A breakdown of how to get started selling on Etsy by finding an existing product that sells and offering it cheaper to build up your Etsy shop. This should act as a starting point for you to create your own 3D printed products and businesses and help you expand your product line over time.

Disclaimer: We do not share account information from our seller network. We may use publicly available information from non affiliated sellers for illustration purposes. Any such examples used to explain ideas and we do not monetize afilliates for these sellers. All copyright and IP owned by the original artist and sellers credited.

Overview

Etsy is a popular place to sell 3D Printed items, and a marketplace where a lot of customers are accustom to purchasing 3D Printed Good. For most sellers, the initial challenge will be to differentiate their products and get sales. Our recommended approach is to start by finding a product that sells well, obtaining the necessary rights and offering it at a cheaper price to build out an Etsy shop. Over time, with good reviews and sales, Etsy will promote your shop and provide you organic promotion that will allow you to find and expand to other products. This is not a fast or easy process. It will take time, patience and work, but should you persevere, you may be able to build a recurring business using your 3D Printer.

Etsy Sales Potential

Example of Sales Potential on Etsy

1. Deciding on the product idea

Start by finding a 3D printed product that sells well on Etsy. You will be able to tell based on the number of ratings/reviews and sales listed for the item. For example, a $10 product that has 700 reviews has made at least $7000 in lifetime sales. With this strategy, it's ideal to choose Etsy over Amazon, Shopify or any other options. This is because Etsy will cost you the least amount of money to start and will bring you customers who already shop on the platform.

Crystal Dragon on Etsy

Crystal Dragon From 3DCloudPrint designed by CinderWing3D

2. Sourcing the 3D Model

If a 3D Print is already selling well, chances are the 3D model can be purchased online, or you can obtain a commercial license from the original designer.

First check on Cults3d.com to see if the 3d model exists

Cults3D Page for Model

Cults3D Page for Crystal Dragon by CinderWing3D

Second find out who the designer is, and check if you need a Patreon subscription to sell the 3D Print commercially.

Patreon Page Patreon Subscription

Note: It is wise to avoid items that blatantly use or infringe on popular brands or intellectual property (Pokemon, Marvel, Disney etc.) as unless the original creator has obtained a license to distribute these designs, you will waste a lot of time and effort building up a business around these files just for the business to be shut down from a cease and desist letter.

Cease and Desist Letter for GoT 3d Print

Cease and Desist Letter from HBO for Game of Thrones 3D Prints

As a starting point. The MatterManifest catalog has a collection of sellable, pre-sliced files for the Ender 3. These are public domain or ones where the creator has allowed commercial use, without infringing on any IP. Please note the name of the creator and credit them accordingly.

MatterManifest Printer Ready Files for Ender 3

3. Calculate your costs, profits and margins

This strategy requires you to list and sell on Etsy, which comes with fees owed to Etsy. Your Slicer will show you to cost of material and time of print. In addition, make sure to account for the full list of costs. As an example, let's calculate the profit from selling the Friendly Articulated Slug for $5:

Slug Slicer Estimation

Material Cost = $0.26
- $20/kg (PLA Filament Cost) x 0.01315kg Filament Used
Electricity Cost = $0.07
- 3 Hours (Print Time) x 0.12 kWh/Hour (Ender 3 Consumption) x $0.20/kWh (California Power Rate)
Etsy Fee = $0.475
- $5.00 (Listing Price) x 0.095 (9.5% Transaction Fee)

Assuming the buyer pays for shipping, your profit will be $4.2 per $5 sale (84% margin). To maintain this margin, it's important that you

Learn how to do your own marketing and promo rather than paying for ads
Minimize print failures and wasted filament Use the Troubleshooting tool to debug issues

4. Testing your print quality

Print your product a few times to make sure you can get a consistent high quality print. Check multiple colors and filaments if needed. Note that even different filament colors from the same brand may require slight different temperatures to perfect the print. You can also get a gauge of how long prints take and build a small stock of all of items you want to sell. If you are seeing severe issues with your prints, you can use Troubleshoot your printing problem

Multiple Color Slugs Source: FlashForge

5. Structuring your Product Listing

This strategy requires you to list your product on Etsy with the hopes that customers searching for your product will see your discounted alternative to the main seller. To achieve this, you must ensure that

Your listing offers customers the same benefits (Fast shipping or shipping costs included)
Use same or similar keywords in the name of your product.
List your product a slightly lower price (at least a 10% discount and up to 50% off). Etsy will naturally recommend new product listings, especially ones that may offer their customers a lower value and once you've built up sales and reviews on Etsy, you can launch new products or increase your prices to be competitive again.
Last but not least: take multiple accurate and high resolution images of your product. Studies have repeatedly shown this is a big factor in whether you get sales or not (especially starting out). Aim to have at least 3 photos from different angles, and at least 1 video if your product is functional.

Product Photography Example of clean listing photos

6. Work the Etsy Platform

Optimize Product Listings for 3D Printed Products:

Description: Research and use keywords and tags relevant to your 3D printed products. Include important details in your product descriptions.
Example: If you're selling 3D printed jewelry, use keywords like "3D printed earrings," "custom 3D printed necklace," and "unique 3D printed rings" in your titles and tags. In the product description, mention the type of filament used, color options, and any special design features.

Frequent Updates for 3D Printed Products:

Description: Regularly refresh your 3D printed product listings by making minor changes to improve search visibility.
Example: If you sell 3D printed home decor items, regularly update your listings by adding new high-quality images showcasing the products in different settings or by updating the product descriptions with additional information about the 3D printing process.

Customer Reviews and Feedback for 3D Printed Products:

Description: Encourage customers who have purchased your 3D printed products to leave detailed and positive reviews to instill trust.
Example: Encourage customers who buy a custom 3D printed phone stand to leave a review by offering a 10% discount on their next purchase as an incentive.

Promotions and Sales for 3D Printed Products:

Description: Offer occasional promotions or sales for your 3D printed products to attract buyers.
Example: Specialize in 3D printed board game accessories? Run a limited-time promotion where customers who purchase a full set of accessories receive a 15% discount on the entire bundle, including 3D printed miniatures and custom dice holders.

SEO Tools for 3D Printed Products:

Description: Utilize Etsy's SEO tools and analytics to monitor your listings' performance and make data-driven improvements based on keywords and tags.
Example: Use Etsy's SEO tools to discover that "3D printed home decor" generates more views and sales than "3D printed decorations." Adjust your tags and titles accordingly to align with what shoppers are searching for in the 3D printing niche.

Closing Remarks

This strategy can jumpstart your business on Etsy and get sales, but in the long term competing based on price alone is a race to the bottom - as 3D Sellers compete for lower price it results in less profit for all sellers. Competition is good for customers if it pushes sellers to create new variations and product offerings.

Once your Etsy Shop has established some reviews and ratings, it's recommended that you:

Increase the price of your products that sell well
Branch out to new and unique products related to your initial selling products

Doing so will allow you to earn more profit over time, and also create competitive advantage against other shops, while creating a larger product line that can give your customers a reason to come back.

Ultimately, your success on Etsy will depend on your commitment to offering customers high quality prints consistently, and giving customers better value than competitors.

If you are starting with a 3D Printer from the Ender 3 Series:

Get started with our Catalog of printer-ready and commercial-use sellable files that you can start with.
Use the Troubleshooting Tool to help you improve print quality and fix common 3D printing problems.

Tag - Etsy