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Home Depot Begins Retail Store Pilot Program To Sell MakerBot 3-D Printers
ClockEndGooner writes Looking for a 3-D printer to help you out with a home project or two? If you're in one of the 12 pilot program areas in the U.S., stop into Home Depot to take a look at and purchase a MakerBot 3-D Replicator printer. "...The pilot program will offer the microwave-sized MakerBot Replicator printers, priced at $2,899, for sale, as well as the smaller Replicator Minis, which list for $1,375. 'This will open up the whole world of 3-D printing to people who wouldn't otherwise know about it—like moms and dads, electricians, contractors and DIY-home-improvement folks,' said MakerBot chief executive Bre Pettis. 'It's a good match.'"
the website makes it seem like i'm buying a $3000 machine to buy plans to print some orange toys for the kids
MakerBot has never before sold through a retail outlet that takes returns. A lot of those machines will come back.
Stores have been onto that trick for 20 years.
Scammers still do it, but to people who think they are buying stolen goods.
There _will_ be a metric buttload of returns.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
This was mentioned briefly on Science Friday last week. Also that some Staples are going to have them for "service bureau" printing.
It's a neat idea and a potential reniassance for service bureaus - I haven't needed to go to one since 44-meg Syquest carts were in vogue.
Eventually we'll all have high-strength 3D printers at home, but that's got to be at least a decade off.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
I don't think the price point vs. quality is worth it for that crowd.
For me I just send things out to shapeways because I need small, fine parts, not fused piles of spaghetti.
Plus, how many people in the general population can do any solid modelling?
I only need a 3D printer in rare occasions, which does not justify buying one.
So I would like to get easy access to one.
Take a better, faster, more expensive printer.
Put it in a vending machine like case and sell the printing service by time/volume maybe?
Couple it with a 3d scanner, so I can scan in some part I need copied / remade right there. But also make it possible to remotely queue jobs and then pick them up at the store later when they're finished.
I am imagining somthing like a postal package station, only the stuff you can pick up is being made right inside the machine.
Do you think HD will eat them? Of course, Makerbot will get the returns back. So look for referbs to be available soon.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Why not one of the many much more affordable ones out there? Home Depot is not about buying the most expensive tools, it's about buying tools that will work and enable you.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
What I don't get here is what target audience MakerBot hopes is going to buy these at a Home Depot. 3D printers are really only viable for purchase by businesses in most cases, because individual buyers generally don't have enough use for them to justify a four-digit purchase price. Most individuals who want to use a 3D printer are going to use one of the numerous places online where you can send them a design and have them print and ship it at a fraction of the cost of buying a printer, and most businesses are going to use something more reliable (injection molding and the like) rather than buy one of these.
It seems like it would be more profitable to set up a "makerspace" kind of thing at the stores - charge people for materials and to use the printer to print out designs, rather than trying to sell them the printers themselves.
I am hoping for clearance aisle at 80% off in about 16 months.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Does the Home Depot force Makerbot to eat the returns?
Probably. Given their size they can, and do, pretty much dictate terms.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
Home 3D printing has two problems for consumers... 1. Most consumers don't need to print widgets more than once in a while.
2. The software to create and modify 3D objects has a learning curve (requires time and effort to learn.)
Sure its fun to create little plastic toys, chains, balls, and cases.. Interesting, but not particularly money-making. A nice skill to have, perhaps. But owning the printer isn't required to learn the skill or take part in the revolution. Save your cash and send your designs to a 3D print shop. Disclosure: I have a very cool but underutilized Makerbot I rented for the summer.
HD should just buy a mega makerbot that can print makerbots. and mcdonalds should buy a McMakerbot to print hamburgers.
You'll have to use Home Depot's self service lines to check out. I can't see how this is going to work for HD or MakerBot unless it starts churning out 2x4s.
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
The actual list of locations can be found here: http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2014/07/14/home-depot-diy-meets-miy-make/
I was excited to see the news of a 3D printer in Home Depot - I was hoping they would be able to print stuff for me, but instead they want to sell me the damned printer :-(
...a MakerBot, is going to research the thing first. Why would they pay for the privilege of getting ripped off at home depot when there are other places it can be ordered for less?
I'll take one that is *missing* a few parts for a fraction of the price.
You bet! Buy a 'bot, find the parts that are missing, print new ones, and...
Oh wait...
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
to create a perfectly sized plastic screw or nail or wall hanger or whatever on demand in home would be super handy for many a handy person.
It is what it is.
People who are savvy will buy online, or from a trusted source. Only people who have no clue will but from Home Depot. If you're reading this, would you buy a MakerBot from HD? Of course not.
Most of the people who work there don't know a 2x4 from a hammer; this will just be a fucking disaster.
it will break after it's used 5 times. No thanks!
Umm.... Are you confusing the store with Harbor Freight, perhaps?
Seriously, I've had no problem with Home Depot's product line, all in all. Like most stores, they do sell at least a few different grades of tools or items -- and buying the cheapest version is likely to lead to long-term disappointment. But other than the fact they seem to be catering a bit more towards residential customers (while Lowe's leans the other direction, offering more products the contractors want to buy), they're ok.