making money from 3d printing?

[cipher0]

Articles keep popping up on the internet that you can get your money spent on your 3d printer by selling your 3d prints and maybe even start a small business.
I don't own a 3d printer yet, but i have been researching this field and i see while the fun as a hobby is satisfying enough, i dont see how you could sell anything you 3d printed for profit.
Does anyone here sell his 3d prints for profit? What would that be?
Because lets look at an example from one of those articles:
Iphone cases. While there are some flexible filaments, how can even the highest resolution of modern 3d printers produce a case which looks aesthetically good? They have lines all over them and jagged edges. Not to mention the time it takes to print.

[jimc]

I have well beyond paid for my printer. I dont actually do any kind of printing svc for people but there are a few products i make using 3d printed parts.

[cipher0]

what would that be? I honestly cant think of anything.

[squadus]

Be creative. Use your imagination. You can literally manufacture anything with 3D printing
And be patient. The technology is only getting better.

[cipher0]

Be creative. Use your imagination. You can literally manufacture anything with 3D printing.

Oh, I am creative. I'm a 3d modeller and I can make some crazy things with a 3d printer when I get my hands on it. The problem is the resolution (quality) they print at. I mean here's some things I've thought: 1) sculptures/figures/toys - as I said, they have lines all over them and jagged edges, not pretty at all. Acetone baths and sandpaper make them look only slightly better from what I've seen. 2) cool design phone cases - same as above. Here you also have symmetry which makes acetone or sandpaper hard to use and keep it that way. (Can you even use these techniques with flexible filaments?) 3) jewelery - I know you can use a plastic print to make a sand mold, but the plastic print will have the same problems as above. And for jewelery you need it to look even more perfect. 4) holders/accessories for cameras/kinect/phones. Okay pretty sure some people won't mind the imperfections on the surface of these, even more if they can't find a not 3d printed version, but there isn't really a demand for this kind of stuff where I'm from. Almost nobody has a kinect, has or heard of things like GoPro. I might be lucky to sell 2-3 of these in a year, but that won't be close to covering the cost of my 3d printer or the filament.

I made some money for my own printer. Easilly made in the investment. Luckily i work with 3D-printers all day, so i dont have the need to run a small shop to continue playing with other printers.

At www.amid.se/shop you can find my camera stuff. They're cheap, but when you sell a bunch each month is good margin (since ABS/PLA/PETT is soo cheap).

That's cool. unfortunately like I said above where I'm from it will be hard to sell specialized stuff like these, I might be lucky to sell 2-3 of these in a year, but that won't be close to covering the cost of my 3d printer or even just the filament.

here are some gauges i make for older military generators. i have a company make me the guts then i design and print the plastic parts. laser cut the lenses and print the gauge faces. i also make the 3 black knobs on the control panel and some other parts for this thing as well.

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Cool. But looks like you use more than just a 3d printer for this job though.

[IanJohnson]

Cool. But looks like you use more than just a 3d printer for this job though.

A 3D printer can be the cornerstone of a digital workshop, but it isn't the whole workshop by itself. If you want to sell only things that can be produced in their entirety on the printer, then you are restricted to things that are made only of plastic. At the very least you might have to add some nuts and bolts. My printer has paid for itself through selling the FilaWinder which only has 5 printed parts, but it wouldn't be possible without those parts. I used it extensively in prototyping, and I'm working on building up a stock of the prints so I can sell them directly as an option for those that don't want to print their own. The rest of the kit includes electronics, laser cut wood, motors, nuts, bolts, etc.

The only tool I have is the printer, but I can produce the kit because someone else does the laser cutting, I buy the motors, and have the electronics produced and assembled for me. That is more complex than creating a chunk of plastic and selling it, but the potential for products and the amount you can charge is much greater. For a print-only product, the value will need to come from the fact that it is the only solution available for a particular problem, or far cheaper than available alternatives. Otherwise it's just trinkets. At the very least they will need to be trinkets that can't be molded and replicated through mass production because a printer can't compete with that.

[Steven]

This issue is ironic because it is only a matter of time when something falls into your lap that will change the way you might appreciate your own printer. I was like you, what applications could it serve and I'll take you on a different angle as to it's invaluable possibilities. If you are hung up on it's aesthetic characteristics or visually pleasing aspects then perhaps you could consider a more useful approach. I get the hobbyist likening his/her approach to being along the lines of jewelry, toys, etc. where obviously the cosmetic value plays important roles in a good print, however, in my case and that of jimc above mentioned, they can be practical for parts for a functional purpose. I happened to have a clip that goes on a FORD Truck snap on me. At first I went to the Forums about these model FORD's to see if it was common. Turns out this little bracket breaks all the time and hundreds of threads about this item and how to replace it filled the forum column after column. The cost of a replacement was only a factory item and was almost thirty dollars! They didn't sell the bracket separate, you had to buy the cable, bracket and adjuster dial altogether in one package. So, it gave me the idea to print just the plastic part and perhaps post my contact info on this forum to sell them as needed individually! I have paid for my printer three times over in a short period of time. I was even able to beef up the area that kept snapping by making it more rigid and beefy! Here is a short video and picture for my example. If you find something that is useful as a mechanical support of some sort you too can find a new applicable appreciation for your printer. Happy Printing! ~ StevenSteve's phone 375.jpg

[jimc]

here are some gauges i make for older military generators. i have a company make me the guts then i design and print the plastic parts. laser cut the lenses and print the gauge faces. i also make the 3 black knobs on the control panel and some other parts for this thing as well.

$_57.jpg$_57-1.jpg$_57-2.jpg

[AMID]

I made some money for my own printer. Easilly made in the investment. Luckily i work with 3D-printers all day, so i dont have the need to run a small shop to continue playing with other printers.

At www.amid.se/shop you can find my camera stuff. They're cheap, but when you sell a bunch each month is good margin (since ABS/PLA/PETT is soo cheap).

[jimc]

Yes there are 4 printed parts. Basically the whole gauge body itself and the bezel. The lens is lexan