5 Facts About 3D Printing For Profit Beginners Must Know

[@CheekyMiner]

Been printing for years but never as a business, more like the coworker who provides everyone with desk items for their phones and such but now just ordered a Bambu P1s to start a side line business and definitely will be looking into your membership plans to get started, thanks Sam.

[@KjetilAakvikGogstad]

I just have the one printer, an Ender 3 Pro I got for super cheap and have upgraded with a direct drive and some other needed parts. I designed a 3D model for something I wanted for myself, for my rc crawler, that people seemed interested in. So I figured I could sell some to make back some of the money I spent on materials and such, and every time I have posted some for sale, I have sold out in a matter of minutes. I haven't sold a lot of them yet, but enough that it has covered the cost of my printer, upgrades to the printer and materials used and that I have in store to make more. After production and other costs I'm left with 45 or so bucks per product, which I think is pretty decent. Enough so that I'm considering buying another printer to be able to double my production, which is only 14-15 or so a week at the moment. Who knew it could be that easy? :D

[@3dDesignBros]

Sounds like a great plan!

[@swdw973]

On the pictures. Selling used items on ebay showed me the difference. Once I started taking good pictures, processing them correctly, and giving interesting descriptions, I noticed I was making at least 50% more than others selling the same items, as I had way more bidders.

[@CreatingCreations]

I run a print farm, well more of a garden (only 3 printers in my college dorm room closet). What confuses me about your advice is encouraging people to use other people’s designs. For a business to be successful, you need to have a moat. Anyone can buy a printer and they aren’t hard to run. So if you don’t have your own designs, don’t you worry that lots of people are gonna invest a couple thousand dollars and all start selling the exact same things as each other and drive the prices down to nothing.

[@ForgottenLabyrinth]

He mentions that you need to license the designs.

[@3dDesignBros]

Great follow up comment! Two points: 1. Lots of people where "going" to do "alot" of things. I've found very few people actually pull the trigger and start anything. 2. In regards to using other people's designs or even my self licensing out my own designs. The best thing I can equate it to is a franchise system. People want others to do the work for them so if they can license out a catalog like mine with proven sales that they can get started with and then build beyond thats a great way for them to start. Lots of people sell subs, nothing hard about making a sub sandwich, yet there are more sub sandwich shops franchised then anything else. You just need to find your market. Maybe it's Etsy, maybe its not and it's local fairs, or amazon, etc..

[@swdw973]

@@3dDesignBros Not everyone has the talent or software knowledge to create something that sells. People that are good at parametric modeling, may not be good with more organic shaped object, and vice versa. This is where his suggestion comes in to play. To me, it's great advice.

[@CreatingCreations]

@@3dDesignBros Good points, essentially what you are saying is that making it as easy as possible for people to start at least gets them to start. And once they are already going, the challenge of establishing a moat becomes more attainable?

[@ltborg]

Your moat doesn’t have to be your product. You can have better customer service to your licensees in the form of customized designs or fast/better help getting the models to print. You could have a design style/language that you build so people associate it with you even if the models are being printed by several shops. And in the event that lots of people are printing your designs, lots of people will also be paying you a license fee…

[@ImpossibleLink]

I started off with a used cr10s in 2017. That machine allowed me to buy 1 printer at a time til I finally have a full rack of 9 printers. They just pay for them selves even as a hobby. I got to see the evolution of printers and learn all the ends and outs of the machines , Now with the x1c its truly the goat for the micro farm.

[@3dDesignBros]

Thats awesome, your living the dream!

[@bdmidget2010]

For the algorithm 🎉

[@alchemistprints]

All great info and I hate the print on the build plate look always dumb to me

[@Prof.Polymath]

£3 /hr !? I’ve got a screamer atm then, one of my mini makes at least £200/hr 😮 I just don’t sell that many units, so great advice to look at the higher priced items. With that I find though comes higher expectations on quality. Which many of those buying prints don’t actually know what to expect from 3d printing. I find higher priced items require more input than just the printer itself and often require a lot more finishing/refinement, those customers also expect a lot more from your service personally, so it’s a balance depending on the type of business you wish to run. Love the advice on pictures, no matter how good you think you are, there is always someone better, I need to improve mine so much so thank you for kicking me on this one. Great advice. 👏🏼

[@3dDesignBros]

Congrats on the the AWESOME PPH (Profit per Printing Hour)!

[@gladiatormechs5574]

i am making HUGE SIZE models... i am thinking of weighing the model and calculating the amount of PLA filament that each model uses.. Then placing a 5 times mark up on the model that it costs to make in the PLA.... 20 dollors per roll.. This markup counts for wear n tear and repair of the machines , electricity , boxing and my labor that will go into each model... Does this sound good or am i under or over pricing ?

[@3dDesignBros]

I think it's great to have a formula like that. You'll just need to determine if the end product is worth the price. I've had designs that I thought were great, but my cost was to high and people weren't willing to pay enough and I couldn't sell it for less. There was no market fit so I scraped it and moved on. It happens.

[@gladiatormechs5574]

@@3dDesignBros thank you.

[@BradleyMakesThings]

I’ve looked a lot of places for shipping materials and as much as I don’t love giving them so much business, for the sizes I need I’ve had great luck buying mailer boxes on Amazon. Way cheaper than uline typically, and I can buy in smaller quantities (ie $1.25 per box and 20pcs per bundle minimum vs $2-$2.50 per box with a minimum order of 100pcs plus paying for shipping with Uline). The uline boxes are typically made better, but the Amazon ones are definitely good enough and I haven’t had a single complaint about shipping damage. Other than that, like you said, local packaging companies can be a great resource. At my day job we order boxes by the truckload and it’s typically much cheaper than uline. Sometimes they’ll also stock our items for us so we don’t have to make as much room in our own warehouse.

[@3dDesignBros]

Yeah, I found its definitely worth pricing out everything. Sometimes you still can't beat Amazon.

[@hirampr21]

Since you have your own designs, do you had to go thru the process of trademark, copyright and or patent your designs? I'm about to start a 3d printing business with my own designs but I would like to know if its necesary to cover those 3 areas in order to avoid someone to steal my idea.

[@3dDesignBros]

I don't, lots of time and money. Also even if you have a trademark its still up to you to enforce it which is just more time and money.

[@7dedlysins193]

Any manufacturer recommendation for shipping materials?

[@3dDesignBros]

I use Nassco. They are based in WI, not sure how much of the country they service.

[@7dedlysins193]

@@3dDesignBros Thanks will look into it

[@BennyTygohome]

I like uline, but they are kinda pricy

[@7dedlysins193]

@@BennyTygohome Thanks bud. hopefully not kidney level

[@GenesisMoss]

I just wish I could get traffic in my shops (tiktok/etsy) online sales are almost impossible for me. At a con/market I sell like crazy

[@3dDesignBros]

I don't sell on Tiktok so I can't speak to it. But with Etsy, it's a numbers game. The more listings the better chances you'll have. Also using the appropriate keywords is important. If you can boost new listings with ads that helps too.

[@ibme396]

Photos are my weakness for sure.

[@earld1403]

Surprised that no one has mentioned the *FREE boxes that the USPS Post office will not only provide, but they will also ship them to you for FREE.* Of course, that means that you will have to send them via USPS but with fixed price shipping by weight, free insurance up to $100, free pickup and drop off and they ship to ALL addresses, they're a bargain.

[@3dDesignBros]

I've found that the cost to ship the "free" boxes is 2-3x my cost to purchase a box, packing supplies, and pay for the USPS ground shipping.

[@earld1403]

​@@3dDesignBros What are you shipping - Car Engines on a Pallet? Please show me an ACTUAL example of 2-3x cost or I call BS. Sending the same 5lb package in a plain box with dimensions of 5"w x 5"h x 10" long that weighs 5 lbs from Atlanta (30236) to Alabama (Zip 35613) *costs: $9.30 via US Postal Service Priority Mail versus $13.63 via UPS Ground.* And USPS Priority mail will get there in 3 days. *To get there as fast using UPS would cost $23.22 !* If I use the USPS Provided *Free* Flat Rate shipping box, *my cost is only $8.35* For this price I get FREE Boxes, Pickup at my house, Insurance and Tracking. Show me different!

[@earld1403]

@@3dDesignBros Another Example: Sending the same 20lb package in a plain box with dimensions of 10"w x 10"h x 20" long that weighs 20 lbs from Atlanta (30236) to Alabama (Zip 35613) costs: *$18.70 via US Postal Service Priority Mail versus $18.77 via UPS Ground or $30.20 via UPS 3 day service.* Again: with USPS I get Free Boxes, Free Pickup at my location, Tracking and Insurance Clearly you haven't used the US Postal Service in quite a while. They now offer Commercial rates to even the smallest shippers. (All prices are from the USPS or UPS web sites)

[@3dDesignBros]

My best-selling products ship in a 10"x4"x4" box. Which means I'd be using the Medium flat Flat Box. The cost to ship that from WI to KY ( not super close, but not super far either, good sampling distance I think) is $17.10 using the USPS Flat Rate Box. My supplier gets me a 10"x4"X4" for $0.42. I use Honeycomb expanding paper for about $.05 worth per package (I'd end up using more of this with the flat rate box because there would be a lot more empty space in those boxes). I can ship USPS Ground, anywhere from $3.85 - $5 depending on how far it's going. We'll average to $4.50. Bringing my total cost to $4.97. Making the flat rate option above ~3.4x the cost. Keep in mind I'm selling 3D-printed Parts. They are light. The real advantage of the flat rate is its' whole "If its fits, it ships". If I was shipping heavier things MAYBE it would be better but I wouldn't assume it to be. Also, USPS will pick up anything at your door for free, doesn't have to be the flat rate boxes. I leave piles of brown boxes outside my door and they will come get them for free. You are also starting with the assumption that I have to send everything priority service. If that's what you want to do that's fine, but that's a choice you are making as there are less expensive alternatives out there like the USPS Ground which we use and our customers have been happy with it because it keeps their shipping cost down.

[@earld1403]

@@3dDesignBros What's your secret for getting UPS shipping because even with volume discounts I've never seen UPS ship anything for less than $9 (Serious question - I'm always searching for the best shipping prices) What zip codes are you using and what weight because the USPS and UPS online calculators are showing *VERY* different prices than what you are saying unless you are comparing USPS Priority mail to UPS Ground service. *For example: a 10"x4"x4" Standard box weighing 1 lbs from WI Zip code 53186 TO KY Zip code 40383 costs: USPS Ground: $6.76 versus UPS Ground: $9.89*

[@jaylawvlogs264]

I’d sell the minis and buy a P1p and add an enclosure.

[@3dDesignBros]

The Minis don't get used much anymore. I tried selling one but the secondary market for printers seems to be getting smaller.

[@Bspired]

you can get free boxes from the post office.

[@3dDesignBros]

You can but they will be priority boxes which you'll then over pay for shipping. You'll end up paying $4-$5 more on shipping to save $0.50-$1 on boxes.

[@Bspired]

@@3dDesignBros flip them inside out, and they arent priority boxes anymore.

[@flaekingr5109]

You forgot to mention that the $10 a month only gets me 6 models a month. Not much use for someone setting up a store.

[@3dDesignBros]

Like all businesses things evolve. This Video was posted 9 months ago and we have had a lot of growth which has been great. It also means more bad actors. In an effort to keep people from signing up, taking all the models and illegally distributing them we hade to make changes to make that harder to do.

[@flaekingr5109]

@@3dDesignBros and your solution was to make signing up to your service the least attractive option when compared with your competition? It's a shame, this video got me excited to jump on board.

[@victormuresan8239]

With " you don't have to own the designs you sell" I ABSOLUTELLY disagree! Manufacturing is easy, the idea of design and the design is the money. It's all wrong, if not by some laws or rules, than morally. I'm pretty sure most - if not all - would disagree with me, but this is what I see right.

[@3dDesignBros]

I obviously don't condone anyone stealing designs and selling them. If someone like myself sells a license to their designs and someone purchases that license and sells them. I can't see how there is any moral issue there.