I got 2-3 maybe someday guys. I do better with a display at local hobby shop so I would say find what you can make and sell to people then make a bunch and show/sell them at a local swap meet with similar crafts or online sell sites. not likely to be very profitable so dont quit your day job. ;^P

its just a way to recoop some of your $$ spent on your habit/hobby

if ya do 3dhubs dont try to low ball price. most the other hubs loose money and have poor quality and delivery. plus 3Dhubs only allows for 20% infill and zero support material as if no FDM printers on hub which is 90% FDM

Sounds to me like there may be an opportunity for an independent operator to sell, not to the public but to design studios, light mfg, etc. Become a boutique not a hub. Develop ongoing relationships with people that may already us 3d services and understand what they are going to get. Sell yourself as a backup for their in house system for overflow or emergencies. Perhaps compete with their in house farm on timeliness and availability. Use a high quality and very reliable machine or farm of machines. Maybe eventually offer printing, scanning and laser cutting/engraving.

The catch 22 may be that you do indeed need a reliable, quality and presumably somewhat expensive machine to assuredly print good stuff every time, maybe have more than one machine if one printer goes on vacation for a bit. When someone comes to you for an emergency repair part or a prototype, they are usually going to be in a time crunch. Whether you can or cannot deliver the goods on schedule and under stress will determine whether you retain that customer or get new business.

But, it could be lucrative. those kinds of customers aren't typically your penny pinchers.

Umm...not necessarily "expensive". reliable, most defintiely... but both of my used SD4's are both reliable and put out quality prints day after day, hour after hour.. and neither one was "expensive" by any stretch of the imagination - even including the costs associated with the upgrades that have been done, they still each cost less than a lot of other so called "quality" printers out there.

#1 has been running strong with little more than basic maintenance for about a year - basic maintenance consists of cleaning & lubing the rods and adjusting belts. Once all the upgrades were complete, I have had to do very little with it other than that. And last summer it ran for 8-12 hours a day, at least 6 days a week for several months.

That said - if I were to include my labor in those costs, then yeah, there would be a big difference... but I am of the belief that any printer is going to need time spent in maintenance, repairs/upgrades, etc., eventually anyway, so kind of a moot point. I just happened to have done 98% of mine up front.

Printer cost (used SD4 in working condition) - $400
Rumba board & related (stepper drivers, USB cable, etc) $180
Better power supply $27
Bearings (12 LM8UU) & new smooth rods ~$60 (+/- a dollar)
E3D v6 hot end $80

Total spent $747

Plus the cost of filament to print the Lawsy Carriages & a few other items - still well under $800.

The catch 22 may be that you do indeed need a reliable, quality and presumably somewhat expensive machine to assuredly print good stuff every time, maybe have more than one machine if one printer goes on vacation for a bit. When someone comes to you for an emergency repair part or a prototype, they are usually going to be in a time crunch. Whether you can or cannot deliver the goods on schedule and under stress will determine whether you retain that customer or get new business.

But, it could be lucrative. those kinds of customers aren't typically your penny pinchers.

Price. Probably the biggest thing that'll get or lose you business. I ran one of the top 5 cheapest hubs in the USA for the a few months at the end of 2015. Easily got backed up by about a month, and I thought I was running a great hub! Unfortunately, I hadn't accounted for the time it would take to print some of the larger orders, and in the end, I wound up breaking even. So put some time and consideration into your prices, and also research other hubs pricing in your area, I get a lot of little business because I have the cheapest start up costs around.

Also sold a bunch of custom vases to this lady that was convinced there was a market for vases that could clip on the side of old people's walkers... in case they want to cart flowers around with them all day or something.

I had registered one of my printers at 3D Hubs, hoping it would bring in some work. But because of where I live, pretty much nada. I had one request for something that was super tiny (small pea size) - better suited to SLA than FDM printing. I tried, but ended up telling the guy he needed to find someone with an SLA printer.

I've never used them, but there are sites like 3Dhubs where you can register your printer and take print orders online.

The issue with those sites is most buyers are expecting injection mold quality at mass production prices. Many of them don't know what a 3D printed part will look like.

I have my brain teaser puzzles I sell (both plain and customized), and I do custom work for a couple of clients - custom RC stuff - both car and plane.

What the niche is will vary depending on where you live.
Do you have an active cos-play community in your area? a lot of people do props and such for that.

Has anyone else found a purpose for their machines and actually have begun to make a profit? Can you share what you do?