What type of Shipping Does Solidoodle Use?

UPS ground or USPS FC/priority

We white label our shipping as "Solidoodle Shipping" and choose the best option between USPS and UPS. There are a few reasons for this.

1) Because of the unusually large size and weight of the Solidoodle the shipping charges vary wildly from day to day and place to place. In certain cases there might be a +/- $100 difference.

2) Certain communities are only served by USPS or UPS, or are best served by one and not the other.

3) While we'd like to accommodate people by giving them a plethora of shipping options, reduced complexity in the shipping department helps us keep things moving along at a good clip. This is why we don't offer expedited shipping options.

4) Because of the volume of shipments, sometimes we screw up. What Claghorn described used to happen a lot. Using the white labelled shipping helps everyone feel like they got what they paid for.

As time goes on, I think this will become less an issue, and we shall be able to offer more shipping options.

Generally speaking about 80% of our packages are shipped via USPS. If your order is to a destination outside the United States then you have about a 99% chance of getting USPS shipment. We don't use any special couriers for far flung destinations. I should also mention that USPS has wretched tracking information for locations outside the United States. It is not uncommon for international packages to simply disappear for about a week or so while they cross the Atlantic and move through customs. No meaningful tracking information whatsoever. This isn't Solidoodle's doing, so much as a maddening "feature" of the United States Postal Service. 

Questions you might have:

I have a favorite shipping company, can I use that company (please!) ?

Generally speaking, no. We take these kinds of requests on a case by case basis. Since we have behind on shipments from day 1, it is our priority to be as fair as we can to the people waiting in line. While it is perfectly reasonable to ask for shipping via UPS if you are willing to pay for it, every special request we take slows down the process for everyone. Our shipping guys have to be ninjas as it is.

What about shipping companies you don't normally use? FedEx? DHL? (I am willing to pay!)

Again, we try to avoid this. Of course, we are reasonable people. If you absolutely need FedEx, we shall see what we can do, but you have to understand that we are in a constant state of catching up and dealing with yet another shipping truck at our shipping dock can slow things quite a bit. You have to understand that these companies have no contracts, working relationships, and other agreements with us.

I remember one instance where we arranged a FedEx shipment with one of our customers. The FedEx folks didn't show up until about 8:00 p.m (4 hours after we had scheduled the pick up.) A few of us didn't get home to our families until 9 p.m. Typical life at a start up, I know, but working with shipping companies that we don't have a full relationship with can be disruptive, and risky for everyone.

What about expedited shipping? I will gladly pay for next day shipping!

This is generally a little easier to pull off, but still disruptive, and generally not as much a guarantee of fast shipping as you'd imagine. The majority of folks who ask for this do not realize we have a lead time. Many folks are confused that the lead time is actually the *shipping time* - and that the wait time can be eliminated by choosing faster shipping. Not the case!

Sadly, we have had many instances where we have paid for next day shipping, and the shipper in question simply did not deliver. We don't have a whole lot of leverage to push back at the shippers over that sort of thing.

Also keep in mind we are in NYC, where the mail system is perpetually clogged, and the mail folks are brusque to say the least.

I ordered my Solidoodle today and I want it TOMORROW! make it happen!

You wouldn't believe how much we get this. Again, it's our prerogative to be fair and ship people's orders in the order that they were received. A common story I hear is that "I started a business with the 3D printer, and I owe people parts IMMEDIATELY." While we love our customers, we find this to be extremely confusing. 3D printers have a major learning curve. How could you promise people parts and take their money without ever using one? It would be very wise of this sort of person to spend the lead time reading up on 3D printer debugging and software. 9 out of 10 times this same person ends up in the tech support queue feeling rather sour, fast shipping or not.

In summary:
We are trying to catch up.
Shipping is not optimal at the moment.
We want to be fair to everyone.

Let me know if there are any other questions about SD shipping.

We charge what the USPS API tells us the cost is + a small handling fee. You aren't getting any special pricing structure as compared to any other country. We have no special rates for any country whatsoever. Remember: The Solidoodle is large and heavy.