3D Printing Filament Trends & Stats Released by GlobalFSD for March 2015

What are the top 3D printer filaments on the market? Which companies are receiving the most interest? These are questions that many of us would love to know the answers to, yet it is almost impossible to gather accurate information. Thanks to GlobalFSD (Global Filament Sample Depot), we get some answers.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with GlobalFSD, it’s a website that launched back in November of 2014, with a mission to do what no other company has done before. That mission is a simple one — to provide a means of allowing individuals and companies to try out filament that they may want, without having to purchase an entire spool of the material.

Filament is expensive, and sometimes after purchasing a spool for anywhere from $20, all the way up to hundreds of dollars, users find that it is not the material that they had wanted after all. By using GlobalFSD, users are able to purchase 5 meter or 10 meter sample sizes, for just a couple bucks each. Currently there are over 70 different filaments available to purchase samples of, making GlobalFSD a wonderland for 3D printing enthusiasts who love to experiment.

SemiFlex

Today, we have been provided with the first monthly trends report by GlobalFSD, a report that will be released on a monthly basis from here on out. Below you will find some interesting trends and stats.

Top New Filament Samples Added to GlobalFSD’s Marketplace for March 2015
This month saw the addition of several new and unique filaments, including CopperFill and XT-CF20 from ColorFabb, a unique Cleaning Filament by OO-KUMA, and Proto-Pasta’s Stainless Steel and Magnetic Iron filaments. Also added was Fenner Drives‘ SemiFlex, as well as Fila-Cycle’s Recycled HIPS.

Not a bad month for newly added filament samples. It seems as though the composite materials are really beginning to catch on.

Top 3 Filament Samples Sold

For the month, the 3 top sellers on GlobalFSD were OO-KUMA’s Cleaning Filament, which has actually sold out for the time being, followed by NinjaFlex and SemiFlex. Both of these filaments are manufactured and distributed by Fenner Drives. NinjaFlex has been around for quite some time, but it is a unique material which people love to experiment with. The flexibility provides many new uses not typically seen with other more rigid 3D printing materials.

Statistics

• GlobalFSD had 61 orders place for the month.
• There were a total of 329 filament samples sold.
• The average order placed by customers consisted of 5.39 filament samples per order.
• GlobalFSD had 43 new customers place an order, with 18 repeat customers placing orders.
• Australia and Poland saw their very first orders placed on the site.

Without a doubt GlobalFSD’s business model is a unique one. By allowing filament manufacturers to disseminate their products to those interested in testing them out, the platform is one which should only continue to grow as more and more companies begin manufacturing 3D printer filament, and as more individuals and companies begin purchasing desktop 3D printers.

What do you think of these numbers? Have you placed an order on GlobalFSD? Discuss in the GlobalFSD forum thread on 3DPB.com.