FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
There's a specific color I'm looking for that you don't carry. Can you get that color?
I can! If your order is at least $30 for every color I don't have that you need in your order, I can acquire it for you. Just send me an email before you order so we can work out the details. Please see the colors page for extensive details on available colors.
What if I see a product that I like, but I want to modify it in some way?
That's great! Send me a message and let me know what you're looking for. I can create a custom product just for you.
There's a pilot or ship I would like a dial cover for. How can I let you know?
Send me a message. I keep tabs on what customers are asking for. It influences my decisions about what to design next. I'll let you know when it becomes available. Follow me on Instagram and Facebook to keep up to date!
How is the global pandemic affecting your ability to fulfill orders?
Shipping times (which are usually 2 to 6 days in the US and 4 to 10 days international) are taking about 50% to 100% longer to arrive at their destinations, especially for those furthest away from my location in Georgia, USA.
I may have trouble sourcing filament since stores are closed or out of supply, including online stores such as Hatchbox. If I'm out of a specific color, I will take it off of the color options list.
Why do some colors have a (t) next to them?
That means they're translucent. See the colors page for more info.
How do you calculate prices?
I know a lot of people won't care for this, but I appreciate transparency and this is my attempt at it. The price of items is based on four factors:
Materials + Depreciation + Overhead + Labor = Price
Material costs are the filament, consumables, and packaging/shipping materials. Packaging/shipping costs, including bags, boxes, padded envelopes, packaging tape, and labels, are mostly accounted for in the shipping cost. The rest is accounted for in materials. Filament costs on average $40 per kilogram because I buy special filament to get color accuracy. A token is about 1 cent worth of filament. A dial cover is about 6 cents.
Depreciation is the cost related to owning, operating, and maintaining 3D printers. This cost is 30 cents per hour of printing. To give you some idea of how that affects price, a single color dial cover takes 24 minutes to print. A single token takes 7 minutes.
Overhead costs are the costs to host the website plus any fees from payment processors as well as money spent on sponsorships and advertising. As revenue increases, platform and marketing costs decrease as a cost per item. For this reason, prices may increase or decrease as I average out these costs across all of the products.
Labor is my time, charged per hour. This is usually the highest cost as a percentage of the product's price.
By far, labor is the highest cost here, accounting for 60% of the average product. Right now this is just a hobby and creative outlet for me, but that doesn't mean I don't want it to look like a viable business. I don't include R&D for new products in the cost at all since the cost will trend towards 0 as more products sell.
Finally, price theory is informed not only by what it costs to produce, but also what customers are willing to pay. For that reason, the explanation above is the minimum viable price. But I may charge more if a product is worth more to the customer than it costs to manufacture. At the end of the day, this is about seeing my creative work enjoyed by people all over the world. Most of my prices are as low as possible.
This is plastic, what happens if I leave this in a hot car?
The material, PLA, deforms at 60C, or 140F. If you leave it in a hot car in the summer, and it gets to this temperature, it may deform. I recommend not keeping it in a hot car. Hot cars can get up to 170F, if left in direct sunlight. The material does not melt. It is just bendable if you apply enough pressure. The material won't melt until 170C/338F.
You can read more about car temperatures and PLA at these links:
https://www.livescience.com/62651-how-hot-cars-get.html
What in the world is your logo?
It's a 3d printing nozzle depositing melted plastic, with a Tie Advanced v1 emerging from the plastic.