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this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2025
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3DPrinting
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I'm not in this business, but I have purchased prints from a print farm before. There are already at least 4 large, high quality printing companies that offer to print any model in any material. I think most of the competition is now on speed and price. There are also many smaller printers I have purchased from. Most offer ~10 products, have them already printed, and sell those items to fulfill a specific need. As far as I can tell, those smaller printers either design their own models, or paid for models that are not readily available. Once model files are available, the general purpose printing companies can deliver the same part.
Unless you have ideas for models no one has made before, and you want to try to profit as much as possible off those, I don't see the upside to a small print farm.
Ok, I'll bite: what are these 4 large companies you mention?
To OP: FWIW, I've been a FT 3D printer for going on 8yrs now, and would not recommend starting out now. The tech is incredibly affordable, accessible, and reliable, compared to when I started. To the point that I pivoted a couple years back to include Intro To [insert hobby/tech] workshops, to stay relevant & semi-lucrative. 😅 (the 3D Printing ones often pair nicely w/ Painting & Kitbashing)
NGL, it's definitely getting to the point of needing a "big kid" job again — but, that's a good sign for the community/hobby itself, in the long run. Lowering the barrier to entry for DIY designs & physical prints is what we were all about after all, right? ✊🏼
I was thinking of JLC3DP, PCBWay, Shapeways, and Slant3D. I've only bought from PCBWay and JLC3DP from among those.