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.
The two most common ways to make money with a 3D printer: sell your own designs, like you’re currently doing, or mass print trinkets/popular items. I suspect you have greater odds of making money in the second category, but I also suspect some people have made a decent amount of money in the first category.
Having such niche interests like I do is a double edge sword - there are always opportunities for you come up with something new and innovative, but the target market is also very limited.
I’m happy to stay in the first camp and design things that are helpful to these smaller communities, but I need some way to justify these long hours and miles of filament I put into development 😅
I totally hear you. I make things for me and usually just put them on thingiverse. It’s rewarding to see people downloading and commenting on the prints and removes any worry about angry customers. I do wonder about leaving some $$ on the table though…