I had the same issue. Found out, it’s all about how you click through. However, if you are only buying 1 or 2 rolls there is no discount, so it won’t show up until you go to 3. Then the discount is applied in the cart before you pay. You don’t see it before then.
1 Like
Okay got you. I just ordered off Amazon, got 7 rolls of PETG: (4) @ $13.99, (1) @ $14.99, 1 @ $15.99, 1 @ 17.99… Silver, grey, clear, and 3 blues…
Bambu will need to do MUCH better to get the business from most makers. I get it… BUT… and Filament, if you are paying more than $15.99 you are paying too much unless it is a rare/weird type… I get a couple bucks more for a filament roll and RFID… we need to hack the RFID so we can add and upload our own profiles to them.
put 4 rolls into the cart… NO DISCOUNT GIVEN.
Bambu Labs… you lost a sale, and probably blowing $$ by NOT FIXING THIS FOR YOUR LOYAL CUSTOMERS.
This isn’t a problem for everybody. I just did a test and I see the discount line in the checkout.
Maybe Bambu didn’t setup your account properly after your purchase.
I’m confused.
You state that it’s obvious from “the outer carton, the spool, the production label on the spool, the vacuum seal and even the damned desiccant bag, that the filament came from the exact same factory in China” …
then proceed to show 4 different products with very different spool designs and experiences. You mention Ketrum is a total disaster yet Jayo is your personal best.
I’m not trying to call you out … I’m just trying to understand how you feel most off-brands come from the same factory, yet the examples you listed varied widely in performance and spool apperance.
I apologize if my post wasn’t clearer. What was missed here is that I was pointing out the commonality between manufactures in part one of my post.
Where I think you may be confused is that in part two of my post the examples I provided were not an indication of “Same Source” but rather a comparison of “Best Deals” in my experience.
______________________________________________________________
But it’s a funny coincidence that you bring this up this week. I was going to post a follow up to this thread and saw the 100+ posts and figured the post was dead or at least needed a rest. But since you asked…
I placed an order in November. I deliberately ordered two transparent PETG spools from different vendors who I strongly suspected were from the same factory. I did this precisely so that I could later share my findings with this group.
Here are the two filaments in question.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082WR3G2L
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BHLJWK6S/
Here they are side by side in my office.
And here are the production labels and QC tags. Subsequent tests of each filament using Temp Towers, Max Flow rate and Pressure advance showed they performed identical.
I recently started to keep better records so that I could eventually maintain a database of vendors with their quality and performance. The CC3D and HZST3D have turned out to be a great PETG value from my experience.
Now I’ve been collecting similar proof from other vendors but that will take time since I am buying on price and availability so I can’t necessarily predict who will have the next sale. I am starting to archive photos of every filament I buy so that I can keep track of who’s naughty and who’s nice.
1 Like
I’ve noticed the same thing on Amazon.
And yet, there are weird exceptions. Voxelab filament is made by FlashForge. The boxes are different, the spool is different, but the price is the same. The printing characteristics are marginally different, but the PLAs from both provide excellent results. This one has me scratching my head.
Completely anecdotal but I’ve have excellent results printing Bambu Basic PLA, I’ve gone through dozens of spools and hardly ever bother to even calibrate the filament on my P1S because it’s always very dimensionally accurate.
Which got me thinking, is it possible Bambu filament is binned or uses the RFID for more accurate calibration? I’m imagining something like every spool storing the length and weight of filament spooled in the RFID and then using that as a very basic way to calculate the average flow rate through AMS. It’s also possible they pay for binning of filament from their supplier to ensure it’s more dimensionally accurate.
1 Like
Quite an interesting theory but when I read the RFID tags using an RFID reader, I did not see anything other than evidence that it is a product ID devoid of any parametric data. In other words, it’s simply a license plate, not a database. Admittedly, I only read two or three spools and their was no difference between the number of one PLA spool versus another. But that was months ago before I abandoned them as a preferred filament supplier. I’ll go back and check to see if I have any more spools and see what’s on the tag. One can easily do this with an app on ones phone assuming your phone has the contactless wallet feature, the tech is the same.
What’s more, such writable RFID tags are prohibitively expensive. Last time I checked, I believe the cost for using a spool of read-only tags was less than a few cents but writable tags were 10-20x the cost. I just don’t see a consumer products company doing such a move especially a Chinese one were spending money on anything not perceived as immediately necessary flies against their culture of Cha Bu Duo.
Bambu’s profile for its own filament is conservative and that allows for good quality prints. When I did the maximum volumetric speed tests in Orca slicer with Bambu filament, all of them I tested were able to print 305mm^3 higher flow rates than the filament profiles in the slicer. That’s one major reason why you get great results with Bambu filament.
Also, Bambu’s filament is probably made with their own formula under contract with tighter quality control than the unknown brand $12.99/kg PLA that you can find from some Amazon US retailers.
The RFID info doesn’t seem to relate to any lot numbers because if you buy two rolls of Bambu filament of the same type and color several months apart, their serial numbers int he RFID tags are the same.
2 Likes
The discount doesn’t show up for me in the cart. It usually doesn’t until I go to checkout.
1 Like
they need to redo the way the discount works, and or give us a real discount across the board. Anything that isn’t “BASIC” is not discounted (from what I have seen, but this may not be the case) but… BUT… or… the entire reason I posted this is to say… "Bambu… your loyal customers are going elsewhere for filament… I.E. you are loosing out on $$ money/Sales $$
Well I`m out of Europ and even my European suppliers undercut Bambulab. And if someone goes the way for “Made in USA” for 10 USD per KG, it should by at least poined out 
I mainly order 2 kg and can no longer get them into the AMS… and my filament bills are a lot higher than what I spend on printers…
1 Like
I’ve been following this guy at Slant 3D. I just got his most recent newsletter.
I love his energy and enthusiasm towards, not only the industry but to the community. He reminds me a lot of what a Josef Prusa might have been if he grew up in Idaho which is where this guy is from. If you’ve never met people from Idaho, they are just generally solid citizens with an all-around great work ethic and demeanor. Think of every snake and cheat you’ve ever met from a big city and Idaho is the opposite by and large. It’s also boring as hell unless you’re into outdoor activities.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/slant3d/3d-printing-and-filament-testing-lab
Unfortunately, I don’t see how he’s going to get to his goals in time. If you read his business plan, on paper it’s great. I mean, who doesn’t want a quality domestic vendor selling quality $10 spools? And he is actually going to create a test lab to bring the long needed certification process to the filament industry. 
He has almost everything figured out, including and most important, his distribution hubs. He realizes that he can’t do it from Idaho.
Two big problems though when I read his business plan last Summer.
First, his timeline is too long. The Asian makers will likely spin past him if the current trend continues. As an example, Last year, the average I was paying for quality PLA was about $18, today it’s averaging around $14. At his rate(another two years) the Asians well get to $10 I’m wagering. If he does make it to $10(I believe he was still at $18 at the moment) by then, he will have lost the first-to-market race.
The second problem I see is one he cannot be aware of unless he works within the distribution and logistics industry like I do. His current plan is to use an area around Dallas/Fort Worth. That is exactly the wrong place to set up a logistics hub these days. It may seem like a great idea but that’s the problem, everybody else is doing the same thing.
And then there is Amazon Prime with 1-2 day shipment and no-questions asked returns he’s got to contend with.
1 Like
Well everthing true,
“Guochao” this consumer trend in China isn`t happen only in China. Complete product tracking from the production of for example food, is currently a rising trend in China as well - and for this not only Chinies costumer looking for… Companies are increasingly being forced to act transparently. e.g. to whiten chemicals and show the biological footprint.
Delivery times and prices are just one aspect - if I don’t know how it was made, how sustainable it is, how the employees are paid - then I only talk about the price and Bambulab is currently losing out on that too.
So why should I pay more when I know that the others at least adhere to the Western standard through Western production regulations through manufacturing in the Western World - then I don’t care about the delivery time for my conscience. I also have spools that cost 44 USD kg, but then it’s about protecting consumers. Even this price is not as issue for anyone, because there are a hell of a lot of people who buy very consciously, but then you also have to informe well - with papers how fits to every induvidual spool… Statements about individual coils and no overall orientation to all units ever manufactured otherwise the price will go quickly from 44 USD down to 10 kg per kg.
Two of my printers actually only run so that we know which filament was used - 3D print farms should also start thinking about this and identify the material and not just the type such as PLA, PETG, etc. since there is a hugh costumer trand on biological footprint and there are already some solutions that can be offered in 3D printing.
How’d it work? “Tomorrow” was 4 days ago lol. I’m always on the lookout for a cheaper way to keep this addiction…errr um, I mean hobby, going!
He is still a long way away from hsi $10/kg filament goals. His current prices are closer to $20/kg.
There is $10/kg filament made in the US, in Florida, however some people claim the quality control is a bit lacking at times.
1 Like
Can you share that info? I think I remember hearing about such a company but I can’t remember where. If it’s the one I am thinking of, I have a couple of their spools handed to me by a friend.
Fremover
They run sales, so the price for unboxed filament varies between $8.47-$9.99/kg depending on how much you buy and when you buy. The boxed filament costs a little more, but is aways vacuum packed and in a box I’m told. I know a few people who use it regularly, but don’t have much experience with it myself. Their newer spools are AMS compatible.
The company address shows up as the address for 3 or 4 different filament brands, so I’m guess those brands all are made in the same factory in Florida.
Thanks for posting. Yes, that wasn’t the one I was thinking of but I tried these guys out last month on the strength of a recommendation here with disastrous results. I sent both black and red back to Amazon.
The damned thing couldn’t even do a temp tower without delamination. Darndest thing I have ever come across. I sent these photos to them with a complaint and a request for tech support and the silence was deafening.
