Preprinted samples and selling swatches to raise funds

Cloudancer

I had a couple of ideas this morning and looking thought the forum briefly I didn't see them so I thought I'd just post here. I didn't search deeply so I apologize if these have been brought up.
Have you considered letting other people print your samples for you? It might save a bunch of time working through your inventory backlog while letting people contribute in non-financial ways. This could also be done by accepting printed sample submission rather than having people print your backlog. I could see you needing to specify what was acceptable (ie only printed on XYZ equipment with a specific profile) I can't be the only person who already prints a plate of things for every new filament they get anyway.
Have you considered printing color swatch and selling them to raise more cash to support yourselves/the operation? The overlap with people visiting your site and people interested in color swatches has to be pretty good. I buy color swatch sets from filament vendors when they offer them, but most don't. It wouldn't be huge cash, but it could help.

jkaufeld

Hi @Cloudancer! It's all good, let's answer these in order:

letting other people print your samples

Absolutely! You can find the full process here: https://filamentcolors.xyz/about/#can-i-print-the-swatches — if you print the swatches, I also need a 10cm / 4in cutting of the filament so that I can measure the TD value from it.

selling swatches

This one is tough. I'd be down to do this, but at the end of the day, it comes down to two things:

I'd have to physically own a spool of everything requested, and if I didn't have it on hand, I'd have to purchase one at full price if someone wanted a sample from it
if I have full spools of everything, I have to store them somewhere. I already have about 400 spools and they take up a measurable amount of my basement; I'm really not sure where I would put 3000 spools

There is a possibility for doing swatch sets with appropriate sponsorships, but there hasn't been a lot of interest yet. If this is ever offered, you'll see news about it!