Can I make and sell a printer

Can I make and sell printers? I'm going to use just the Arduino ramps combo and hbot machine can I make more of these and sell? If I can what terms and conditions should I know before the start.thank you

Why would someone buy your printer over the hundreds of others available. What makes yours stand out? Price? Quality? New Technology?

Of course you can. Terms and conditions? What are you worried about?

---

Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

It depends on if you're copying a copyrighted design (or a portion of a copyrighted design) or not. If you are, you can still make and sell the printer, but you could be sued or jailed. If not, have you created a business plan? Do you have a business license? Can you afford the insurance if one of your printers burns down a home?

Reading this: [reprap.org]

My comment is:

"Seriously ????"

---

"A comical prototype doesn't mean a dumb idea is possible" (Thunderf00t)

Some people are born dreamers.... Del Boy comes to mind...

I'd agree that its maybe a bit ambitious, but don't be mean, he/she can do it, if they are willing to learn, develop, innovate, understand the implications of making a product, selling it, getting it delivered, supporting it and ensuring it is safe and complies with whatever regulations are in force. You must accept that selling things, and making one for your buddy, are not the same thing. I've had a little experience in this area recently....

---

Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

The cheapest (and by most accounts reasonable) printers are currently being sold for $200usd

I cant even source parts for that.... not even in bulk. (without buying crap)

Unless you already have a good well known brand, such as Genuine Prusa or Luzbot etc yours going to have an extreme uphill battle to convince people your printer is worth more or better than the $200 printers.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2018 06:24AM by Dust.

Agreed you have to be offering something (or at least hyping something up on kickstarter) that other machines don't have if you are going to get people's money. I am trying to sell two high quality custom made machines and struggling to get a decent price for them, for the same reason. Only the enthusiast (who probably wants to build their own anyway) will know what they're worth. Everyone else sees a $200-$300 machine and figures it will work just as well. They're wrong but thats the world we live in.

So whats your big idea Dharani123?

---

Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

All the hbots don't have a closure and not even Bluetoothmodules,and the place I'm living is India many institutions don't even know what's 3d printing and my hbot have pure industrial look all I was concerned about was can I sell these printers with Marlin firmwares! And I can assure the product to the buyer because I'm selling it thrice the price that it originally built for ull know it if u ever built it that even the cheapest printer can be built for half of it's price . The main thing here is it's like I'm taking this product to the institutions which aren't aware of it yet.may be you wonder how many I may find which don't know this technology,the answer is in thousands.i have the market I have the product I have the ability what else do I need.plz don't quote with a warehpuse delivery truck sales people etc,I'm aware of all these things.and for those of u who suggested instead of going I can't do it so u can't do it.thank you so much i really appreciate it don't even consider what I wrote above,thank you. Sorry for my English and punctuations though

Marlin is licensed under the GPLv3 and is free for all applications. See [marlinfw.org]

GPL-3 details [www.gnu.org]

Main thing is you should supply (even if its just a link to a site) the source to the firmware you supplied with the printer, including configuration files and any code modifications.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2018 09:54AM by Dust.

I don't understand shld I give the buyer a source link to the firmware? If it's just that thank u so much.

... you should install the firmware in the controller and give the customer all the sources and links -- so he could reinstall it or change for his demands, if needed ...

---

Viktor
--------
Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Thank u Viktor that clears my doubt

Well how much do you plan on selling these machines and what hardware will they use? What about print volume? You state that you want to sell for triple the cost of parts. A good machine (linear rails, good electronics, rigid frame, enclosure, a clean appearance, real hot end and extruder, etc) is $400-500 in parts if you don't have a manufacturer's connection. Do you have any pictures or some tangible product?

Well, there's no way that a kit will sell for triple the cost of parts, not even if you buy the parts in bulk.

A finished product thought might have a chance, if it's truly turnkey, where a person can unbox the printer, put in a spool of filament and print that file that they got off of thingiverse. in order to do that, you must have done the work to calibrate it, set up and configure the firmware, and probably provide presets for a slicer, or have one built-in that can take a .STL file. It would have to have a very high repeatability, and it's going to have to look like a polished finished product. Very few visible mechanical components or fasteners, practically zero visible wires. Any kind of visible harnesses would need to be enclosed in drag chains.

Even then, you're going to need to gain a reputation for your machines before sales are going to really get going. Probably this means that you'll have to find established, reputable selling channels to carry your printer, and ones that appeal to your target market. DIYers are probably not your target market. I would probably not buy such a printer, for example. I would buy a kit, but mostly because the kits cost me less than the sum of the parts, since I don't buy in bulk.

---

MBot3D Printer
MakerBot clone Kit from Amazon
Added heated bed.

Leadscrew self-built printer (in progress)
Duet Wifi, Precision Piezo parts

I think that there is one small niche market where it may be possible to make a 3D printer in limited quantities and make a small profit. This is the kit market intended for those interested in learning about 3D printers in depth by building their own printer. This has been tried before: There was for example a magazine series (over 52?? weeks) which would get you a basic printer but it was targeted at fathers who thought their children were geniuses. I think a lack of interest from the intended audience (the children) killed it off after about 5 weeks.
If that printer had been targeted at those who go to Maker Fairs, Hacker Spaces and similar dens of geekdom you may stand a chance. The instructions would have to be clear and copious as well as unambiguous - the writer would have to know the printer kit in great detail and the FFF printer filed in even more detail.
It is unlikely that any regular denizen of these fora would be in the market for such a kit, but many of the same denizens may know people who would be willing to pay just a little over the odds to learn by immersion. Think of your target market as those who would rather learn micro-controllers by getting an Arduino or how to fly by learning in a Piper J3 Cub or how to drive a racing car by starting in a Go-Cart.

Mike

Quote
leadinglights
I think that there is one small niche market where it may be possible to make a 3D printer in limited quantities and make a small profit. This is the kit market intended for those interested in learning about 3D printers in depth by building their own printer. This has been tried before: There was for example a magazine series (over 52?? weeks) which would get you a basic printer but it was targeted at fathers who thought their children were geniuses. I think a lack of interest from the intended audience (the children) killed it off after about 5 weeks.
If that printer had been targeted at those who go to Maker Fairs, Hacker Spaces and similar dens of geekdom you may stand a chance. The instructions would have to be clear and copious as well as unambiguous - the writer would have to know the printer kit in great detail and the FFF printer filed in even more detail.
It is unlikely that any regular denizen of these fora would be in the market for such a kit, but many of the same denizens may know people who would be willing to pay just a little over the odds to learn by immersion. Think of your target market as those who would rather learn micro-controllers by getting an Arduino or how to fly by learning in a Piper J3 Cub or how to drive a racing car by starting in a Go-Cart.

Mike

I actually did this in conjunction with a local maker space with this simple printer I designed: https://youtu.be/Z0rfS4ym5Lc. The printer parts (mostly laser cut plus some simple machining) were all fabricated in the maker space, and documentation, procurement and kitting was all done with volunteer labor. The maker space then sold the kits and offered classes in building and using them (it took about 8 hours). And Mike is exactly right - most customers were adult hobbyists, and some teachers, but the parents who came with their kids watched them quickly drift off while they (the parents) completed the construction themselves. It ended up being a nice community supported project and was fairly popular, but very little money was made.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2018 02:40PM by LoboCNC.