New parts, How much !!!!

[Daniel Shane]

Saw some new 3D printed parts in the shop but shocked at the markup.

At 18 quid each
https://www.deloreango.com/uk/rh-mirror ... panel.html

And

At 40 quid a set

https://www.deloreango.com/uk/headlight-side-trims.html

I understand time and effort went into design, prototyping and printing but that is one hell of a mark up.

There must be all of 10p worth of PETG plastic used and about 5p of electricity in the printing process.

I know these are rare parts but that is some profit.

Dan

[arranj]

The 3 things you are missing here:

- They aren't just printed, James spends hours fettling, sanding and painting these things after printing. His time isn't free.

- You are quoting the price including VAT, this is an unavoidable tax. Even after VAT has been paid there are several other taxes due from both me and James. Everything is legit here. Also there is a shipping element included - e.g. if you buy both it ships for "free".

- James sent me 16 sets on Wednesday.... by Thursday morning they had SOLD OUT.....
It would seem the market doesn't agree with you

There is a very very long thread on DMC Talk about the process, it is all transparent how James did these. The time involved in producing these and getting them to market has been significant, I can count 43 emails between me and James just on these 2 products alone. Prototyping, testing, photography, dealing with various enquires, printing, painting, James's family dealing with the smell, the machine itself, tax, tax and more tax, shipping, packaging, even me having to type this response to your post - I assume you have no intention of buying a set? It all has to be paid for.
Then factor in the demand.... THEY HAVE SOLD OUT.... and if anything the price is probably too low. I have to wait over a week for more stock now because they don't actually take seconds to produce. This, like many other parts on the car, is a very low volume item.
Compare this supposed "mark-up" (which is tiny) to probably any other part and it's less. Take something like the plastic steering column canopy for example, unit cost of probably under £1, and sells for well over £100, just forget the tooling cost and the time involved.....

[jamesrguk]

This is quite an upsetting response in a community which I have been part of for 20 years.

Drawing, fitting, testing, printing, fitting re-testing checking with other owners they are happy with the design, making even a small peice such as this is a very involved process.

Correct, printing doesn't use much filament and filament is relatively inexpensive, although you do need to buy/run an actual printer to make use of it.

Those who perhaps think a product is going to come straight of the print bed and into the post to the end user need to know that's simply not the case. This isn't a replicator from Star Trek

The last three nights I have been straight home from work and into the garage sanding, filling, priming, sanding and painting to get a product I could be proud of and happy to sell, finished at 3am thismorning as was back out at 8am carrying on hoping to get these ready for Tuesday/Wednesday.

I need to make some margin to keep my car on the road and cover bills. DeLoreanGo need to make money so they can continue their stirling work investing in new products and reproducing old ones too, which benefits us all in the long run.

But I've spent far too much time on here responding which would be far better spent finishing off these parts.

Just highlighting that sometiimes it takes a lot if time behind the scenes to make even small things happen.

Best regards to all,

James

[Daniel Shane]

Hi

Not meaning to get such a hostile response. I was just pointing out they were a little costly.

I remember when I managed to get the door seals remade for the club at cost price instead of the over priced charge someone was selling them out every one was over the moon but when I point out the same here I get burnt at the stake.

The fact is the printer costs £190 from Amazon. The PETG costs £15 for a 1KG roll and the printing time is a few hours.

As for volume you can send it to a 3D print shop and have these made cheaply, around 5 pound per unit and rapidly. I know as I helped a friend set one up.

If you don’t like the smell and inconvenience of painting then why not simply sell the STL file and let others print it at there own inconvenience

I’m fully aware of how FDM printers work, been doing it for years. I understand the whole process of designing and printing in 3D and I know it’s not as expensive or as hard as others make out. It’s not Star Trek, but it’s also not rocket science.

If everything is correctly done then the finished item should need little to no finishing either. I produce items for the Elise and I don’t have to touch them, straight off the printer into the Jiffy bag.

Dan

[jamesrguk]

I didn't intend to come across as hostile.

We all know how easy it is for things to be taken the wrong way online.

I put a good number of hours into these parts and hope people get as much enjoyment from them as I have making them.

Best to all.

James

[DMC1983]

Im not going to comment about price. What one person thinks is overpriced, another will think is a bargain.

What I will say is that its a good thing someone is replicating these things. Theres a demand for those mirror caps and personally, if mine were missing, i would get a set.

Whilst im debating if i want to drill into the fascia or not (not gonna use glue as you still need access to the screws. Unless one of them grooves line up to the screws of course), i will be getting the trim that sits between the lights. I think they will improve the look of that gap anyway. Still, i have other things that need sorting on my car first (although it is my birthday very soon hint *cough* hint )

[eric]

(although it is my birthday very soon hint *cough* hint )

You want some cough medicine right

[mec]

You're doing a top job James Keep up the good work

[acmetowers]

Is there a repository for stl files as I've made a few to fix my door vents (central clip for attaching the flaps and the cross spring thing)? Happy to send them for others to make or to put up on Dgo. Fully understand the time it takes as it took about six attempts to get the clip working, its not just the material it's human time (design, test, build) and machine time (machine cost, material cost, running cost, servicing).

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

[bandit]

Well that’s a first on this forum. Someone has typed ‘machine time’ instead of ‘time machine’