Filament price ranges on Amazon are a little annoying

[DennisT]

I'm just looking for more basic PLA at the moment. My Flashforge 5M Pro seems to come with a 'starter size' spool, and I'm already most of the way through it . But looking on Amazon for more filament, I'm amazed at the price differences with no real explanation of why. In particular I'm looking at some white PLA from Flashforge that's $57 (Cdn) for a half KG of white, $35 from Flashforge for a full KG of black, $22 from some company named Overture for a full KG of white, and $22 from Creality for 1 KG. All apparently with the same specs. WTH? And BTW, is there any reason I shouldn't be buying Creality for my Flashforge?

[airscapes]

Everyone wants you money.. Overture is decent and well priced. Esun is also my go to for PETG, I use very little PLA but have used Overture. There is no reason I would spend $57 for PLA..

[DennisT]

Thanks. I'm just starting out on 3D printing, and I'm still in the "Don't know what I don't know" stage, so I'm double-checking everything. I found a comment on reddit that as long as it's 1.75 mm PLA, it doesn't matter what brand, so I ordered some Creality. We'll see if my printer pukes up parts.

[VidJunky]

Granted I only print at work, but I use Grainger and feel like I get decent pricing.

As for why some may be more than others, some if it is the reel. If you can use Cardboard vs Plastic that's a little less expensive. Like so many other things, brand makes a difference. You'll find some that swear that this brand or that one has the lowest moisture content, has the best melt profile, or most consistent material. It is one of those subjective things. Again just for me, I go for low cost, and so far I haven't been let down yet. The only filament I've had issues with was some out of package Dremel filament that my predecessor opened 2 years earlier. Most of the videos I've watched say about a year in ideal conditions but they all agree the sooner you can use it once open the better. You can get a dehydrator if you plan to have multiple rolls open, or know you won't be using it that fast. Moisture kills filament. There are a ton of videos on YouTube, with tons of opinions and advice. Including filament comparisons.

This one for PLA is just 2 months old.
https://youtu.be/PGbsXkRFVJc?si=buovrKsE6pWjnxry

Best wishes and welcome to the community.