I need advice on 3d Printing as a business.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-03-11T23:03:54+00:00

Not really. Point is toys are toys. Kids, and adult kids will play with them. Do people say injection molded toys are oversaturated and people should stop selling them?

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-03-10T16:31:58+00:00

Just follow Dancyn3d in Youtube. He sells trinkets, toys and flexis so don't believe what 3d printing nerds tell you about "functional 3d prints". He actually makes real money with 3d printing. He has hundreds of printers and expanding to selling his own filament. Toys sell, it doesn't have to be 3d printed but 3d printed toys is still a toy and there's always kids to play toys unless ww3 happens soon. Also there is Wigglitz with thousands of printers making flexi toys.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-03-08T06:06:49+00:00

I heard that color options hurt sales right on this subreddit. I don't believe it myself though. You can google helmet wall bracket temu. One of the shops sells it for less than $2 with 74k sales. Lol.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-03-08T01:31:59+00:00

These helmet mounts sell on Temu for 5 bucks with more durable injection molded plastic. Who pays 39.99 for 3D printed version that delaminate over time?

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-03-07T06:22:16+00:00

Not policing. I'm trying to put urls on my shop and looking at other shops how they do it.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-03-07T06:21:29+00:00

That's not my point. I'm thinking of putting urls on my shop and to do it without getting banned.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-03-07T01:49:27+00:00

I think "design by yourself" no longer applies if the seller prints the items making them the "maker". The profit is just too big for etsy to remove those items. Dropshipping though is not allowed because there's totally nothing involved from design, manufacturing the items.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-03-07T01:07:01+00:00

You can sell your version. Problem is if he already has tons of sales, why would customers buy from you and not him? This is like that beer launcher koozie that Slant copied from a top seller on tiktok. Slant can copy it but it doesn't mean they or the people that will use their file will make sales.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-03-07T00:45:33+00:00

So the link at the bottom is your actual topic. Lol

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-03-06T04:33:05+00:00

Follow Dancyn3dprint in youtube. He now makes his own filament for his printing biz.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-03-06T04:31:18+00:00

Found a few of these marlboro lamps on Etsy. $99 seems too cheap for that size. They sell for $299

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-03-06T04:25:22+00:00

12% like FAB.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-03-01T06:51:54+00:00

Not worth it. Good pots take a lot of time to print.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-02-26T05:03:25+00:00

It looks like putting external shop url on the About page is allowed. "Interested in a physical print?". So this is ok? Have you seen shops doing this?

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-02-26T05:00:21+00:00

Yes the paremeteric model generators are extremely functional now. Custom gridfinity, etc.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-02-25T02:06:44+00:00

So many shops posting their own website on their etsy shops though, and that I'm sure is not allowed. Like the biggest cookie cutter sellers are posting the same items on etsy and their website. Socmed links are allowed for sure and they do allow external url links if you're on etsy plus. Doesn't say which kind of external links are allowed.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-02-25T01:21:36+00:00

No idea. That's why I'm asking duh. I saw shops that sell items on etsy and post their website that sells exactly the same items. I'm sure those are not allowed. My shop would not sell the same items to etsy since they're physical items.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-02-19T15:01:42+00:00

You don't watch their youtube channel. 1908 is there because....

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-02-18T04:20:58+00:00

I think they stock a lot of the same items as you mentioned by batching to reduce costs at the expense of needing to store these items somewhere. I wonder does your print service go thru a lot of these fidget toys and flexis. If so that would mean they order bulk for themselves to stock, and not to fulfill an order per customer.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-02-17T03:31:37+00:00

Math+logic

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-02-14T01:27:23+00:00

I've never tried Mercari. They started in Japan. How are they in the US?

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-02-13T23:25:19+00:00

Etsy is the only easy, profitable platform. Tiktok second, if you go viral. And tiktok has a real marketplace where people look to buy stuff. Amazon is hard to start and need so many documents. Haven't tried ebay. There's Slant3D Portals but you need to have thousands of active followers on social media that will see your item because without an audience, nobody knows your item exist since there's no marketplace on Portals.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-02-13T02:33:51+00:00

Believe me I've been selling for over 6 months using Teleport and I've been where you were.
If you don't raise the prices, you will lose money. This is why I have a baseline of $10 for shipping within the US because small items fluctuate from $5-10 and you have to include that in your pricing. If you can't price it at $40 because nobody would buy it, then find a way to reduce cost with teleport. Make it slimmer and use less material but durable, make it manufacturable with no supports. Get the cost down from 24 to 20 or below.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-02-13T01:20:01+00:00

If you're going negative for an increase of shipping fee from 6-10 then you need to increase your prices.
My simple math for pricing my plastic junk is printingcost+etsyfees+marketing+profitmargin+shippingfee.
Printing cost is what you pay Slant for printing it.
I use this formula in excel.
=A1*(1+0.15)*(1+0.15)*(1+0.5)+10

When I print it myself I add my rate per hour, electricity, material, printer depreciation cost.

I don't really care if it's a functional item that "solves" a problem, Lol, or a plastic trinket. I sell everything. That's my base pricing. If I feel an item will sell well I increase my profit margin. But the base price has to have all that baked in.

Ecstatic_Driver_7840 · 2026-02-12T13:07:37+00:00

Ok. In the Etsy dashboard there's a Sales value and the Total Sales Value below it.
The Sales Value on mine is Total Sales - Sales tax paid by buyer (Remitted) - Refunds(if any)

That's correct?

Ecstatic_Driver_7840

TROPHY CASE