Hello! I want to buy a 3D printer, but I was thinking of making some models and posting them on MakerWorld, so I can get some gift cards and save on one of Bambu’s printers. I know having a 3D printer helps, but what should I do to help me post models without a printer? I have a friend who has a printer, but I don’t want to waste his filament. Any advice is appreciated! Thank you! 
As you’re learning, it will be very important that you print your models to see what works and what needs improvement. I’m still learning all the time - sometimes I’m confident that an idea will work and only through printing it do I realize (and learn from) my mistakes.
Also, in order to upload a print profile you must confirm that you have printed and tested a model. Maybe you could buy some filament to use on your friends printer?
Alternately and depending on where you live, sometimes public libraries offer 3d printers for use by those with a library card.
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Hello! Thank you for the reply!
I think I will do that! I doubt he’ll mind and I’ll probably just give him a free roll anyways.
Thank you for telling me about this! I just joined MakerWorld so I never knew this.
I would do this, but my nearest library isn’t so near, and it takes a month for something to receive a print from them.
Thank you so much for your thoughts! I think I’ll give my friend some filament 
Another possibility: check craigslist or other second hand listings in your area. Lots of time when people upgrade they will sell their entry-level printers for cheep. Use the resulting prints to post on makerworld, save up for the printer you want, and when you have sell the old one so someone else can have a place to start.
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What kind of models to you want to create?
Do you have any experience in designing?
If you are creative and can design good models I’m sure you will find someone who helps you with print profiles and test-prints in order to earn points and gift cards.
Just ask after you have a model …
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what MaKim said. I was eager to design before I had a printer and my daughter printed something for me. From her experience she could tell what wont work on my design. So experience is key.
In my opinion you expect the users that download your models to test them, that is not fair!
And yes, there have been several tutorials how to earn a printer here but I can tell that is not how it works. Don’t fall for those false tutorials, saving for a printer will take some time OR shamless mass production. Nobody wants that here.
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Especially after the H2D releases, a lot of people might upgrade from an A/P/X.
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Hello! I’ll probably just buy something used, or maybe just use my friend’s old printer (He told me today he got a new one a bit ago) but he said that it kept breaking. Thank you!
Hello! Mainly toys but maybe practical things. I’m not new to designing but I’m not advanced or close to it. I’m glad I have a friend who’s happy to print stuff for me but I just don’t want to bother him all the time. Thanks for the response!
Hi! I’m perfectly OK with waiting for a printer, but I’d want to get a printer as soon as I could get it so testing is easy (And ofc to print other models). I’ll definitely practice, wait if I need to, and definitely won’t do anything dirty on MakerWorld
I started with an ender 3. If you have models and have them printed people will definitely download them. I’ve worked my way up to my 3rd printer now.
Use your friend’s old printer, or go check online to see if you can find some good deal. I sold my fully functional $400 Ender 3 S1 that was used for only a few months for $20 (low price because the buyer intended to donate to school). Tell the seller you are totally new so they can let you know if their printer is functional enough for you to use. A working Bambu Lab printer will be a good option as BL printers don’t need the usual tinkering.
A good model design goes through many iterations to make sure it works. You need your own printer for the constant tweaking.
Nice! Maybe I just have to commit to a project and actually finish something 
. Thank you a lot!
The A1 Mini is “Cheap” at $200 you may find a pre-owned one in good condition for way less, also I’m not quite sure you can actually upload print profiles for other printers than Bambu Lab. Suppose you end up with an Ender, more likely than not, a profile based on that printer will be way too slow for a Bambu Lab printer, that in turn will hurt your score and will make it more difficult to gather points.
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@DWdesigns I think I’ll probably use his old printer, the issues he had with his old printer don’t matter to me, but if I do find a good deal, thanks for responding!
@royeiror I’ll probably buy an A1 Mini, but if I get my friend’s old one (I’m pretty sure it’s an Ender 3 or something like that) do you have a solution? The friend’s new printer is an X1C if that helps. Thank you!
The Ender will be an induction course into 3D Printers mostly and a little into 3D printing. Printing with that printer will test your patience immensely. If you’re into tinkering and such, go for it, if you rather just materialize stuff into the world, I’d leech off print hours from his X1C, also helping create realistic print profiles and photos, allowing you to gather points.
Other thing some people do is STL files and wait or ask for other people to upload profiles, the creators of the profiles could transfer their points to you, but that’s not certain.
What I’d start doing right now is uploading designs without a print profile, maybe use the community tab to find testers willing to print it and create a profile and grow your portfolio.
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