making money from 3d printing?

[RAMTechRob]

Its best to start with making something better that you are interested in. Do you have any hobbies? I enjoy Radio Control cars, and will be making alot of things for sale that don't need to be shiny and perfect, but are needed to make things better.

[3dfilemarket.com]

Hi, the way to go with 3dprinting is with digital downloads. I set up the 3dfilemarket.com after cubify took down their open marketplace as I had over 80 designs on cubify that had a few hundred paid downloads. When they closed their marketplace I had no where to host my designs so I decided to set up my own website and people are downloading. Check out the accessories section of the site and you will see some nice iphone cases with excellent finishes if printed on a good printer. I have a solidoodle 2 printer and with a heated metal print bed with kapton tape. This gives an amazing surface finish.......

[barto]

you might be able to offer your 3D printer as a service to print others designs. theres a few places locally that have makerbots where you could get your files printed but if i owned one, i would offer it as a service too to help pay for the printer.

[cipher0]

If you don't like the lines, use thinner layers.

It's not that *I* don't like the lines, I mean I don't think anyone and not just me would be willing to buy an iphone case, a figure, etc. with even their design of choice because it will look so unfinished. And finishing methods I'm familiar with, sanding and acetone vapor from what I've seen won't improve it much (look like any other phone case or figure made with professional tools), not to mention I don't think sanding will work for rubbery filaments used more for things like phone cases.

Its best to start with making something better that you are interested in. Do you have any hobbies? I enjoy Radio Control cars, and will be making alot of things for sale that don't need to be shiny and perfect, but are needed to make things better.

Thanks for your reply, but I think your example is similar toAMID's example, to which I replied that pretty sure some people won't mind the imperfections on the surface of these stuff, even more if they can't find a not 3d printed version, but there isn't really a demand for these kind of stuff where I'm from. 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.

Hi, the way to go with 3dprinting is with digital downloads. I set up the 3dfilemarket.com after cubify took down their open marketplace as I had over 80 designs on cubify that had a few hundred paid downloads. When they closed their marketplace I had no where to host my designs so I decided to set up my own website and people are downloading. Check out the accessories section of the site and you will see some nice iphone cases with excellent finishes if printed on a good printer. I have a solidoodle 2 printer and with a heated metal print bed with kapton tape. This gives an amazing surface finish.......

Hi there 3dfilemarket.com. I'm not sure I understand. You mean I can sell 3d models on the internet instead of printing them and selling physical versions, but then isn't the person buying it going to print with the same imperfections because he's using a similar FFF printer? So why will he buy 3d models of such things whose point is to look pretty (phone case, figure, etc) if they won't look good when printed with their 3d printers?

you might be able to offer your 3D printer as a service to print others designs. theres a few places locally that have makerbots where you could get your files printed but if i owned one, i would offer it as a service too to help pay for the printer.

This might just work actually. But there are people who offer such service with a more precise CNC machines already. And won't the customers be dissatisfied from the quality of the model? I think that should really matter for designers.
And again this is a problem because from what I've heard from the CNC guys from my town, the demand for such a thing is really low.
But thank you for the idea. I'll keep it in mind, though I don't think it's enough "guarantee" for me to spend my savings on a 3d printer.

[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.

[cipher0]

IanJohnson, again, it is cool that you can use 3d printed parts for some equipment you sell, like jimc. But you make it sound like parts for professional or hobbyist equipment is the only thing that are made of plastic and can be sold. At this point im just repeating myself. Sure, for those kind of stuff the finishing of the plastic might not be a worry for the buyer, but everything else which you can make with plastic (and btw you're not really limited to plastic because you can make molds) is something which needs to look good (as in smooth and high res), doesn't it? If not, please tell me what aren't. because that's why I started this thread.
But please don't give another example of using a 3d printer for an existing job. I already understand that's a good option, but if you have a job like that where you could make use of your 3d printer.

[papabur]

I profited 200$ last week from prototyping business card stands...its easier then you might imagine...just got to be creative.

[Jacobito]

You can make money with 3D printing! For example: create an account in 3D marketplace site and sell your 3D objects. Try www.threeding.com. It's a new one, but they offer really good terms. For example they took only 8% commission. I made some bucks selling there.

And the other thing - YES at the moment resolution isn't good. But the technology will only get better. Just have a little patience.

[4Unow]

you might be able to offer your 3D printer as a service to print others designs. theres a few places locally that have makerbots where you could get your files printed but if i owned one, i would offer it as a service too to help pay for the printer.

3DHubs might be a good site to try out. They allow you to let others in your area use your 3D printer to print out their designs. You of course charge for this service. It's a way to utilize your printers to make a few bucks.

[Davo]

If you don't like the lines, use thinner layers.

It's not that *I* don't like the lines, I mean I don't think anyone and not just me would be willing to buy an iphone case, a figure, etc. with even their design of choice because it will look so unfinished. And finishing methods I'm familiar with, sanding and acetone vapor from what I've seen won't improve it much (look like any other phone case or figure made with professional tools), not to mention I don't think sanding will work for rubbery filaments used more for things like phone cases.

Let me rephrase then: use thinner layers.