Who here is making money 3D printing? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by lando55@lemmy.world to c/3dprinting@lemmy.world

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I am a hobbyist, and my job will probably never require me to design and print anything for work.

I do really enjoy the process of conceptualizing, designing, and printing, and have done so for myself and some close acquaintances.

I've spent many hours/days learning the tools of the trade and was wondering if there was an opportunity to make some money as a side gig. Has anyone been successful doing this, and how did you go about it?

Here are a couple of my early designs, I plan to upload more once I clean things up a bit.

https://www.thingiverse.com/landon8848/designs

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[-] Divus@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Yes, I make some money but barely enough to be worth it.

I sell some specially fixturing to my work. Sell them $30-50 each. Sold a dozen or so over the last 7 years and 3 printers.

Started selling on Etsy about a year ago and Xmas I made a decent amount very fast(about $500 in a month). After the new year it dropped to near nothing until recently I’m getting some sells. Everything I sold was my own designs, but it’s a race to the bottom on there. Far to many people stealing from Thingiverse and selling at a near loss. After Etsy takes its cut which can be a decent chunk your left with near nothing after materials and shipping. Expect $2 to $3 a hour of print time. I am barely in profit to be honest selling there.

this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2023

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