That was an exhausting thread. Let me make it longer.
As far as expectations go, when I ordered Oct 15/15 I was under the impression units would ship Dec 15. Ok I was new to the Crowdfunding game, and expected a few months delay. THIS is not what I expected. I’m concerned with the what appears to be a 4 week pause in actual shipped units, with nothing but speculation from users in the forum.
Even by conservative estimates, production volume is at a trickle.
Units are shipping again, UPS notices went out last night, a couple forum members get theirs TODAY! I receive mine on Monday. I’m sure more are on the way.
Yah, but it’s still a trickle, and I don’t think any of the notices that went out were for Pro units. At this point we should be seeing bunches of shipping notices every couple of days.
do you mind sharing when did you place your order?
This has been a nightmare of delays, period!
I did not order a kickstarter, indiegogo, gofundme or other any crowdfunded platform (I said product in my first post instead of platform, my mistake… I wanted to make it clear…), I have pre-ordered a product that would arrive 3 months after as far as I am concerned.
This is a year and a half after and nothing arrived yet, product is supposed to ship in two parts at different times months apart.
We supported them by dishing up to 4k+ for most of us, and we get " proofgrade " material as a gift for a year and a half of wait and I have paid more interests in that time for the laser than what they give me as compensation. All is absolutely " normal " in their ears, when most of us are outraged by how it has been handled.
The only reason we still are in is the product we all wanted to get in the first place, certainly not for the company nor for the service.
There is absolutely nothing positive so far, stop telling us it is ok and all fair when we have been waiting over a year because we still trust in them delivering what we want.
It is like selling a house that would be built in 3 months and still not delivering it after a year and a half and offering a free bedside lamp as a compensation. Pathetic for the least to say…
Do your job, deliver and stop finding excuses for your misjudgment and mistakes.
Sincerely,
i understand your frustration and it’s not misplaced frustration. you’re far from alone with being unhappy with the delays. even some of the biggest cheerleaders are unhappy with them.
but…
you did buy a crowdfunded project. it wasn’t kickstarter or indiegogo, but it most definitely was crowdfunded. it’s even been heavily promoted and advertised as the biggest 30-day crowdfunded campaign in history (right on the home page).
I agree with how frustrating this is. I agree that most people do not have anything to show for that wait.
I have a pre-release unit and got to use a production unit so I have an indication of what I am waiting for.
I do not know about those who ordered after the initial discount periods ended, but for me, a 30% return on my discount investment of $2,000 after two years will still be worth the wait. From everything I have read about lasers and from others who have them, even $3,000 for a basic is a good deal.
I didn’t. There was no mention of crowdfunding when I bought mine and the development is funded by investors, not our funds, if GF is to be believed. That is why we can get refunds even after all this time. With crowdfunding the money would be spent by now I think.
sure sounds like a lot of people did call it “crowdfunding” while the first 30 day ordering was going on from these articles that happened during and immediately after.
It’s been officially referred to as a Crowdfunding campaign by Staff including @dan. It’s not a traditional one, but the pre-orders have allowed them to pull in investors.
You certainly got it right on the " crowdfunded " but my point was to say i did not order an indiegogo, kickstarter, gofundme or other crowdfunding specialized website…
I will edit the post in that matter to make it clear… thanks
When I ordered, the website looked like this. Perhaps I was naïve, but based on the video, website content, and Dan’s reputation, I expected my Glowforge to ship three months later. This was not described as a crowdfunding project when inplaced my order.
True crowdfunding campaigns raise the bulk, if not all, of their money for the R&D and the amount of the contributions vary. There are a series of “backer” levels, and you don’t necessarily receive the product. You are well aware you are helping to fund the development of something cool.
This was billed as a pre-order campaign when I purchased mine (day 4). They represented a product and its features, and they claimed they were gearing up for production in just a few months. I ordered a product. I did not invest in something.
They had $10,270,000 in initial funding, from actual investors, before they launched the pre-order campaign. Not exactly a company that is “crowdfunding” something.
They sold $27,907,995 worth of units during the pre-order campaign.
Over the next year, they sold another ~$17,000,000 in pre-order units.
They raised another $22,000,000 in series B funding.
They have brought in a total to date of over $77,000,000 in “actual” investments and sales in just over 2 years.
They have delayed shipping three times. And, while they are shipping some units now, all indicators are that it is intermittent and at a trickle.
We all have every right to be pissed.
Like others, I want the product. I like its potential. I like the price point.
But I am struggling to maintain any respect for the company.
True, but then again all those site also referred to it a laser “printer” for the same reason, only because Glowforge called it one. It’s down to semantics on a word and how much you can bend the meaning to still technically be correct.
They really try to have their proverbial cake and eat it too, all the excitement and hype the current rise of crowd funding but still allaying the uncertainty by also saying don’t worry we have venture backing so your money is safe. But if you don’t need the crowdfunding money to create the product…your not really crowd funded then are you. Its a pre-order
If they use “Crowdfunded” they can claim the largest 30 Day Crowdfunding Campaign.
I don’t think they can claim that if they use the term “Pre-order Campaign”
I’m gonna guess Tesla is claiming that one.
Agreed. They clearly did not bill it as a crowdfunding campaign.
https://glowforge.com/glowforge-launches-30-day-pre-order-3d-laser-printer
“…today announced pre-orders for their 3D laser printer…”
Nowhere in the announcement do they say this is a product that does not exist or that it is still in development. The language describes a product that exists. They describe it using the present tense - not the future tense. They clearly state the specifications, and a shipping date.
I spent several hours looking at the campaign and the company before I pulled the trigger on mine, which is happily sitting on its table. I was completely aware that this was a crowdfunded project and the product was not complete. This was made perfectly clear in the advertisement. I didn’t have any expectation of getting the product in three months. I honestly didn’t think they could pull it off, but I felt at the time, and now I know, that the product was worth the wait.
I understand that you are frustrated. I suggest that you push your energy toward getting ready for your Glowforge delivery, which will give you a positive mental result, rather than arguing what happened. Your respect for the company is up to you. Personally, I look back at how the delays were handled and I have more respect for the company.
When did you order? It certainly wasn’t the case when I ordered early on day 3. For it to be delivered in three months it would have to be a completed product. Just about long enough to procure the parts and set up a line.
As did I. The articles I read all stated the product as now being “on-sale”.
One of the many I still have bookmarked from my pre-purchase research:
“The Seattle startup began selling its 3D laser printer on Thursday morning and hit $1 million in sales just 15 hours later, selling 500 units during that time.”
