Hey everyone! I just wanted to thank you all for your support over the past few weeks! I have learned so much from you and have been greatly inspired by all that goes on in forums. Just a few days ago, I landed a 3D printing contract with a major brand and am so excited to start printing for them. You know what’s crazy, though… I just have one little X1C… that machine is a beast, but still, it is funny to think I will be producing bulk parts for a company… with a little machine in my basement. Thank you to all who have helped me and encouraged me on this path
Ihave a few questions…
The company will be paying me. How do you guys price your prints?
I know I need to take post-processing time and design time and all those things into account… how much would you charge for these?
I want to make a lot of profit, as I will be paying out of pocket for a cool school project here soon… but I do not want to be greedy either. As a student athlete who does not have a big budget at all, I have always been a believer in free and easily accessible files, as well as support for those files from the creator.
What are some things that would make me stand out as a printer operator? Little things I can do to give the business the best experience with my services possible.
Anything else to add? I am always open to suggestions and **constructive and helpful ** criticism.
Finally, I want to say a big thank you to @BambuLab for creating a machine that is a sturdy workhorse… had I tried this on any other machine, I would have snapped the belts and needed new parts by now.
Also, a big thank you to @JamesDaRock for his ideas and support. Sir, I really admire how you keep your eyes on your goal and do not let greed or opportunity sway your goals. I admire how you respond so professionally and kindly to all; it really makes the community great!
Happy printing guys. I look forward to working with you!
I had to price some keychains I am selling at a local store….First I calculated the cost of filament in grams…. then I used the AI function on my Brave browser for a starting point on tips and then followed up by reading the links it provided. You need the cost of power, cost of filament, cost of time, cost of postage, cost of preparing contracts… all sorts of things to consider.
A lot of the price really depends a lot on your time, too many people underestimate their time value. I use designs from a crowdfunded program that I paid full commercial rights for so my design time is a lot less than the company that designed the program and my costs are a lot easier to calculate with a lifetime subscription price. I also walk my prints to the local shop so no postage. If I go to the markets then my petrol and wear and tear on my car might need to be incorporated.
If you design the item yourself then that is a completely different calculation. If you post your items to the company then that cost needs to be factored in. Put a timer on and calculate how long it takes from getting the print off the machine, post processing and preparing it for sending it off.
AI is pretty good for this sort of guidance but don’t take it as gospel and go to the links provided to double check the facts are not fake…
This is really helpful, thank you! I’ve been thinking about charging for electricity, but it is not my electricity (it is my parents). Would you charge a lot extra for two designs you made yourself?
I would charge extra but it needs to be calculated out over how many prints you expect to make. I am not sure how others would calculate it but I would want to recover design time cost in the first few months of a contract job so that I started making profit sooner if that makes sense.
The fist sales would be used to recoup that time then after that you are in profit mode.
I think Dr-C is talking about wanting to make money from his prints too.
My contract is a high intensity and short time contract, but I have several others after it that I am doing for free. My contract lasts two weeks, and I am making as many items for a conference as possible.
To be honest… I am the one who went to the company and asked them if I could print stuff for their conference. There seems to be a misconception that companies will come to you… and they will… eventually. But I encourage you to ask around for contracts. As a person who has easy access to this technology, it has become a part of my everyday life. But to others, especially those who are not in the area of 3D printing, take so much joy and interest in 3D printing.
I am also a student… so that could have bought me a little bit of sympathy from the company
Indeed, that was also the very first question that popped up in my mind when reading OP post: how can one sign a contract without having clearly defined the costs/pricing? Doesn’t make much sense.
Well, anyway, for the OP, here are some, hopefully, useful information and links, for you to go through and use or inspire yourself from:
Thank you guys for your help. By contract I mean that the company has agreed to let me make things for them, I have been working on the model and pricing. They basically said they would pay however much it costs.
Is there any maintenance you guys do on your printer before you are about to set out on a large, high-quality, and high-quantity printing contract? I have Bambu X1C… Also, I am debating cleaning my AMS 2 PRO unit… any tips about that?
I would look here. I think doing your regular maintenance should be fine… however small things matter. I started an 18 hour multi colour, multi object, flexi print with fidget flush objects without using glue and by hour 3 bits were coming loose.
