as part of my project. Couldn't be happier, sending a Burmese style Buddha next.

I've been using shapeways for about 4 years. I design and sell 3d printed jewelry. I have items printed in SLS nylon, steel/bronze, as well as cast metal items in silver and brass. In general, the quality has been great, although I've had to request a reprint on rare occasions. They were always willing to do the reprint.

Like any business, they've had pricing changes over the years, and like everyone else, I don't like the increases. However, there have been a few price decreases that work in my favor.

My biggest gripe is that they switched from using regular USPS for the standard shipping to the Mail Innovations setup, which starts out as UPS and ends up as USPS. This takes at least a day longer for me on the west coast, but even worse is that there have been at least two occasions where the package shows as dropped off to USPS by UPS but USPS denies all knowledge of the package, so I lose a shipment. I can get everything made and shipped again, but it's time consuming, and I'm sure shapeways does not like doing that either. Lately, I find myself making large enough orders to justify using UPS 2-day. (I wish they hadn't raised the price so much on UPS 2-day).

I will mention that although shapeways quotes fairly long non-expedited production times, they have shipped fairly quickly all this year, although things may slow down once the holiday season gets rolling. I wish they could provide a real-time production time estimate for an order.

Update:

I just received the parts replaced by Shapeways.
All is ok now.
Thank you.

I am glad to know that my problem was resolved after receiving a damaged kit and a re-print mistake of the damaged kit by the service agent. Happy that it got sorted out. When my parts arrive, if they arrive safe and sound I shall upgrade my reviews from one star to 3 stars, not any higher rating than that because I did have to invest a deal of time in sending emails to customer support to get my order corrected and I will post this comment on such reviews. I will still order again from you guys, but please check your packaging staff regularly and read carefully emails regarding damaged products so that you do send out the proper replacement. (This kit has many delicate parts and each part should be packaged individually and not like the first time that all of them were together in one plastic bag causing the items to move around during the shipping, hitting each other, causing these parts to break.) Should I have not caught the error in time I would have received the wrong items and I would have been contacting you guys again for another replacement. So in the end it will save your company money to be more careful in the future. Thank you for your attention. Happy holidays. Edgar Castillos

My order consisted of two radio knobs to fit a 09 - 10 Pontiac Vibe radio / the knobs were exactly the same as the existing, but therein lies the problem / my suggestion to shapeways is that the flare should only protrude 1/16 - 1/8th of an inch max so as to merely press the new knob onto the metal post / ( I achieved this measurement of protrusion by grinding the excess off - pressed the knob onto the metal post and voila, a volume knob that now works / to be fair, shapeways would not know this / hopefully they will read the afore / Dwight N.

I have had only one issue in four years and Shapeways was very prompt and helpful in dealing with it.

On December 15, I did Order #******* for the manufacture of a watch case consisting of five parts made of brass worth more than $ 300. Already on December 16th, I received an email saying that everything is fine with my order and it is in progress. But on the 18th, they sent me a message saying that they could not do one detail and offered to refund the money. Or redo the part. BUT the fact is that the order loses its meaning if one part is missing. And refinement in the case of one detail requires another. I asked for a refund and to cancel the order, but I was refused, citing internal rules. I asked how do I make an order so that all the parts are printed or nothing. I was told to attach one file with several parts inside. However, it doesn't work! To which they replied that they would look at why it didn't work for them, but the order would not be canceled and the money would not be refunded, but they would send me the order without one (very important) part. In this way, the SW team shifts its problems onto the shoulders of customers. I just threw $200 in the trash. ($100 refund) It's like if you ordered a car, and it came to you without an engine, but the seller honestly returned the money for the engine. Be careful with SW and don't trust like me. If you need to make several parts for one assembly, use another provider. For example, with craftcloud, there is never a problem with canceling if something went wrong. I wish the entire SW team to get the same skam from life as they provide to their clients.

I am a silversmith. I do an annual ornament in sterling every fall. When my casting company declined to cast a model in 2019, I was directed to Shapeways by several local jewelers/silversmiths.
The edition that was cast for me in 2019 was perfect. I learned a great deal about the digital design process.The edition was for 150 pieces in sterling. The cost was more than the tradition castings that had been done in years past, but the finishing time was much less.( We hand finish each of the ornaments).
For the 2020 edition the design was slightly smaller to adjust the cost due to silver price increases.
The production was amazing. The detail was perfect. The surface finish was even better than the 2019 edition.
The attention I received from my representative was beyond my expectations. He was prompt in his responses to my questions and the timing was better than promised.
I will continue to trust Shapeways with my designs going forward.
I have been a silver/gold smith for 50 years now and I find the level of professionalism and business ethic of this company to be refreshing, and encouraging.
Give them a try, you will be glad you did.
I apologize that the image of the ornament is not available to post with this review.

I've ordered from shapeways four times. All four orders were for magic polyhedra puzzles (rubik's type twisty puzzles). I initially was skeptical due to how lightweight the product was. However, the puzzle proved to be exceptional and most likely is stronger and more durable than the ABS puzzles that come from plastic injection molding. The puzzle was expensive and had a gritty texture but no complaints since I knew what I was getting into in that aspect. The next three puzzles I ordered came from a second designer and his designs were hollow with very thin walls. I initially was skeptical, however the product proved to be quite good and I didn't find any fault in it. The three puzzles were inexpensive relatively speaking compared with the former mentioned puzzle. I recommend these types of puzzles, just know what to expect. These puzzle designers are friends and acquaintances of mine and they go the extra mile to keep costs low. There designs are truly art and express their vast creativity and genius. These products vary from puzzle to puzzle and designer to designer. Lastly, I say that these are not speed solving puzzles so don't expect to do corner cutting and rapid finger trick movement. This is partly due to the gritty texture that increases friction during turning. This recommendation is more for owning a puzzle that can't be acquired elsewhere and the pride of becoming the first (or among the pioneers) to master that puzzle. It's a great feeling to be the first to beat the unbeatable as I was able to do with much hard work and dedication.

I've enjoyed every interaction with Shapeways so far. I've ordered several of my own models and they arrive looking perfect. The production time seems reasonable and matches their estimates. I've sent questions and suggestions to multiple departments and every time the reply is quick (less than a day) and helpful.

I opened a store on Shapeways to sell my models and the interface is clean, easy, and intuitive. I had a harder time opening a Tumblr account to promote my items. I love not having to deal with keeping track of orders or dealing with potential angry customers. Shapeways does all the hard stuff and lets me just relax and design. I adore it.

It's odd to see so many poor reviews on this site, but I haven't been doing business with Shapeways for very long, so it's possible that they weren't as great in the past.

I know nothing about their CEO, so I can't comment on that.

Overall I'd give the site 9/10, and that missing point is only because there are a few functionalities that would improve the design experience (like the option to see if a model will stand on its own once printed). I look forward to doing more business with Shapeways in the future and I absolutely recommend them.

The tracking on my package proved that my order was never delivered. Shapeways was quick to either reprint or refund my money (I asked them to reprint).