As of this weekend, 3D Hubs will be selling small Ultimaker 3D printed samples to interested buyers all over the world. Each sample will be created by the Hub nearest the buyer, and only cost between $1 and $8.
3D Hubs networks 3D printers all over the planet and allows customers looking for 3D printing services to easily locate the closest available to them, allowing for cheaper shipping rates or even pick-up options. Currently there are over 7,000 3D printers in the 3D Hubs network, and according to their latest trend report 336 of them are an Ultimaker 2, and 475 of them are an Ultimaker 1.
That’s a pretty impressive rate of worldwide coverage, and an install base – at least among 3D Hubs users – almost equal to that of MakerBot. Additionally both machines appear on the list of 15 top rated 3D printers for print quality, coming in at #12 and #9 respectively.
“With the rising popularity of 3D printers many consumers face the dilemma of which 3D printer to buy. One of the most important factors in the decision making process is the printer quality, of course there is no better way to judge the capabilities of a 3D Printer than holding an actual 3D printed sample in your hands.” said 3D Hubs co-founder Brian Garret. “Ultimaker and 3D Hubs are both companies that want to bring 3D Printing to a bigger audience, through this collaboration it becomes much easier to order a sample from a 3D Printer near you.”
For a company based in the Netherlands like Ultimaker, sending out 3D printed samples is bound to get expensive, especially if you’re trying to break into the highly competitive North American market. That added cost is naturally going to present itself as a roadblock to many buyers. By partnering with 3D Hubs, Ultimaker is going to make the cost of receiving a printed sample more affordable and attractive to interested buyers in the US. Not only will customers receive their sample quicker, as the Hub printing it will be their local hub, but with the recent jump in international shipping costs it will be significantly less expensive to send to you.
This is currently just a pilot program while 3D Hubs tests it out, but it sure seems like a winner of an idea to me, and they have said that they are going to open the program up to new 3D printers. Sending out printed samples for companies like Stratasys or 3D Systems isn’t difficult for them considering they have their own network of certified sellers all over, however smaller companies with possibly superior printing capabilities don’t have that luxury.
By partnering with a company like 3D Hubs, 3D printer companies like Ultimaker are gaining increased access to potential new customers. Of course the ability to make the network of printers work for you means that you have to have some level of an existing user base. 3D Hubs has said that they will prioritize adding manufacturers based on current printer coverage, but there was no word on other manufacturers interested in selling samples at this time.
