3D printing is still quite new, but it’s a good way to earn money. It’s not common yet, so it is a great opportunity to use your 3D printer to make some extra cash and do what you’re passionate about at the same time. It doesn’t matter what your reason is. Here are some of the best ways on how to earn money with a 3D printer.
Sell 3D Prints
Selling the 3D printed objects that you’ve made on eBay, Etsy, or other dedicated shops. Shopify is also a great place to sell your 3D printed objects. You can sell your 3D prints on Facebook as well. Just create a Facebook page for your 3D printing business and you can start selling. You can also advertise your 3D prints. Tell them that you can print 3D objects for them. They only need to place an order and wait for the 3D prints.
If you want to succeed, you should create unique 3D prints that customers actually want to purchase. 3D printers can also help you create ingenious items that surpass those that are already out in the market.
Create Prototypes
You can make 3D prototypes for local engineering firms to earn money. Rapid prototyping is in demand among businesses and professionals working in construction, architecture, design, and engineering. 3D printing technology allows professionals to produce and use scale prototypes to give conceptual presentations, test a product’s viability, and showcase their designs.
This technology reduces the cost and duration of prototype production and the possibility of an error in production or design. It also improves the user’s ability to produce more intricate end products and prototype more varieties of the same design.
Rapid prototyping is better than traditional methods, especially if these benefits are taken into account. In fact, major designers and prototyping have already recognized the value of rapid prototyping for cost reduction and design improvement.
One such organization is YLE Engineers, a Polish company that used a 3D printer to create a realistic prototype of a bridge they were making. By doing so, they were able to test and refine their plans before building the bridge.
Auto designers such as General Motors and Ford are using 3D printing to test various features on new car models and create prototypes of car parts. Architects also take advantage of 3D printing to build models within a short period of time. Building models by hand takes weeks, but it can be completed quickly with 3D printing.
Through this technology, they can reduce costs in development and make money faster because they can produce parts more quickly. You can companies in these industries by prototyping for them using your 3D printer.
Offer 3D Printing Services
You can offer 3D printing services by listing your printer on platforms like 3D Hubs so that potential customers can find you and hire you. Busy engineers, business owners, and consumers often need 3D printing help, and you can be their service provider. You can provide 3D printing services online or locally. If you’re going to offer your service online, you should be willing to ship the 3D printed objects to your customer.
You can look for a CG animator or computer graphics expert and work together to create physical 3D prints of different animated characters. If you want to do something bigger, you can find licensing deals. You can also look for a local electroplater and see if you could work together. Once you find reliable platers, you can offer to coat 3D prints in gold, nickel, or silver.
You can also join groups on forums and social media about gamers and gaming and say that you can print gaming characters for them. Promote yourself to your relatives and friends as well as local businesses and on social media. You will get more customers and profits as you get good reviews on these websites.
Provide 3D Printing Courses
3D printing can help schools and businesses in improving the educational process and reducing the cost of training. It can be used to improve the practical end of architecture, construction, design, and engineering courses. 3D printing has become more popular today and a lot of people are aiming for a career in 3D printing or 3D design.
You can take advantage of this opportunity by teaching 3D printing courses. For instance, you can teach them how to create 3D designs. You can advertise yourself on job offer websites and social media sites to let people know that you are offering 3D printing courses.
If you don’t have a 3D printer, you don’t need to worry because you can still earn money through 3D printing. You can sell your designs to someone who has a 3D printer or has access to one. Shapeways is one of the best places where you can sell your designs.
After creating a Shapeways shop, you can make your 3D models or designs available on the website. You won’t be required to create anything in demand because it is print-on-demand. Shapeways’ CustomMaker allows you to customize your designs. This tool also allows customers to turn your design into items that are memorable for them.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to earn money with a 3D printer, you are free to choose what method you will use. 3D printing clearly offers a lot of possibilities to earn money, but you should consider getting a multi-tool 3D printer if you really won’t take advantage of this technology.
Newer 3D printers are a multitool 3D printer because these machines have interchangeable tool heads. These printers can do several functions including 3D printing a wide range of products, laser cutting, CNC cutting and engraving. Such versatility gives you more options to earn money.
3D printing is also a great way to showcase your creativity. When you have a reliable multi-tool 3D printer, you can enjoy these possibilities for many years to come. Whether you are a business owner or someone who wants to earn money by doing something that he really loves, you need to get a reliable multi-tool 3D printer to do what you want.
