In terms of maintenance, there’s not much a MakerBot needs to stay happy:
What did I miss? How often do you do these things?
A few days ago I posted about a RepRap Mendel for sale on eBay with all electronics, motors, belts, etc fully assembled. 1 The auction (for a set sold in Ireland) settled at 760.00 Euros or about $1,017.18 USD.
Frankly, I would have thought it would have sold for more. Printed parts are still selling in the $300-$450 range, electronics clocking in at $250 or so, bearings at $50, and all the other bits probably costing another $100 for belts, rods, nuts, bolts. This means just the materials would cost $700 – $800. Then there’s the delay and extra expense of sourcing all of the parts for yourself.
Interestingly, I had thought the bottom had fallen out of the RepRap printed parts eBay market. However, a set of printed Mendel parts just sold on eBay for $455 on April 5. I suspect the difference is that these parts are being generated and sold in the US which makes for an easier and slightly cheaper transaction