My partner and I started a company called Maker Box and we are shipping out our first boxes this month. I was wondering if I could get peoples thoughts on the idea and maybe some suggestions on how to improve.
Maker Box allows customers to try new filament without the overhead of purchasing a full spool. At just $20 a month, including free shipping to the united states, you will receive four different filaments at about 50 grams each in their own air sealed bag with a silica gel packet. We have partnered with manufacturers and resellers to allow our subscribers to later purchase full spools at a discounted price. We also do monthly give-aways that include anything from spools of filament to hot-ends and hopefully even 3D printers!
Please let me know your honest opinions and suggestions. If you would like to give it a try you can use the code MAKERBOX for 15% off your first purchase. http://makerbox.me/
I understand this view. The idea is that you are going to be able to try different filaments from different manufacturers. Imagine trying a $40 spool of filament and not liking it or unable to print with it. Now you have $40 just sitting around. Same goes if you were to get a bunch of different samples. By the time you add up the shipping cost you are far behind. Plus there is a membership idea behind it, where you will be able to purchase full spools at a discounted price. Anyway I appreciate your comment as it helps us see different views.
My first thought was 50g might not be enough for printers with bowden tubes.
That said, couldn’t I just ask a supplier for a free sample? If a filament is crap, you will generally hear about it online before dropping $40 on a spool.
Perhaps you could work out a funding mechanism through the suppliers in exchange for increasing their sales, then just charge in users a nominal fee to cover shipping costs.
@Nick_Moretto I think 20 dollars for 200grams is very expensive, If you are offering a monthly subscription it will be better if you offer a decent amount of “normal” filament to print everyday stuff and a different type of extrage filament every month for triying new things. I will pay for that (If I were form the US)
Temperature tuning would eat some of the sample.
How many grams of filament is the classic frog print?
A number of filament suppliers sell sample sizes.
I could easily find someone that has bought a roll of filament and having them ship a portion to me or join a maker community and buy/trade there.
I could probably sell filament that I do not like to someone else.
A filament making machine might be a better investment.
Some filament sellers have half kilagram rolls for sale.
50gx20=1kg I think you could do 100kg for the same cost to you.
Switching filaments but not properly purgingthe old filament from the nozzle could be trouble. Someone might blame you for that trouble and stir up some hell online.
Maybe, if you also offered a second teir service that cost more I’d do that if u could provide 5 kg at 5 flavors, or some like combination. I’m willing to drop ducketts if the service is right
When you buy a kilo roll of whatever from http://3dfilaprint.com you can order a 10-metre sample of most filaments they stock free of charge. I have nothing to do with them other than being a customer, BTW.
Thanks for all of the feedback. I will have you know that at our current volume the profit we are making is not large at all. What we are trying to push is that you are not only paying for the samples but discounts down the road on full size spools. We like to think of it as a membership. Along with our monthly giveaways of full spools of filament and other various 3D printing relate accessories.
@Nick_Moretto price wise, probably still absurd in realestate prices. Just taking a guess based on the restaurant mentioned on your profile. Realestate price help define the bottom line.