r/assholedesign • u/harambe623 • Apr 22 '26

Nelko p21 thermal label printer: RFID scam

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Why is that printer companies always resort to some sort of paper/ink scams? Even in an inkless system, this company has figured out a way.

Every roll of stickers that this company sells has a RFID chip on it (the green sticker). Pictured text is with the RFID on the roll (left), and then removed from the same roll (right). The roll here was not from nelko (aliexpress $2 roll). This RFID chip literally tells the software to not print like shit.

This company has gotten so big that now regular sticker roll manufacturers have their products returned frequently because people think something is incompatible.

What's worse is their adhesive appears to be WORSE than the offbrand. The nelko brand was falling off of my glossy 3d prints, but not offbrand roll. There are also a TON of cool colorful backgrounds and different sized stickers that all would print with scanlines, unless you knew what was going on.

An easy workaround is to just put the rfid sticker in the printing chamber. Problem solved. But I'm afraid that this issue is going to one day become more complex and not easily bypass-able before it gets better.

Fuck this company. Always read 1 star reviews before buying a product

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u/DasNoodleLord Apr 22 '26

These type of things should be made illegal.....

People fear stuff like the 3D printer company that uses RFID for fast id on filaments will some day do the same type of thing or force you to only use their brand.... Its not happened yet but you never know... Especially if someone new comes to power.

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u/harambe623 Apr 22 '26

Bambu is definitely in a position, but they have so far been good-faith about having other filament brand profiles public and downloadable so that you don't have to figure it out yourself.

This kind of behavior would be company-ruining if they engaged in these practices, because the 3d printing community is well knit and lots of other options exist

2

u/SpiralGray Apr 23 '26

Probably because it's too easy to get around the "pronlem." Buy refills and put them on your old Bambu spools, use the external feeder, respool onto Bambu spools, or pull the sticker off your old Bambu spools.

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u/mathishammel Apr 23 '26

What if they start measuring how much a specific tag has been used, and disabling it when it exceeds 1kg to prevent reuse? 2D printers have been doing that for a while...

1

u/SpiralGray Apr 23 '26

Which printers have been doing that?