Maker Box, Try Premium Filament CHEAP!

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/

Thanks!

These are just the random thoughts coming out of my head when looking at this and thinking about it. Please don’t take it as anything but constructive criticism and random thoughts. I obviously haven’t tried your service yet, so I could be off base on some of these as well, but this is what comes to mind.

So, for $20 I get 0.45 pounds of random filament. A 2.2 pound roll of ABS goes for around $35-40 at the moment, so cost wise that’s probably not a bad deal. I’d need to see the length of the samples visually to really get an idea if it would work for me as an effective use of funds. I don’t really like the monthly subscription model, but that’s more a personal quirk (mainly because I forget to turn the service off). I do wonder if you would have enough different potential filament types to keep this going on a long term basis. How many different filament types exist at the moment? 60-80? At 4 per month you are out of filaments in 15-20 months. I suppose there are always different colors though.

I dunno. I could see this working, I also see the pile of unused filament samples I have sitting next to my empty filament rolls. One thing I would definitely recommend is pack them with individual attached labels with recommended print settings. Half the time I can’t even remember what the sample even was 4 months down the line otherwise.

It’s nice to see a new 3d printing venture though, good luck!

I appreciate the comments. We currently have recommended filament settings included in the box with the filament. The idea is for people to try different filament from different manufacturers. So for example we may have 3 months where in each of those boxes have lets say ABS in them but they would be from 3 different manufacturers. The idea is to cut down on the cost of a full spool or purchasing sample material and the cost of shipping adding up. Again, thanks for the comments it really helps to know people’s thoughts.

You’d also have to customize the sample sets based on the subscribers’ printer capabilities–nozzle size, heated or unheated bed, temperature ranges…have you figured out the number of potential combinations you’d have to keep track of? And then there’s how to keep track of which of the subscribers started when and have gotten which samples already. Ow. It makes my head hurt!

I’m with Piercet – I don’t do subscriptions because I forget to stop. BUT, if you offered the same sort of deal on an a la carte basis, I could very well end up buying just as many as if I’d subscribed.

4x50gms would just not work for me. I am not sure that I even print anything less than 50gm. I generally get good quality 10-20lb spools at around $15/lb for PLA or ABS. I am a hobbyist, but my printer goes almost 24hr a day, and I have a scheduling map to optimize that. If I have to, I set the alarm for whatever time I need to wake up to start a new print. A serious addiction.

Thanks for all of the comments guys I really appreciate it!

I’ll second what everyone else pretty much said. I’m not big into subscriptions models, but I do want to test new filaments. I think you could do very well having a part of your business be “here’s 100 different filament samples. Each is $3-$5, pick and choose what you want to try”. I’d be all over that. Saved me from buying a whole spool if I find out the material is bad or difficult to work with. I’d be your first customer!

Another note, please indicate on the materials if the material has high nozzle wear and requires a hardened steel nozzle like glow in the dark ABS or conductive materials require. :slight_smile: