Just a heads up that Shapeways International Shipping (UPS Innovations) is still abysmal. My last Cherry Keeper order took 6 weeks to arrive in Australia. My latest order is 5 weeks and counting with no status update for 3 weeks, and probably still in the USA. Shapeways customer service just say wait for a status update. That's not helpful, especially when their website still states 5-9 days shipping! It should be noted that I'm generally getting shipping from USA and China to Australia in 2 to 3 weeks (back to normal), so Shapeways shipping choices are far behind other companies. No more orders of items from Shapeways from me until either UPS sort their shit out, or Shapeways use a more reliable shipping company.
I'd love to add to this: 1. Please keep in mind, NONE of this is Josie's fault..... 2. Shapeways does an excellent job in the manufacturing. 3. Their shipping department ain't that great. part of the problem is that they (Shapeways) have fallen into the trap of a blended carrier shipment scheme with the hopes of lowering costs. When they involve the USPS (not UPS) seems to be where the problems start. My advice to anyone ordering from Shapeways: pay the couple extra bucks for expedited shipping. This helps ensure a single carrier and far fewer chances your order will get lost in the shipping. On one of my (many) orders, I BEGGED Shapeways not to use the USPS in any way......They did, and it got lost. I learned my lesson, I now pay a few extra bucks and my order stays on UPS the entire way. And since the original poster is from Australia, I want to say that USPS stands for The United States Postal Service (a government run monopoly that sucks) and UPS stands for United Parcel Service (a private company that is terrific) Anyone shipping within or out of the USA should avoid the USPS if at all possible.
Even a USPS packages recently got to me in 2 weeks! This UPS Innovations shipping method means that I don't even who who is being used as the international carrier (presumably still UPS, but who knows). I love the various chastity products available from Shapeways, and understand that this is not the fault of the designers who use Shapeways. This is a Shapeways and UPS issue that sadly impacts on my willingness to purchase more products from the designers. At the end of the day if Shapeways advertise 5-9 working days and it takes 38 days and counting, that is poor form.
@LockedPom: I am glad you see things similarly. It's the shipping decisions of Shapeways that's at issue. I think the "interline" hand-offs are the problem, but who knows. I had a total of five orders from Shapeways. First one was shaky. Second one sucked. 3rd, 4th and 5th were perfect. I say all of this for the benefit of JosieLynn and future customers. She designed a FANTASTIC product. Shapeways makes and excellent product. It's excellently priced. Shipping is iffy. Overall, I am sure this impacts all manufacturers. To everyone: I'd still say the Cherry Keeper is a million percent worth it.
So an update. Still no shipping updates - after 41 days it is assumed the package is still in the USA! A second complaint to Shapeways, and negative feedback on their initial response has resulted in them remaking the item and sending it via UPS direct instead of UPS Innovations. So hopefully I might have the item in a few weeks. JosieLynn has also been in touch with options. Just be aware that if you are ordering from Shapeways internationally (if they are manufacturing at their US location) then don't expect your orders to arrive within 6 weeks (the claimed 5-9 days is not realistic).
I haven't had a single issue with shapeways with multiple purchases. I'm in Europe, Ireland and its about 2, 1/2 weeks from order to delivery with DPD parcel delivery. I would expect deliverys will now take longer with Christmas almost here but that will be DPD's parcel delivery service issue not shapeways.
That's not the basic shipping option though is it? So far my orders have been 4 weeks, nearly 6 weeks, and 6 weeks and counting (and possibly lost) via the UPS Mail Innovations option which is assumed to use USPS for part of the shipping. The website states 5-9 days for this shipping option. My re-made order is being sent via UPS all the way, and is currently looking like a 10 day delivery. So, yes, if you pay extra for the UPS only delivery then the shipping time is much faster, but it also adds to the cost of the product - not so good if you are experimenting with ring sizes for example, as opposed to a larger order where the increased shipping cost may be more value for money.
An update on this. The original order sent via Standard Shipping has at last had a shipping update, though it's looking like it will still be at least 9 weeks from shipping to arrival. The re-sent order which Shapeways sent via UPS Expedited delivery arrived in 8 days (and I now have a very comfortably fitting cage - yay!). When the second ring arrives, I think I'll sand one and not the other to see how they compare. So the morel of the story for international shipping is go with the $15 standard shipping if you are in zero rush to receive the item, but do hold Shapeways to their unrealistic shipping time frame claims! If you need it quickly then either pay the rather excessive $50 shipping or contact Josielynn to see if there are other options. As I now have a well fitting cage (well maybe could do with 2mm narrower ring, but it works) I think I'll wait and see what new designs appear when Josielynn starts making customs again before any more orders. Hope that someone has suggested a small/standard size cage with spikes ;-)
There is a cage with spikes or similar in the offering but I don't have the immediate link. I think the naming for each device for search purposes needs to be changed.
Yes, there is one design with spikes but I think the cage is a little on the small side for me. I'm sure there will be more eventually.
Just an update - my latest order from Shapeways arrived in 11 days, so looks like the shipping delays are now resolved.