The 10 Simple ways you can make money with a 3D printer in 2022

So you have a 3D printer in your storage and only use it during your rare off days? If this is you, there is some hope for you.

How do I Make Money with a 3D printer? Was once everyone bagging it in 3D printing wondered. So is it possible to make money with a 3D printer? The answer is both yes and no.

All business started with the aim of getting money requires dedication and patience. So if you want to make money with your 3D, it will take longer than you anticipate. It is still possible to make huge amounts of cash for your Printer.

We have chosen the ten best ways of making money with your 3D Printer.

how to make money with a 3d printer

Depending on your expertise and availability, you can make use of your 3D Printer in a few ways.

1. Sell your prints on Etsy

There are several ways you can sell your art.

The first place your print is on Etsy. Etsy is a print-selling website. Art lovers know about the site, and if your work is perfect, there are chances someone will buy it.

Pros

• You do not have to commit your energy and time to look for customers.
• Selling on Etsy is easy to make money with the 3D Printer.
• When a customer views your print or orders, you will get notification direct to your phone.

Cons

• There is a high likelihood you will deal with several stubborn clients. Selling on Etsy requires you to communicate professionally.
• Getting customers is the biggest hustle. If you are not a professional printer with some education or experience in 3D printing, you will be facing competition from people with better prints than yours.

Etsy is not the only place you can sell art. Most communities have open markets on weekends. Display your prints on the next market day. You might get shocked by how many people love art.

2. Sell your 3D Printing course online

No one is willing to pay money and sacrifice their time to go to a physical school to train how to use a 3D printer.

Make a course for beginners, giving a step-by-step guide on using the 3D Printer. Your course includes some of the common issues you are likely to experience using a 3D printer.

Teachable and Amazon are some websites where you can sell your course.

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Pros

• People are always in need of information. If your course is highly rated, you will get more recommendations and probably sell more courses.
• Same as selling prints online. You don’t have to dedicate all your time to find customers.
• When you sell courses online, you don’t struggle with meeting people one-on-one. The websites where you publish your work will act as a middle man. All transactions happen online.
• You can be a renowned trainer once you gain track. Some people make their money solely on selling courses. If one of your courses is too informative, you can make spin-offs and sell them.

Cons

• It takes a lot of time to get clients. Many 3D printing courses are being sold online. Therefore your course might be extraordinary to gain buyers.
• You will be competing with other free websites. The internet is flooded with quite informative information for free. Chances that someone will decide to buy a course while free YouTube videos arelow.

3. Make YouTube videos

Do you know you can get paid when people watch your videos?

People are always searching for simple tutorials on operating their 3D printers. Besides, there are various things you can teach about 3D Printer. If you have some extra hours and you can stay confident in front of the camera now, this is your chance.

YouTube pays to place ads related to your topic. Tiktok, the latest most popular social media platform, works the same way as YouTube. However, it is possible to get a large following on Tiktok than on YouTube

Pros

• You can record the video at any time and about anything. There are several topics people search regarding 3D printers. Go to the Alsoasked website to get inspirations topics for your videos.

• You don’t deal with customers one-on-one. Since you provide a service and not a product, you don’t need to meet with your customers.

Individuals interested in your YouTube Chanel all subscribe to get notifications every time you post a video.

Making YouTube content can be a full-time job. It is possible to create a community of 3D printing online. Make sure your videos are clear and high resolution to capture more information seekers. Once you have a decent following, start making more content.

• YouTube Ads are not the only way you can earn money. Look for companies with products related to your topics and affiliate marketing.

You can also collaborate with companies who sell 3D printers components and get paid to advertise their products.

Cons

• It might take you longer to bag the right number of subscribers to get your channel monetized.

4. Start a 3D printing job in your local area

Observe how other 3D printing businesses in your locality are doing. Then design how to make your business more unique to attract more clients. 

There are quite several business types you can open.

• Printing clothes
• Engraving rocks
• Printing mugs
• Making jewelry

Starting a 3D business will require gathering enough capital to make your business a success. Several financial institutions offer personalized legal help to people who need to start a business.

You will be required to develop a website for your business. This is where people can check out your work and order from you. Starting a website is cheap. You only need web hosting, which is less than 5 dollars.

Pros

• Having a physical shop within your city will create some sense of trust for your customers. After several scams get to them, some individuals do not trust an online business.

• If your business has an onlinepresence, customers can make it there from now. You will also be selling at your outlet. This means you can bag money from two places doing the same business.

• It is possible to create long-term, loyal customers. Once people start trusting the quality of products and services you provide, they will often come and even refer friends to your business.

• Some people sell both 3D prints and printers components on their local businesses.

Cons

• It would help if you had a lot of capital to start a 3D printing shop.

• Competition from established businesses might discourage you the first few months.

• It is rare to start making good money in the first few months.

• Licensing is quite a struggle, and it is expensive.

5. Start a blog about 3D printing

People always run to the internet to search for information. If you have no problem writing, this is a good way of making money.

There are several topics about 3D printing that have not been exhausted.

Pros

• Starting a blog does not need a lot of capital. You will need a host and a domain name, and you are good to go. Several websites help you develop your blog for free.

• Affiliate marketing will bag you more money if you have a blog. If you do not have products to sell, create an affiliate account with websites that sell 3D printing components. People are making it big with affiliate marketing.

• Blogging does not consume your time. Unless you are a full-time blogger running multiple blogs, 2hrs a day is enough for you to create 3D content. It would help if you wrote high-quality blogs with the right usage of keywords.

Cons

• Your blog might be lowly rated by search engines like google.

• It might take longer than you expect to start earning money from your blog.

6. Sell 3D Printer Components

If you can’t blog and don’t want to print, selling electronic devices is a good option.

The good thing about selling printers is that it can be done online and in physical shops.

Electronics are quite costly, and if you have few machines and components, you will be bagging some good money.

Pros

• Dropshipping can be utilized through this method. You ask the dealers to have a certain item and advertise it like the seller at a higher price. When a customer orders your order from the dealer, it gets delivered to the client. You bag the profit.
• You don’t need to be conversant with 3D printing to sell printers and components.

7. Sell 3D Designs

People who started personalized businesses are always looking for designers for their products. You can start making designs and selling them to people.

Software used to create designs is free, and most are open-source. Open-source software has the most advancements, which will enable you to create the design you want.

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8. Sell your prints at the next convention

Most cities have conventions where the creators bring their products for sale. Make sure

For example, the last time you went to the convention and found no one was selling printed mugs, you should take that opportunity and start printing mugs yourself. Jewelry and toys are some of the most bought prints in conventions.

Most cities have open markets on weekends, especially Sundays. Take your prints to the market and create a stand. You never know who will buy from you.

Use the right components to make the prints to avoid deformations and inconsistencies.

This is an easy way of making money off people who love art.

9. Start Offering Freelance Service

Many made good money making prints for other students during my college days. For example, couples would get t-shirts with similar prints.

Students would also buy printed hoods and t-shirts and resell them to other students ata higher price. 

Finding customers as a freelance printer has been made easier by social media. On your  Tiktok for your page, you can never miss someone advertising their prints. The positive comments and people ordering are inspirational.

Making money using this method is easy. You don’t need a large capital to start the business. The only thing you need is to be active in advertising your services.

10. Rent out your 3D Printer

If you have a 3D printer, but you don’t have the time to make money using the above methods, rent out your Printer.

Some people are experts at printing using 3D printers. Some of them don’t have a printer, and they are willing to rent at a good deal.

Create a contract indicating how much the client will be paying per month. Make sure you check the status of your 3D Printer before renting it out.

The discussed money-making methods are not the only ones you can use to make money. Carry out intensive research on other methods and choose the approach that looks convincing to you.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• Can you make a six-figure income with a 3D printer?
  It all depends on which method of making money you choose and how well you run your business.
  
• Is it legal to sell 3D prints?
  Selling 3D print is not illegal. It would help if you researched the laws in your state in regards to selling prints.
  
• Is 3D printing expensive?
  3D printing is quite costly but profitable once you start making money.
  
• Is 3D a good investment?
  Provided you do proper research on the business you want to start, you can make it big in the 3D printing business.

Conclusion

How well you plan for your business determines the rate at which you will succeed.

Most of the discussed ways of making money with a 3D Printer will take longer for you to make money. However, if you are not time-pressed, you can combine a number of the methods and start making money.

For example, you can start a YouTube channel a blog and offer services as a freelancer.

If the chosen method does not work out, it is possible to try the other nine money-making methods with a 3D printer.