MakerGear Forum

Hello world!

I am a brand new member to the forum, though I have been reading through the threads for the last few weeks. After much research, I have decided to take the plunge and purchase a MakerGear M2 as my first 3D printer. I have a Bachelor's Degree in computer programming, and was a Java developer for a few years after college. As a hobby, I have enjoyed 3D computer modeling in Autocad and Blender for video game modding (mostly in Elder Scrolls: Oblivion). I have also always enjoyed tinkering with welding, carpentry, and some rudimentary metal smithing and casting. Using this diverse interest background, I plan on breaking into the 3D printing scene and trying to earn a little profit on the side if I can... In addition to my own myriad of tinkering projects.

I was hoping to start networking with other, more experienced 3D printing aficionados. At first, I will just be learning the ropes... But later I hope to find some sort of economic niche to occupy in this field. Anyone have any ideas on where to start looking / advertising my future services? I look forward to chatting with all of you and breaking into this exciting new field!

Welcome to the group warlord.

No help with the sales unfortunately - i just do this for fun. But I can tell you that when you start posting examples of your designs to Thingiverse, if they are in any way commercially viable, you'll be swamped with offers to sell the designs on every competing site on the planet. (Dozens of them.) So it's a good stepping off point if you're into that sort of thing.

A few of the guys here pay for their habit (3D printing) by taking orders and actually printing out physical objects for delivery, so that's another option.

Anyway, to get started on the road to riches, be sure to read the Beginner's Guide in the How To section of the forum. It will get you going quickly.

Perfect! I can't wait to get started posting my designs.

Are there any specific resources to connect 3D printer owners with people who need things printed? I already plan on posting service availability on social media and local area sites like Craigslist. There has to be a nationwide resource site for "printing needed" ads that I could start with as well. Any ideas there?

Jadedwarlord wrote:Perfect! I can't wait to get started posting my designs.

Are there any specific resources to connect 3D printer owners with people who need things printed? I already plan on posting service availability on social media and local area sites like Craigslist. There has to be a nationwide resource site for "printing needed" ads that I could start with as well. Any ideas there?

Don't know of any, unfortunately. Craig's List sounds like a good place to start though.

Jadedwarlord wrote:Perfect! I can't wait to get started posting my designs.

Are there any specific resources to connect 3D printer owners with people who need things printed? I already plan on posting service availability on social media and local area sites like Craigslist. There has to be a nationwide resource site for "printing needed" ads that I could start with as well. Any ideas there?

Post some here, if you're interested in feedback. Generally the easiest way is to just say "stupid M2 won't print this file" and a day later collect beautiful pictures of a bunch of printed ones people made to prove you wrong.

insta wrote:

Jadedwarlord wrote:Perfect! I can't wait to get started posting my designs.

Are there any specific resources to connect 3D printer owners with people who need things printed? I already plan on posting service availability on social media and local area sites like Craigslist. There has to be a nationwide resource site for "printing needed" ads that I could start with as well. Any ideas there?

Post some here, if you're interested in feedback. Generally the easiest way is to just say "stupid M2 won't print this file" and a day later collect beautiful pictures of a bunch of printed ones people made to prove you wrong.

How delightfully devious!

This has been discussed before here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2945
and here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1839

3D Hubs and MakeXYZ are the most often cited.

Thanks for all the replies guys!

I'm currently reading through the threads that were linked, and so far it seems that they contain exactly the kind of starting information I needed. I am looking forward to getting started.

In regards to some postings I'm reading about how much to charge for your 3D printing services, I have found a good video that gives some helpful tips on pricing for craftsmanship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu_qFDanGPY.

The basic premise is to decide how much your time is worth for one day of work, given your specialized knowledge, tools, and experience. Once you have this "daily rate" figured out, you can divide that rate into the number of hours that make up that workday, and then multiply that figure by the number of hours it takes to manufacture the object. Then you can decide whether or not material costs are added or deducted from that final figure to calculate personal profit.

I think I'll be taking this direction in my future endeavors.

Quick word of advice - don't give up your day job. I might not sell now, but I did sell cutter files for a couple of years, and most people forget a few things when they launch into something like this.

First thing is after-sale support - if you are selling files instead of actual printed objects, you will have to either make sure that the file is printable on multiple machines or be prepared to spend a lot of time talking through beginners in how to properly use the file with their machine. (Or deal with irate newbies wanting their money back.) Eats up a lot of time because you will need to provide each file in multiple formats for different machines.

Second thing is piracy - there is no control over who can share the files either online or with friends once they have purchased it. So actual sales can be severely diminished over initial projections if the file is extremely popular. (You will see minimal returns on any design until you sell a few hundred of it, and if it's that popular, it has more chance of hitting the Pirate Bay.)

Make sure you know your market. The games market is a good one, but it's a rapid turnover situation, with new games becoming popular daily. Make sure you can design quickly enough to keep up with the changes in the market. You will have to keep coming up with new things as fast as the market dictates.

If you are selling printed items, you will have to price your items below what outfits like Shapeways, 3DHubs and MakeXYZ sell them for, or you won't sell a thing.
So that video, while interesting, is completely useless. You would have to be an established craftsman selling objects that are already in high-demand before that would make sense.

The problem with pricing your work in this kind of market is that you are competing against essentially free. Everyone who has a printer can make their own items, and if they see your designs and like them, it's really pretty easy for a lot of these guys to design something very similar. So you have to price it really low, and go for volume sales. Unless your designs are extremely rare, unique, spectacular, and difficult to duplicate, it's going to be tough to sell. (It also means you need to research what's currently available on all of the sites - a daunting prospect, to say the least.)

And after all of that, don't forget to factor in the taxes on the income from the sales into your calculations. (Yes the IRS will find you, you have to report the income from print and file sales. Careful records have to be kept. I used a service for that, selling through a store front, and they took a percentage for doing the paperwork.) You might find, (as i did), that the additional income pushes you into a higher tax bracket, forcing you to pay more taxes on all of your income, not just the income from the print sales.

After a couple of years I had enough and decided to just give them away for free. Made a few thousand bucks, at about $2/file, gave about half of it to the government and the store front service, and just made enough to clear paying for my various machines. Total waste of time from a money-making standpoint. Had a lot of fun though, and that led me to 3D printing, so there was definite long-term benefit.

But if you want to eat....don't give up your day job.

Lol, don't worry. My day job is quite safe! My plan is to do this on the side, starting prints before work, during lunch breaks, or after work. Just looking for a small source of side income.

From what you were telling me, it seems that you were marketing your prints/files to 3d printing networks like thingiverse and the like. It seems to me that this market is rife with those who already have access to 3d printers, hence the rate of low returns since almost everyone who frequents those sites are capable of printing their own stuff anyway. While I definitely will participate on those scenes in order to contribute to the community of 3d printers, I will not focus solely on them for that very reason...they already have 3d printers.

I plan on focusing my effort on my geographically surrounding area, where 3d printing is not yet a common occurrence. In fact, where I am located, most people only have a faint knowledge of what 3d printing actually is. Most of them secretly believe it to be some sort of conjuration magic, judging from their reactions when I start talking about it.

Through social media, local advertising methods, and word of mouth, I plan on marketing mostly to the general public and local businesses... people who do not have access to 3d printers and who do not care to invest the money or skills into getting one. That is where I hope to flourish as a craftsman. The trick will be to offer these people a specialized product that will save them money from buying it elsewhere. Or unique products that just are not available around this area.

Has anyone focused on this market segment? Or has most people's experience been plugged into the online network of 3d printing resources?