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.
Yes, I make some money but barely enough to be worth it.
I sell some specially fixturing to my work. Sell them $30-50 each. Sold a dozen or so over the last 7 years and 3 printers.
Started selling on Etsy about a year ago and Xmas I made a decent amount very fast(about $500 in a month). After the new year it dropped to near nothing until recently I’m getting some sells. Everything I sold was my own designs, but it’s a race to the bottom on there. Far to many people stealing from Thingiverse and selling at a near loss. After Etsy takes its cut which can be a decent chunk your left with near nothing after materials and shipping. Expect $2 to $3 a hour of print time. I am barely in profit to be honest selling there.