3D Printing Business - Could it be profitable?

[LambdaFF]

Have you considered going to businesses straight away ? I mean, a lot of small companies would have the need for it but they don't have the "expertise" to handle it.

[mkapras]

Larry,

I'm in South Florida and I was considering doing the same thing - a physical store front. Where are you located?

[Eddie]

Larry,

I'm in South Florida and I was considering doing the same thing - a physical store front. Where are you located?

Hey mkapras, I am from South Florida as well. I am located in Cape Coral. Where are you?

[GeoM528]

3D printing is an ideal business; however you have to consider lots of factors before engaging in this kind of venture. One sure thing to market your prototype creations is through an online shop. This is what I did when started 3D printing custom made stuff like photo frames, miniature toys and kitchenware. Through the Internet, I found my filament supplier which is 3D2print, 3D designing software and 3D printing marketplace such as Shapeways and i.materialise.

[g0t0]

I have put a lot of thought into wanting to make this a business, also. I honestly think it can work anywhere, for the RIGHT PRICE. I think a lot of people havent bought one due mainly to 3 reasons: 1) never seen one in action. 2) Not sure what they would use it for. 3) WAY to pricey to gamble on. Anyone looking to make it a business will have to CREATE a market for it, and I think it can be done. I think a lot of people would buy a 3d printer if 1) it's around $500 AND 2) they know if something goes wrong, theres a place they can take it to to get it fixed. If I buy a $1000 !UP and its not running right, getting it fixed will take at least 10 days because i have to ship it out and wait for it to come back.

My plan is build a printer that prints 5x5x5, PLA only (eliminating a hotbed), thats simple in design and easy to fix any part quickly. after MONTHS of looking at designs, I came to the conclusion that the Felix 3d printer was the best one. Not only is the frame so simple I could cut them myself, but I could get to any part and replace it quickly. I even thought of a flat charge of $60 to troubleshoot and replace any part, 75$if its the mainboard. FLAT fee's would help the customer know what it cost up front. and other than the mainboard, replacing anything would probably take only 45 min tops. Heck, I would bring along a working printer as a loaner, so I can fix it at home.

My main stumbling block is 2 things. 1) I'm really new to 3d printers. I built a Rostock Max and I'm having issues with the damn thing since I've had it. I going to buy a FlashForge one (hopefully more reliable) AND 2) I'm looking for a mainboard thats cheap and has or can have a SDcard slot added to it. I firmly believe the printer has to have this for the normal consumer to buy it.

Oh yea, I forgot to put in you should look at creating a website that is like thingiverse, but with files that would work on your printer.

In closing, my real reason chiming in was for help in figuring out the best/cheapest/reliable(at least 6months) mainboard to use on the printer. PLEASE chime in on my thoughts!

[TesseractDzyn]

If you ever get up near Jacksonvillem, you should check out a company called Forge (http://www.forgejax.com/). It's the first brick-and-mortal dedicated 3D printing place I've seen.

Overall, I'm hoping to be able to make a go of 3D printing as a business myself. I had originally thought it would be a sidelight to my 5-month old architecture/BIM, but I find I enjoy 3D printing more than anything else, and I hope to make a go of it. It's been a slow start, but I was expecting this. Actually, I think that providing design services for 3D printed items will probably be the really profitable part of the business, but that remains to be seen.

Keeping my fingers crossed, and having fun in the process!

-Crawford

[mkapras]

Eddie - I'm on the east coast, Delray Beach.

I've been collecting websites for physical 3d Printing stores. Some of them are already opening up their second and third locations. There are stores in Denver (they opened 2nd location), Chicago, Jacksonville (mentioned above), Burlington VT (no major city there!), Baltimore, Oakland (opening 2nd store). But as you say, location seems important as most of these are big cities. Not sure how having a physical location would work out in a small-ish town. It might be a better idea to stay web-only for now until 3d printing becomes a bit more mainstream.

[nafr29]

Greetings,
i'm really glad I'm stumbled across this post. I am looking to go into a business using 3d printers, but wanted to test run some builds. I am a total "noob" and hopefully you could offer some insight into the 3d printing world. I would of course pay you for time and materials. My email is nafr29@gmail.com. I am located in south florida as well.

[LambdaFF]

Greetings,
i'm really glad I'm stumbled across this post. I am looking to go into a business using 3d printers, but wanted to test run some builds. I am a total "noob" and hopefully you could offer some insight into the 3d printing world. I would of course pay you for time and materials. My email is nafr29@gmail.com. I am located in south florida as well.

If yo uwant stuff printed close to you : go to 3DHubs.

[3ddrucker]

Of course it is possible to make a living with 3d printing.
But you will have to attract companies (for example architects) and print on demand. Just printing any objects and selling them will make no sence. You need to offer a very professional service with 3D scanning and 3D printing.