3D Printing Side Business

"A 3D printing business selling products across eBay, Etsy, Mercari, and Facebook Marketplace using commercially licensed or purchased models, netting $500-1000/month."
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Maker: bdcravens
$500-1,000/month net across eBay, Etsy, Mercari, and Facebook Marketplace

Marketing Channels

Primary

eBay

One of the main sales platforms

Primary

Etsy

One of the main sales platforms

Primary

Mercari

One of the main sales platforms

Secondary

Facebook Marketplace

Additional sales channel

Secondary

Hacker News

Shared in Show HN thread

Growth Levers

  • Learn Autodesk Fusion to design original functional products — eliminates licensing costs and creates unique, differentiated inventory
  • Focus on functional items rather than artistic ones, aligning with creator's strengths and practical demand
  • Expand multi-platform presence to maximize reach across different buyer demographics
  • Develop a consistent pricing strategy across platforms to avoid price parity concerns raised in comments
  • Build a direct-to-consumer channel (own website) to reduce marketplace fees and improve margins

First Customer Strategy

Selling 3D printed products using commercially licensed CC models and purchased model licenses across multiple established marketplaces (eBay, Etsy, Mercari, FB Marketplace) to cast a wide net. Conservative margins accounting for materials, capital expenses, and labor time.

Pricing Insight

Products priced at fair market value with conservative margins when accounting for materials, capital expenses (printer, filament), and labor time. Multi-platform presence means potentially different fee structures across platforms.

New Market Opportunities

  • Custom functional 3D printed items Creator plans to learn Autodesk Fusion to design original functional products, moving beyond reprinting existing models
  • Direct-to-consumer sales The pricing discussion across platforms suggests an opportunity to consolidate sales through a direct channel with transparent pricing

Key Takeaways

  • • Multi-marketplace selling (eBay, Etsy, Mercari, FB) diversifies revenue streams and maximizes exposure for physical products
  • • 3D printing can generate $500-1000/month as a side business even with commercially licensed models rather than original designs
  • • Moving from licensed models to original designs (via CAD tools like Autodesk Fusion) is a natural path to better margins and differentiation
  • • Cross-platform pricing consistency matters — marketplace rules and customer expectations vary across platforms
  • • Functional items may be a better niche for technically-minded creators who don't consider themselves artistic

Sentiment Analysis

1 Neu

Notable Quotes

"Everything I list is at fair market price, with fairly conservative margins if you consider materials, capital expenses, and labor time. — bdcravens"
"I believe Amazon has price rules such that you cannot price gouge on Amazon. Do the vendors you list have any rules like that? — Always42"

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