Is there any plans from Bambu to make up for the obvious lack of filaments being available? I want to buy the standard PLA, however - since I have my machine for 2 months - it’s almost always out of stock?
Are there any plans from Bambu to actually produce more to keep up with demand or should I continue to buy non-bambu filament, since, I am looking to buy an AMS system and, well, without official filament - others have informed be it will be tricky.
Thanks
Edited to make language a little less blunt. Apologies if it comes across rude.
It’s not “always out of stock”, but as soon as they get stock it gets snapped up. Bambu doesn’t make filament themselves, they contract with a couple of different suppliers.
Ignore what you’ve seen about issues using non-Bambu filament in the AMS. Indeed, 98% of my AMS prints are with non-Bambu filament (I have only a few spools of that.) Just buy from more popular brands and you’ll be fine.
Changed title for point one. Kind of annoying that stock never seems to be available when I need it. I’ve got a 6 month membership for a service I’m actually unable to use on the count that the filament(s) I need have not once been available for me on each occasion that I’ve checked. Before I buy a new roll of PLA anywhere else, I always check here first if it’s available. Lo and behold, it’s not. Sadly.
As for point 2 - that’s good to know. I’m going to be ordering the AMS in the coming days then. Thanks
I never said they do, I was asking a simple question.
English not being my native, sometimes I can see that it comes across too blunt or direct. But in this point, I bought the Bambu because the filament rolls work much more fluidly? than other rolls I have used with the machine so, would be nice to be able to actually BUY the material intended for said machine.
The Bambu filament is good, you know the spools will fit the AMS, and the RFID tag reading is convenient as it selects a good filament profile. But those are relatively minor points in the long run.
No, they don’t owe him filament, but they do owe him customer service and some folks prefer to not go off-brand.
I’m not a proponent of Bambu filament as my numerous critical posts of their filament service, quality and price attest to. But I also recognize that some people feel that part of the reason for choosing a company to do business with, is the after sale support. Can we say that Bambu has provided that support given the number of Stockouts of common filament that their competitors seem to have no issue keeping in inventory?
I know the game Bambu is playing because I’m from the industry and back when I was in Product Management, I played the same game. You first cut the best deal you can with your supplier and squeeze them for every last ounce of discount and margin. Then you oversell your product and service. How you make extra money is that you’re invoicing your customer before the bill is even due from your supplier, so if you have 30 days terms with your supplier, that’s 30 days of his money you earn interest on. Ethical? Well as the saying goes, don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Give Elegoo a try, I’ve printed many rolls of their Rapid PETG, Matte PLA, PLA+ and ASA using default Bambu filament settings, not generic settings. With exception of ASA which I’ve only used generic ASA filament settings before discovering Elegoo high speed filaments print as nice and fast as Bambu using Bambu filament settings.
I usually buy two or four pack which average out about $12/roll. Use painter tape on the cardboard spool edge to prevent cardboard dust get into AMS tubes as it’s the primary reason BL doesn’t recommend using cardboard spools.
It’s a shame about BL filament supply issue, BL has nice color selections that currently aren’t available in 3rd party filaments. But it’s just matter of time before 3rd party catches up.
If BL wants to sell “membership” then it’s on them to keep popular colours instock. Like what gives? Black, white and grey have basically infinite demand, just keep them coming
In the past days BL only had 3 out of 20 basic pla w/spool available, today the filament stock has improved in the UK store, so rush…
I guess the container ship navigating around Africa, has finally arrived.
Something I recently found very helpful, and therefore worth mentioning, is that the calibrations built into orca slicer have made tuning in a new filament a lot easier than it was in the past.
This is such a needlessly rude comment with such a laughably silly rhetorical.
Say Patrick opens a gun shop that sells guns and ammunition. Patrick is a bit dull, and never orders nearly enough ammunition to keep up with demand. Because of this, when Sandy buys a gun from Patrick, she has to find his ammo elsewhere, leading her to Eugene’s shop.
To answer your silly rhetorical “why would they [make up for the obvious lack of (filament/ammo)]?”:
Because Sandy began buying ammo from Eugene, she is very likely to continue, and very unlikely to return to Patrick. If she ever needs a new gun, it greatly increases her odds of buying that from Eugene too—a one-stop shop is clearly more convenient.
Bambu has created a situation wherein thousands of customers who’ve bought Bambu printers have had to buy their filament elsewhere, which is undoubtedly bad for business. Margins have to be razor-thin on the printers they’re producing, and pretty beefy on filament, even if it is through a 3rd party.
It seems like many people had the impression they had to use Bambu filament for the AMS, something they’ll learn isn’t true when they’re forced to buy other brands (a good thing in my opinion, but your question relates to the intentions of Bambu Lab).
I’d never have spent time writing this comment out if you hadn’t been so unnecessarily insufferable and wrong in your response.
So every time you go to costco, Walmart, Walgreens or a gun store (since you seem to like guns) and don’t get what you came for because it’s not in stock, you expect the company to make up for it?
Since that’s exactly what was asked. ↓
Have you spent one thought about why Bambulab might not have stock? Correct - because they rely on someone else for it.
Your Patrick also relies on the ammunition supplier.
You surely have proof that it’s Bambus fault for not having stock. Please send it my way.
the proof is that the stock is not there. it’s called supply chain management. you see something keeps selling out, you increase the restock volume or rate. If your supplier can’t keep up, you look for a new one, or more of them. It’s not voodoo magic and plastic isn’t exotic material
When did you pay for the membership? The membership was free when you purchased a printer. Before you could pay for the membership the cancelled this option and introduced the Bulk Sale Price.
