Shapeways filed for Bankruptcy impacts Heroforge

[Kelly_]

They will need to vastly reduce their prices to hobbyists if they intend to compete in that market. The myriad of one-man-band print farms out there now makes this a difficult sector to set up an enterprise business.

I received all of the notifications yesterday regarding Shapeways resuming some operations, and the ease of use on the consumer side is still there, it took less than a minute to set up a new account and run one of my models through their quality checks.  Comparing that miniature to the same print from a Shapeways invoice from 2020, about a cubic inch in volume from fine clear was about the same price material-wise, $8.73 then to $8.74 in tan visijet now, but every other component was much higher... There is now a minimum parts charge of $25.00, and a priority charge by piece of $1.53 for any production before Christmas.  Even worse, with no North American facility, the shipping to the US has almost tripled, $9.71 minimum then to $24.96 today.

Maybe they could recover the one off corporate prototyping/modelling business that they had before but I don't see them getting back the market dominance they had early on. It went under for a reason.

Single prints in exotic materials I could still see as potential singular miniature items since they still offer a wide range of metals and TPU, but I think you are right robh that Shapeways no longer has any place for general gaming purposes.

[pixelgeek]

How does their business model make any financial sense considering how easy it is to get resin prints done locally?

[Elbows]

It hasn't...for a good 5-6 years at this point, hence the bankruptcy.  I'm not sure what pivot they'll do to make it a profitable company.

[AndrewBeasley]

It hasn't...for a good 5-6 years at this point, hence the bankruptcy.  I'm not sure what pivot they'll do to make it a profitable company.

Only model I could come up with is to come away from basic printing and move into specialised resins and materials. High pressure, extreme temperature and superfine detail have a market for companies not wanting to invest in the equipment for prototypes but it will not be cheap to break into. That excludes medical, super sized or strange materials (a rubbery resin or metallic base comes to mind).

There is even a market for 3D printed items with Pantone colour matching I found the other day!

[Elbows]

Yeah, I just assumed that a company like Shapeways was already into industrial rapid-prototyping, etc.

It's the only logical step, unless they began aggressively working with Kickstarters of companies to produce official products - but even then, their prices have been absurd (and the quality relatively low compared to home printers I've used) for a while, so they'd have to re-figure all of that.

[Dubar]

I got this in my email on December 3 from Shapeways:

I am delighted to announce that Shapeways is coming home.



Two original co-founders along with the highly-skilled leadership team from our Eindhoven factory have stepped in to steward the company into its next chapter. After Shapeways Inc. filed for bankruptcy in July, we knew we had to resurrect the company and preserve the digital manufacturing engine we all helped to build - a combination of dedicated, skilled people, cutting-edge machinery and sophisticated software. Moving forward, our focus is on rebuilding Shapeways and leveraging our digital manufacturing engine for our customers’ success.

We regret to inform you that our marketplace cannot be revived as it previously existed, as all marketplace accounts and accompanying data were deleted in the bankruptcy. We still believe in the Shapeways Shops concept and are actively pursuing new ways to replace this service for the Shapeways community. This exploration will take time and we ask for your patience on this journey. We hope to find a solution that allows you to access a similarly eclectic array of unique objects as you came to expect from the Shapeways marketplace. Stay tuned for details.



If you are a creator yourself you can upload and order your models here - we’d love to have you back.



In the meantime, you can learn more about the new Shapeways in our press release, here. We have compiled a FAQ around the bankruptcy and loss of the marketplace here. And you can learn a bit more about me, the new leadership team, and our vision for Shapeways here.



Warmly,



Marleen Vogelaar, CEO

[pixelgeek]

their prices have been absurd (and the quality relatively low compared to home printers I've used) for a while, so they'd have to re-figure all of that.

I got them to print up some SFB ships for me and the only affordable material ended up looking like crap. If ADB sold .stl files I would have picked up my own printer.

That is clearly not a workable business model... prove to people you can save money doing it yourself.

Regarding B2B printing, I have to assume that there are already bigger players involved in that in the US and EU.

[carlos marighela]

In other breaking news Caxton Press CEO William Caxton has announced their re-entry into the home printing market.

'Caxton Press is delighted to announce that we will soon be making available a bespoke home printing service. Imagine the delight of having your emails and documents, laboriously printed on hand operated printing presses and then mailed to your doorstep within two to four months from date of order! Customers will have the option of two typefaces, Gothic and lettre bâtarde, not commonly seen in home office printing for over six centuries. Prices start at only £45.00 per A4 page. Prices for vellum printed documents upon request. FAX us your orders today!'

I wish the good people at Shapeways well. It takes courage to take a 10 year old business model, eclipsed by advances in technology and competitive pricing, indeed probably bankrupted by those very same commercial pressures and decide that what just happened to you was an anomaly and that you are good to go.

[pixelgeek]

I wish the good people at Shapeways well. It takes courage to take a 10 year old business model, eclipsed by advances in technology and competitive pricing, indeed probably bankrupted by those very same commercial pressures and decide that what just happened to you was an anomaly and that you are good to go.

I think the word we are all looking for is 'hubris'.

[Pattus Magnus]

   I just about herniated something, laughing so hard at the Caxton Press announcement. Oddly, it might have a better chance of success than Shapeways Ver 2, the appeal to hipsters of the old and impractical, you know.

[modelwarrior]

  I just about herniated something, laughing so hard at the Caxton Press announcement. Oddly, it might have a better chance of success than Shapeways Ver 2, the appeal to hipsters of the old and impractical, you know.

Only think left to do now is ring Jaguar and ask their new image consultants to help with the new launch