Pirate3D’s crowdfunded launch of their inexpensive Buccaneer personal 3D printer was a success mere minutes after it opened, but how did it end?
Their campaign ended as one of the most successful 3D print launches in history. They achieved USD$1,438,765 of their now-modest-seeming USD$100K goal. Formlabs still holds the record for the biggest crowdfunded launch, with approximately double Pirate3D’s stack. However, Formlabs’ machine is almost ten times the price of Pirate3D’s.
A Kickstarter count shows they sold some 3,157 machines, making Pirate3D one of the major manufacturers, in terms of unit volume. Um, at least they will be when the machines are delivered over the next year.
And that leads us to the next question, can they deliver? Kickstarter launches are a major achievement, but afterwards a lot of hard work must be done to actually produce – and support – working, production machines. We’ll see how well Pirate3D fares in coming months.
Via Kickstarter
@Jeff They said in their info that you can buy your own consumables so there's no need to buy from them.
@Jeff They said in their info that you can buy your own consumables so there's no need to buy from them.
Their business model seems to be the "razor blade" model, where the money is made by marking up the prices of consumables and tying consumers to a proprietary system. I am doubtful that it will work, but it would be very interesting if it did!
Their business model seems to be the "razor blade" model, where the money is made by marking up the prices of consumables and tying consumers to a proprietary system. I am doubtful that it will work, but it would be very interesting if it did!