With the holidays right around the corner, here’s one essential thing you must remember above all else: our material cutoff dates.

From a survey we conducted this summer with our shop owners, we found that 87% of shop owners don’t communicate cutoff dates to customers. While initially, this may not seem like a huge problem, it certainly is when a customer places an order that cannot be fulfilled on time. By not communicating this with your customers, a layer of frustration is added to the process, especially for those who wait to order at the last minute.

Always communicate with your customer

  1. Familiarize yourself with our material cutoff dates: Be proactive and take the time to figure out when each of our material cutoff dates are. Doing so will increase the overall efficiency of your design process and will make sure you can accurately communicate with your customer. For instance, our aluminum cutoff date for the U.S., Canada, and Europe is November 29 but for the rest of the world, it is November 27. Take some time to review all of our cutoff dates here.

 

  1. Know where your customers are: Some parts of the world experience extreme weather during this time and it can impact shipping time. For example, if you’re sending your 3D products off to places like Buffalo, New York or Vermont in the U.S., where snow storms are usually expected in the winter time, it would be smart to build in an extra time cushion. Better safe than sorry. If you’re shipping internationally, remember that shipping speeds to different countries will vary.

 

  1. Orders will not ship until all items are ready: If your order contains more than one item, your package will ship once all items are ready. If you are ordering a new, untested design, it’s possible that we may run into issues while 3D printing, so once again, that extra time cushion is important.

 

  1. Delivery dates are not always guaranteed: Remember that delivery dates are not always guaranteed; they are estimated by our shipping carriers. Because of how many orders are shipped during the holidays, placing your shipping request as early as possible is the smartest thing to do.

 

Take some advice from our shop owners

If you’re swamped with order requests this holiday season, here’s some advice from some of our shop owners:

  1. It’s better to refuse a last minute order than to apologize to an angry customer for late delivery;

 

  1. Print popular products in advance so they’re available on hand.

 

We know this holiday season is going to be a great one for our shop owners. But to ensure efficiency, make sure to follow these tips and keep an eye on our material cutoff dates. Communicating this with your customers will make for a much smoother and pleasant design process.

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