California-based Airwolf 3D announced a feature reminiscent of Amazon Prime.
Amazon is perhaps the world’s largest retailer and one of the strategies they used to develop their audience was the introduction of Amazon Prime. This optional feature allows free shipping on many products in exchange for a monthly subscription fee.
The idea is that once someone commits to paying the subscription they are highly motivated to buy products from Amazon. And they do – often getting substantial discounts in the process.
It’s worked very well for Amazon, so why not try it at a 3D printer company, too? That’s exactly what Airwolf 3D just did.
They announced something called “Premium Pass”, and it looks quite a bit like Amazon Prime. You pay an annual fee of USD$99 per year, but in exchange you receive free shipping on all orders from their online store. You also will be eligible for exclusive discounts on 3D printing materials.
It’s really a no-brainer as you could order a new Airwolf 3D printer, such as their Axiom, and at the same time sign up for Premium Pass for USD$99. You’d get free shipping on the new printer, which likely pays for the subscription in one transaction.
If you buy a lot of filament, your subscription fee would sooner or later be justified by savings in shipping fees, depending on your consumption rate.
If that won’t convince you to join, they’re also offering a 2 for 1 filament spool deal and a bottle of their proprietary adhesion solution, Wolfbite if you sign up.
For those professionals using Airwolf 3D equipment, use of standard, supported filaments is almost a necessity, as you probably need the consistency of product in your business, and, needless to say, the optimized print profile for the filament. There’s a good chance you would be buying filament from Airwolf 3D if you bought an Airwolf 3D printer.
One slight issue for most of the world, however: the Premium Pass is available only in the contiguous 48 states of the USA. Nowhere else, not even Alaska or Hawaii. At least not yet, anyway.
I have two thoughts on this development.
First, if you are an Airwolf 3D customer, you probably should sign up for this, as it is simply a good deal. It’s an especially good deal if you are new Airwolf 3D client.
Secondly, why doesn’t EVERY 3D printer company offer something like this? It makes sense for the buyer and the seller.
Vir PRWeb and Airwolf 3D