Getting 3D printers into the hands of customers is no easy task, given the price of many desktop 3D printing systems. While some manufacturers have managed to drop the price of their machines, other companies are turning to financing services to allow customers to pay for 3D printers in more manageable installments. Among those companies is desktop printing brand MakerBot.
Previously, MakerBot worked with Dell to offer financing during the holidays and currently provides financing in China through Alipay. This time, however, MakerBot will be continuously offering financing through the MakerBot.com website. Partnering with Affirm, launched by former PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, consumers can finance the purchase of MakerBot products through three, six, or 12 month installments with 10-30% APR and an easy-check out system. To ease the financial burden of business customers, the brand has partnered with LEAF Commercial Capital, allowing businesses to set flexible payment terms to purchase MakerBot products.
The move comes after MakerBot began expanding its institutional buying options for schools hoping to purchase MakerBot 3D printing labs, bundling a handful of 3D printers, filament, and a scanner altogether. Together, these options seem to suggest that the company is trying to make it easier to get its products out of the warehouse and into customers’ hands. Increasing the ways that customers can get a hold of MakerBot printers will help ameliorate the sales issues faced by the brand’s parent company, Stratasys, last year.
