JasonF

I have not seen any of this in any of the rolls that I have. It still feels as flexible to me as it did when new. If anyone is interested and serious about buying I would be willing to send a sample cut from the roll. That way you can decide for yourself if the vinyl will work for your needs.

Hello all, I have some Orafol Oracal vinyl that I want to get rid of. I bought it planning to use it, but never did. Some of it is still in the original plastic wrapping. The rest has been used slightly, but in great shape still. The table below shows the estimated amount that is left on the roll. I got the amount by weighing the existing roll, and dividing that by the original weight. For example, the 951 30" x 50 yard rolls weight about 20.5 lbs new. The black roll now weights 16.5 lbs. So 16.5/20.5 = 80% The pro-rated price is based on the amount remaining on the roll. The discounted price is an additional 20% off. Please let me know what roll/s you are interested in. I will also add shipping cost which will be determined by your location. See attached images for pictures of each roll.

I didn't realize that. The vinyl all still appears to be in great shape, and still has good adhesion. I will give a better deal if anyone is interested.

Sorry didn't mean to leave that out. I just checked my old emails. The vinyl was ordered 08/13/2013. So yes it is about 4 years old now.

Also I have a Copam 4050 cutter that I would sell. If you are interested in that also please let me know.

I received a refurbished 48" Copam from fedex yesterday. My first impression was not too good. The box was very flimsy cardboard, and all wrinkled up, and even crushed in a few areas. I then opened the box to find pretty poor packaging. There was only a few pieces of styrofoam to protect the whole cutter. No bubble wrap or even foam peanuts. It seems pretty strange to me that such an expensive product is shipped with such minimal packaging and protection. I have attached pictures so you can see what I mean. So I moved passed the poor packaging and removed the Copam. Overall it looked to be in good shape. The only problem I saw was a nick in one of the end caps, and it was missing a screw. I expected a little cosmetic damage so I again moved passed this. I then plugged the cutter in and turned the switch on....and nothing. The Copam would not turn on at all. So I called USCutter to explain the problem. I was told that they would send me a new power supply, and I would have to change the part myself. This seems like a pretty poor solution to me. It's not like this part is just located on the outside of the machine, and will take a minute or two to change. I now have to take apart the whole machine, remove this part, and install the new one. I am mechanically inclined, so I should be okay with this, but what about people that are not? How are they supposed to fix the machine they just received in the mail the day before? I find it pretty outrageous that I have to disassemble the machine I just paid $1300 for, and never even used one time. If I wanted to do that I could have probably found a broken Copam online and just rebuilt it myself, and probably paid a fraction of the price. But instead I ordered from a company that I trusted would sell me a working machine. So now what if during the dis-assembly a part or wire breaks? I am pretty sure I will be held responsible since it broke while I was working on the machine, and that will be more money and time I have to spend FIXING this machine, instead of using it for the purpose I bought it for. Then when I asked if I could have either next day, or second day shipping on the new part, I was told they can only send it ground like everything else. So despite the fact that I have waited a week to receive my machine, I now won't even be able to attempt to fix it until next week when the new part gets here. So maybe I might be able to use it in another week, that is if I can even get it working. Sorry for the long post. I am just pretty angry with this whole thing. I understand problems can happen when purchasing refurbished products, but I did not expect to be fixing the problem myself. I would have thought they would just send a new one.

Well the copam is fine for what I need. I also have experience with that machine so I wanted to stick with what I know for now. Plus the Roland or graphtec in the same size is more than I can afford. Maybe one day I can upgrade to one of those.

I know I bought refurbished, but it was stated that this same policy applies to new machines as well. So that was where my point came from. And yes I would have felt the same way about the policy even if my machine arrived perfect. I would still not think it's a fair policy. But that is just my opinion. If someone is happy fixing a product they just purchased, then I applaud them. I do not share that thought, however.

I don't know if those terms are for ebay only products, but that clause is no where on the USCutter website, unless I am missing it. I understand I do not have proof that the machine was not working when it left USCutter. I probably should not have made that claim. All I am saying is that a machine that arrives dead should be handled differently than a machine that has problems after some time. I completely understand not shipping these machines back and forth every time something goes wrong. It is much more cost effective to send just the part. If this machine worked great for a few months, and then suddenly the power supply went bad, I would have no problem with USCutter sending me a new part, and changing it myself. But when an item is purchased that is supposed to be in full working condition, that will be the expectation. If the item arrives dead the company should do what is necessary to fix the problem. If you purchased a brand new car and had it delivered to your door, and suddenly it wouldn't start when you received it, would you be happy if the dealer sent you the part and told you to fix it yourself? Or would you want them to take the car back, fix it, and provide you with what you paid for? I understand this policy is stated on the website, but in my opinion this is not a fair way to handle things. I just believe that a warranty claim (a product that went bad after some time), and a dead on arrival product should be handled differently.

I disagree that refurbished and used carry the same risk level. I'm sure if you called uscutter they would tell you they're refurbished machines carry no risk. I also understand that things can go wrong sometimes. I did not make this thread because I was unhappy about receiving a bad machine. I made it because I was unhappy about having to rebuild a machine that I just received and never once powered on. A customer should never have to fix a product that just came in and never worked from the start. That should be an automatic replacement.

A new 48" Copam is $1500, and the refurb is $1225. The stand is $60, so even with the purchase of a stand the savings is still $215. But I am going to make my own stand, and I anticipate the cost of that to be around $25. So the savings is $250, which is pretty good to me. I went with a 48" because I would like to leave the option open to get into tint. I don't want to be limited to the size of things I can make. However, I do realize most of the time I will only need 24". I just wanted to have the flexibility. There is something I would like to clear up though. Refurbished products should not come with any risk. A refurbished product is something that was previously used, and then rebuilt using new parts to return the product to the same condition as a new product. So in essence, a refurbished unit should work exactly the same as a new product. Now I did know that a refurbished unit may have cosmetic defects, which I am fine with. Now the difference is buying a used product in "as is" condition, that has not been refurbished. This is when a level of risk is assumed. For example, if I just went on Ebay and bought a used Copam, then I would just have to take the sellers word for the condition of the product, and that is where the risk comes from. But when something is said to be refurbished, than the implication is that the machine was rebuilt using new parts, and in the same working order as a brand new unit. Now obviously that was not the case with my unit, and I suppose whomever is in charge of quality control is to blame for that, and that is something USCutter needs to work on. But at the end of the day they fixed their mistake. So hopefully the next machine is as advertised.

Okay so I just called USCutter back, and they did agree to send me another unit. The gentleman I spoke with this time agreed that I should not have to fix a unit that I just received. This makes me feel much better about the company as a whole. I understand things can go wrong, and faulty units can still be shipped out, but it's nice to know that the company is willing to do what is necessary to make things right. Now hopefully the next one arrives in working condition. I will keep you guys updated with the status of the next cutter.

I agree that I am at fault for not fully reading the terms. I just cannot understand how anyone can think sending me a part to fix my unit that arrived broken is acceptable. I don't agree that there should be a risk of receiving a non-working product. This is not a cheap product, and the expectation to receive a working product is not unreasonable.

I watched the video that came with the software. The packaging on that unit was much better. But like I said, the packaging was just the first issue that gave me a bad impression. I would have never even made this post if everything was fine after that. What really annoys me is that I have to fix a machine that arrived dead. To me this is not a warranty claim. A warranty claim is when a product that was originally working starts having trouble after some time. A product that arrives dead is simply a faulty product, and should not be dealt with as a warranty issue. Again, I should not have to do their job for them and fix something that should have never been broken yet.

That makes sense about the peanuts. But I still think bubble wrap should have been used. I guess I missed that part about the warranty only being replacement parts. I suppose that's my fault for not fully reading. I don't feel that is an acceptable solution for a product that arrived dead. That may be a fair solution to a product that died after a year, but when it arrives like this, I am simply doing their job for them and fixing what they should have. I thought the same thing about the tested sticker. I highly doubt a power supply went bad in the shipping process. I am quite confident that someone just assumed this thing should be working and saved some time by slapping the sticker on.

Second picture of the box.

Hello all, I am looking for some advice on possibly making and selling some decals from home. I do have a pretty good amount of experience with vinyl. We have a Copam 48" at my job right now, and I have been working with that for the past year and a half. I have made all kinds of things from very small and detailed, to quite large lettering and images. So now I am thinking of getting a Copam for myself, and trying to sell some stuff from home. I am wondering if there is any real money to be made by working in such a way. I will also be a full time student, which makes it hard to have a regular full time job, so cutting vinyl on my off time would be perfect for me. I am just wondering if it would be worth the investment. Since I wouldnt have a store, would I absolutely need a website? How does everyone else fair that only works from home as a side job? Thanks in advance for any advice or help you guys can provide.

This is awesome advice! I had not thought about clubs and such. I will definitely look into this more. There are a lot of bike nights and car shows around my area so that could work out pretty well. Thanks for the tip, I really appreciate it. It's good to hear someone from the same background as me is doing well with this. Thanks to all the other as well for the replies. This thread makes me feel a lot more confident in taking the plunge and buying a plotter. I just did two huge logos for my best friends dads plumbing company. The first one went on the bed topper to his pickup truck, and the second covers the entire side of his E350 van. I did these free of charge because they are good friends of mine, and also since we had a ton of 48" vinyl laying around work. But I would imagine I could have made a few hundred bucks off these two jobs.

I am going to be purchasing a Copam 48" in the very near future. I am trying to decide if I should go with a new or refurbished unit. A new unit is $1550 and refurbished is $1300, both with the 3 year warranty. What do you guys think I should go with? Is there any reason to spend the extra $250 on a new unit when they have the same warranty? I don't mind some cosmetic defects here and there, as long as everything on the refurbished unit works absolutely as good as new. Are the functional parts on the refurbished units replaced with new parts, for example, the motor, cut strip, belt, things of that nature, or are they reused if it still works? Thanks guys.

Thanks for the tips. I am definitely getting a stand with it. I use signblazer at work, and already have that on my home laptop. So all good so far. Just need the cutter now!

I do plan on making a facebook page at the very least. That is easy enough to do. How do you go about getting a free or cheap wesbite? Do you make it yourself, or are there some providers that do it for you?

It would definitely be nice to get a graphtec or roland, but I just can't justify spending that much for my first machine. I don't even know how well sales will go yet. I am pretty well set on the Copam at this point. It is what I am used to and know how to use. I have actually done some quite small and very detailed work on the Copam. Some of the very detailed stuff required "babysitting" the machine while it cut, and pausing to fix any areas where the vinyl was coming up. But anyway I definitely like the Copam. At this point I am just trying to see if there is any reason to go with new over refurb. I also forgot to include that the refurb doesn't come with a stand. So that adds another $60. and puts the new one at $190 more than refurb.

I did read that thread, as well as another one where a customer had an issue with a refurb. Both threads that I read were also resoloved by the USC customer support. So it seems that if something were to come in wrong, the customer service does work to resolve the error. I know a lot of people only like to come online and post when they have a bad experience with something, and not mention anything when things go well. So I am thinking this is probably the case here as well. Most people don't really make a thread about recieving a refurb product that was in perfect condition. So there are threads about refurb products that weren't in good shape, but can some of you guys post your good experience with any refurb products?

Thanks for the replies and advice guys. I guess I should have mentioned that my current employer is the US Navy, so doing contract work for them isn't really an option. I will be getting out in about a month actually. We have a copam here that we use to make stencils for aircraft, so that is how I learned. I do plan on putting a logo on my car as well as some family members. It is good to hear that you guys all do well without a website. So I guess the general consesus on here is that it would be worthwhile for me to get a plotter and work from home? I am just looking for something to generate some income while I am in school. This question may not be appropriate, and please let me know if so, but can I ask what the average income is for you guys that do this as a side job from home? I am just trying to get an idea of what kind of returns I can expect. Thanks for the help so far guys.

Thanks for the replies guys. So it seems that a lot of people get business from word of mouth alone. So I'm guessing the majority of people that work from home do not have a website? I know it could only help, but I don't think I can afford the cost of a website in the begining.