Pricing Updates: COVID-19 and How It Impacts Purchases

As some of you may already be aware, COVID-19 has resulted in a major price increase in Shapeways rates, as well as even larger shipping delays. Where before, you could get your print within a week, it now could take up to several months. Depending on the size of the model, prices have come close to doubling, while further limits were applied, which I'll go over in detail.

First off, the pricing. To provide an example, I had ordered prototypes of PM-01 and PM-02, and was surprised to see the changes. Prior to 2020, I would have been able to get them for roughly $10 a piece. As of purchasing, that increased to $17. Now, I normally don't mark up the listings much, but that price adds up quickly, so I try to lower the mark-up just enough so that I'm still making profit, but not impacting the price too much. I'll work out a price guide soon, for those who are curious.

Though pending, the commissions and custom request tabs will follow a similar pattern. As you can probably tell, the price increase was exponential -- as the size of the item in question increased, the ratio increased. My mark-up rates also are dependent on the size. For example, Bludgeon, who will end up roughly being Leader-class in size, will see an $8 mark-up per sprue, if listed via Shapeways, while Rosanna/Flipsides, being Micromaster-sized, would end up being a $4-6 mark-up. I'm aiming for eventual short batches of figures to sell directly, but for now, Shapeways is my only option.

That being said, prints are higher resolution than how batch prints would presumably end up, and are optimal for custom painting.

You're probably wondering, though, why the major increase? Well, if you weren't already aware, much of it is due to Shapeways producing PPE, and having to reserve space in their machines. As such, the PPE also results in a major limit on how large orders can be, so most of what goes up in the next couple of months will be smaller.

Regarding commissions, there are things to take note of as well. Depending on your location, I'd offer you the choice of receiving either a printed low-res copy directly from me, or a higher-res one that I would then order and send to you. The design would then go in the shop according to our policy. However, as of currently, I am not yet accepting commissions, as I need to work out a means of establishing 'windows' for commissions and custom requests.

Stay tuned for more updates regarding pricing, and how best to go about getting a figure just for you!