Printing Money: How Your 3D Printer Can Help You Earn Extra Cash From Home
Are you looking to make a little extra cash from the comfort of your home? Look no further than your 3D printer! With the increasing popularity of 3D printing technology, more and more people are discovering that they can use their 3D printers to create a variety of products that can be sold for profit. Whether you're a hobbyist or a business owner, there are plenty of opportunities to make money with your 3D printer.
In this post, we’ll look at what you need to get started and what it takes to be successful.
Prusa Print Farm
Choosing The Right Printer
This all comes down to what your needs will be. Will you be printing large models? What level of detail do you need? Will you be printing in high-temp engineering-grade filaments? Do the models contain organic shapes with overhangs requiring support and aggressive cooling? How simple is the design - will it take hours to print? Do you need 1 printer or 10?
You might get away with a couple of stock Ender 3’s to serve as your print farm depending on your needs. Or you might need a few large-format printers with upgraded hotends and cooling to produce your parts. I’ll go over some of the best options to get you started, some cheap and some expensive:
Creality Ender 3
The Ender 3 is one of the most popular printers in the world. They’re cheap, simple, have a ton of mods available, and have a huge community behind them. In their stock form, they won’t be winning any speed races but they will still cross the finish line.
With the right tuning and proper maintenance, you should be able to produce prints that rival those of machines that cost 5 times as much.
Price - $236.00 USD
Crealtiy CR-10
CR-10 - Another printer from Creality, this large(r) format printer is basically just an oversized Ender 3. They offer about the same advantages/disadvantages of the Ender. With this printer, you can print models like helmets and props in a single piece rather than having to separate them.
Price - $314.99 USD
Prusa i3 MK3S+
The MK3S+ is a very popular and respected printer in the community. It comes stock with a bunch of high-quality parts which make it a very reliable printer. It includes auto-bed levelling, magnetic build sheet, IR filament sensor, and a genuine E3D V6 hotend.
It comes as a completely disassembled kit though so you might spend a day or two (or more) assembling and tuning it.
Price: $869.75 USD
Bambu Lab X1-Carbon
This is the high-end option that has received a ton of amazing reviews and a pile of tech and consumer awards that should help you understand the price. It’s filled with a ton of high-tech features and it might be one of the only serious 3D printers out there that will let you start printing 1 hour after it arrives on your doorstep.
Let’s not forget that the X1 supports multi-color printing which will give you a huge advantage when it comes to the looks of your models.
Price: $1,449.00 USD
I’ve only focused on FDM printers and completely skipped over resin printers. The average resin printer is great for small models that require high detail like figurines or busts that will be painted. They aren’t a great option for scaling a small business as they require a lot more post-processing and create a lot of fumes and can get quite messy.
We have a full guide on resin 3D printing which you can read here.
Deciding What Models To Sell
There are 2 paths you can go here, either selling pre-made models that someone else made or selling your own designs. Each has its own pros and cons. We’ll get into pre-made models first.
Pre-Made Models
This is usually the first and most obvious option that 3D printing hobbyists choose. There are quite literally hundreds of thousands of free models out there but just being free doesn’t give you access to sell them.
The first, and most important, question that you must ask yourself when you find a model to sell is “am I legally allowed to?”. If you look on Thingiverse or Printables, you’ll see the licensing on the model details page. This controls how and where you are able to use the models. The majority come with a Creative Commons License which means you are not allowed to make a profit from the sale of those models. A design is an intellectual property and unauthorized use could land you in some legal trouble.
There are a few options out there for finding models that you can sell:
Find the proper license - There are a few licenses that allow you to sell them. You’ll have to do a search on each for the proper license.
Ask the designer - Sometimes it’s as simple as asking if you can sell their printed designs. You might be surprised by the answer.
Buy the model - When you purchase files, you are purchasing the design as well as the license to sell it. This isn’t true for all models, read the fine print.
Join a Patreon - There are a ton of options out there that provide a big library of high-quality models as well as the license to sell.
After you figure out the licensing, you need to decide on what you want to print and sell. This should ultimately be something that is in high demand and is easy to print. This will require some market research to find the perfect model.
Here’s a list of sites that have free models.
For Patreons, there are a ton out there so you will have to find one that has models that you think will sell. I’ll be making a post soon that highlights some of the best out there. For now, take a look at our recent article listing The Best Resources For 3D Printed Cosplay - Read Here.
Selling Your Own Designs
This is the tougher option to get into but better in the long run. What you need to do is find a niche market and dominate it. Find a problem that people have and solve it for them. This could be a functional accessory to an appliance that everyone has or a replacement part that is hard to get. The list here is endless.
To create your own designs you have to either learn to 3D model or hire someone else to model them for you. So you either have to invest your time or your money. If you enjoy 3D modeling then I think this is the best choice. Creating things from scratch is a pretty wonderful experience.
There are a lot of options for 3D modeling software but I’ll just over the 2 most popular free options.
1. Fusion 360 - This is a product design/testing/manufacturing software that fits in very nicely in the 3D printing world. It’s fairly easy to learn and has a huge community out there of makers just like you. The free version includes almost all of the features that you will find in the paid version. Check out Fusion 360 here.
2. Blender - This is a very powerful program that can do pretty much everything from modeling, video editing, and animation. And don’t let the $0 price tag fool you, this program rivals what the expensive “industry-standard” programs are capable of. It has a bit of a steeper learning curve but there are tutorials and guides out there that cover pretty much everything. Check out Blender here.
Choosing The Right Filament
This depends on what you are printing. How will it be used? Where will it be used? PLA is the most common filament in the hobby and for good reason. It is cheap, it is very easy to print, and it comes in all varieties of colors and finishes. Most newbies to 3D printing are only exposed to this filament so they might think this is good for all applications. This is definitely not true. Research and testing are required here to make sure your models are worthy of purchase.
Here are a few common filament types and their best uses:
PLA - This is great for figurines, statues/busts, small toys, and basically anything that will just sit on a shelf and look pretty. The colour options are endless and the price per kg is the lowest in the industry. This is a poor filament choice for anything that will have long exposure to the sun, high heat, or chemicals.
ABS/ASA - This is the filament you want if your models will be outside or exposed to chemicals. It’s a bit trickier to print with and usually requires an enclosure. It’s also more expensive and the colours available are lacking.
Nylon - The preferred choice for car parts or anything structural that will see a lot of abuse. It is incredibly strong, with a high melting point and resistance to chemicals. It’s expensive and much harder to print with so I recommend a decent printer and a good knowledge base before you even think about utilizing it.
PETG - This is the 2nd most common filament to PLA. It’s stronger and more durable with a higher melting point. It has a tendency to produce a lot of stringing while printing so post-processing might be more work depending on your model.
Understanding Print Quality
To quote a famous chef who I’ve forgotten the name of “to cook amazing food, you must eat amazing food”. You must know what a good 3D print is to be able to sell one. If your model comes off the build plate covered in zits from wet filament, aggressive z-banding, and bulging at corners from improper pressure advance and you are unable to tell if this is good or bad…you might not be ready to sell online. Remember, people are paying for your skills, not just your printer.
Take a look at some of the models being sold online and take some notes. Compare what they are producing to what is coming off your printer. You need to be sure that you are selling a high-quality product.
Z-banding artifacts
Where to Sell?
Etsy is probably your best option for selling your printed models. It has a huge audience who love hand-crafted items. There are some drawbacks though when isolating yourself to this platform:
Etsy is flooded with people trying to make money by selling 3D-printed models. A simple search will prove this. It will be harder to stand out but not impossible.
You will be at the mercy of Etsy and its rules. So if you don’t play along, your listing might get pushed to the back which will result in very few sales.
The amount of competition makes it a race to the bottom. You will be forced to lower your prices to stay competitive. This shrinks your profit margins and only allows those who can scale quickly to be able to succeed.
I might be making Etsy seem like a horrible place to do business but that isn’t true. I just needed to point out that it’s a tough market that will need a lot of research to be able to break through.
When selling on platforms like Etsy, pricing your products appropriately is essential. Do some research to find out what similar products are being sold for, and price your products competitively. Be sure to factor in the cost of materials, printing time, labor, and shipping when determining your prices.
Use this handy calculator to figure out your cost: 3D Printing Price Calculator
If Etsy isn’t your thing, you can try other options like eBay, making your own website, or selling them at craft fairs.
I also strongly advise you to grow a social media presence. Create a TikTok account and post videos regularly showing your models and the printing process. This is a great way to drive traffic and bring awareness to your brand.
Conclusion
The rise of 3D printing has opened up a world of possibilities for individuals looking to earn extra cash from home. With the ability to design and create customized products on demand, anyone can turn their hobby into a profitable side hustle. Whether you're looking to sell your creations locally or on online marketplaces, the potential for earning extra income is virtually limitless. With a bit of creativity, determination, and a reliable 3D printer, you can start generating revenue from the comfort of your own home. So why not give it a try and see where your 3D printing journey takes you?
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