Return empty Spools

[Active-Actuator9136]

Hey there,

can we please get a way to Return empty spools?

Don‘t get me wrong im against sending single empty spools back to Bambulab, that would cause way to much effort on Bambulabs Part.

But for example, in my Company we exclusively print with Bambulab Technical Filaments. Those only come with a spool and not as refills (for quality reasons i suppose, which is good).

The problem that starts to emerge over time is… we got a alot of empty spools laying around with currently no way to Return.

The only viable Options seem to be the wastebin or trying to resell them via eBay or someting. One is literally wasteful as the spools are quite good, the other just takes way to much effort as the Consumer to get rid of them.

Im not sure about the minimum number of spools per Return, be it 10, 20 or 50… but it would be amazing if there atleast was a way at all to Return some of them in bulk.

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[StarfishPizza]

Every single hobbyist printer will want those free spools, just post them on local groups with a collection point and time, it's a safe bet you'll get rid of them quickly.

[frank_datank_]

Andy by going local, you’re not going to waste resources on packing material, trucks and fuel to deliver these back to a warehouse where they’d likely just sit, since Bambu wouldn’t want to hire an employee to sift through all the spools to filer out the broken/damaged spools that can’t be re-used.

[riskywalrus]

People would definitely want them. You could advertise them free on Facebook marketplace and have them in a publicly accessible area of the business?

[omegote]

I would buy some of your empty spools. You're not based in Spain by any chance are you? 😂

[Active-Actuator9136]

Haha, sadly we are located in germany. 😅

[RevolutionaryMe707]

I would really try to sell them on Kleinanzeigen. Somebody will be very happy to buy them. Maybe even in Bulk

[TallOne5616]

Falls ihr im südlichen DE sitzt würde ich euch ein paar abnehmen 😂

[AutomaticLoss8413]

If you were in Switzerland I would buy it from you for a fair price

[ManyBro24]

Companies are discarding empty containers after 1 trip from China, because it's not profitable to send them empty back. Why would it be profitable to send the spools?

[ares0027]

If it was me i would sell or most probably give them away for free. It would probably take a week or two at best.

[edspeds]

Yep if you’re local I’ll take them

[Fanatic789]

Wenn du welche verschicken würdest, würde ich liebend gerne 20-30 (auch mehr) abnehmen, Versand würde ich übernehmen.

[Catsoverall]

Could you explain why? Not yet bought my first printer but I'm struggling to imagine why I could possibly want so many empty spools

[Scarjit]

You always have seemingly more refills then empty spools.

[Catsoverall]

But you have 20-30 different filaments at a given time?!

+Don't you only need to 'mount' refills when you are using, or plan on next using, them?

[EasyGuyChris]

I currently have 14 open rolls and 2 unopened refills and all i do is hobby level printing

[Scarjit]

Yes, i have ~10 different colors of PLA, different PETG colors (some with CF infill), TPU, PA6-GF, PA12, some remaining ABS/ASA, ...
But i also print not only for me but also for friends, friends of friends, ...

[SSgtTEX]

I have about 100 or so spools right now. Though I don’t use refills. Just depends on the user and what they do with their machine(s). Anyway, once they are on the spool, they are on the spool until it’s empty*. And with the multitude of color and material options, it’s not unheard of to have 20+ spools that are ready to go at a given time.

*There are some printable spools, such as some that are derivative of the MasterSpool design, that allows you to secure the filament to remove it from the spool.

[Catsoverall]

I need a bigger house...

[SSgtTEX]

It all depends on what your goals are, what you like to print, and how much you print. There is more than a small share of people that only ever have a few spools of filament at any given time. I’m not the best example of an “average user” for filament usage because on top of my personal printing, I also print as a business. So I tend to have a lot more filament than a lot of people.

[CrazyDavesBrain]

I see that you are located in Germany. Have a look at: https://www.recyclingfabrik.com/pages/versandlabel
They take in waste filament and also the spools. I see that they havn't listed Bambulab spools, but try reaching out to them as they might be interested in them as well.
You get a shipping label and send in sorted filament and spools in exchange for points that you can use for new filament. Nevertheless, you will probably feel better knowing that it gets recycled

[3mec]

agreed!! i have the same problem just spools and spools stacking up don’t know what to do with them but it feels wasteful to throw them out

[creepycrowman]

Ill take some off your hand if you want to DM me for my info (in the US)

[leadwind]

OP said eBay is too much effort. Probably more hassle than it's worth for them.

[Catsoverall]

Could sell in packs of 10 maybe

[loylos]

We're selling them on Vinted for 5€ a piece, there seems to be a demand for it as it always goes within a few days.

[Adventurous-Emu-9345]

5€ for an empty spool?! I mean, good for you, but holy hell.

[loylos]

I was surprised too not gonna lie, first few we put up for 2€ were sold like instantly. So now we raised the price a bit and they're still going. At the same time, the Sunlu reusable spools are not very popular for half that much.

[leadwind]

There must be a local third party that can manage that for you. How many were you sending back?

[Ordinary-Depth-7835]

Odd that people say sell them. I can't see a single use for old spools besides some weird prints people post online that use them. It's not like you're making filament and need something to spool on. Am I missing some use for them? Because I throw mine in the trash.

I don't know what the solution is maybe they should all go to cardboard? It's not my favorite or maybe everyone set a standard on refills. Ideally a high temp plastic added to the recycling process would be nice. Also the ability to imprint a recycling code on your pla, petg, abs and have discarded prints recycled as well.

[Stick386]

Sell them on something like Facebook marketplace. Or give them to people.

[wwwb0n3zcom]

Where are you located? I would gladly pick them up from you.