Used 3D Printer Marketplaces Taking Off

With surveys having found that many firms are holding off on purchases of 3D printers due to high initial costs, what do you think about the idea of purchasing the technology on the rapidly emerging used equipment market? Some 37% of those companies have just a single 3D printer in production, but 18% say they own 10 or more and the average number of printers per organization was 5.4. It's said that 3D printing technology can reduce the cost of finished products by more than 4%. Read more about the options and the emerging used market here: http://3dprint.com/29700/used-3d-printer-market/ ‎


Below is a pie chart from Gartner's study detailing companies' primary uses of 3D printers:
http://3dprint.com/wp-content/upload...r-3d-print.png

Like any other product, a used market will spur the whole industry. For one, it allows smaller entities (companies or individuals) to get the hardware they otherwise couldn't afford to buy and enter the space. For another, it reduces the total cost of ownership for those that buy new because they no longer have to sit on an outdated machine that is no longer doing what they need. A flourishing used market allows for those older machines to be sold, recouping some of the initial cost. Combined, those factors result in more products being used which means more materials, parts, and service is/are needed to keep those machines in use. Manufacturers grow because older machines are being sold in favor of the new model instead of being run to destruction which helps spur demand for new machines. Support and supplies companies grow because more machines are out there needing their services and products. Basically everyone benefits.

One problem with this is that some companies consider the software that makes these machines work to be a licensed product, so that even if you buy the machine, you aren't necessarily buying the license to the software. The open-source software that powers most of the low-end hobbyist machines isn't a problem, but the proprietary software that industrial machines use certainly could be. It seems that while everyone might benefit to some degree from an open marketplace in used 3D printers, these companies might think they'd benefit more from keeping older machines off the market, so they can sell more of their newer ones.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

I don't disagree with that at all. Hopefully unlike a lot of other money hungry morons out there the 3d printer manufacturer's will recognize that a healthy used marketplace is a benefit to the new market and doesn't represent lost sales.

I think that at some point 3D Printing will shift away from the concentration on the hardware only and even more on the software. Companies like 3YOURMIND (http://3yourmind.com) that already shift away from only working on your machine, but allow you to optimize your model for either printing on your own printer or connecting directly to major 3d printing service providers.