How we started
We started with the popular Hobbyist 3D printer the Ender 3 V2 back in 2022. Wanted to print some items that were cheaper buying a 3d printer and designing it than actually buying the part online. Starting off printing these for fun, but slowly figured out that this machine can literally make anything imaginable. So we started off with the Creality printer that back then as around $299.
We still like keeping it around due to all the mods we applied, you'll find our why we no longer use this as your read along, great little starting machine with its reduced price nowadays.
Image curtesy of PCMag
The Upgrade
We were starting to get some larger orders in the beginning of 2023. So obvious upgrade was a larger build plate of 300x300mm bed, being able to even make License plate covers.
This Ender 3 Max Neo helped get us into the NamePlates game, making Star Wars and RuneScape nameplates at a reasonable size for the prices we were starting off with.
Unfortunately this has become a large paper-weight after we recieved our 3rd BambuLab printer and it was traded in December to help reduce clutter in our space.
How we got there
Switching over from the Creality environment, when it was still trustworthy was a huge jump. Lots of peer pressure from a Discord server from a Patreon and Facebook group called IK3D. They were the huge inspiration to get the bleeding edge of 3D printers in the market back in June of 2023.
I know what you are saying, how did you get the P1S in June 2023 if it wasn't introduced until July 2023?
Well... we lied, we started off with the P1P without an Automatic Material System (AMS) for economic reasons, which was $699 at the time.
The P1S released about 3 weeks after at the same price we purchased the P1P. Surely having buyers remorse, we did think about returning the P1P, but it has already replaced our entire work flow, this one printer replaced two Ender 3's due to its insane bed adhesion and error correction and print speed.
After running some numbers, we grabbed a new P1S with the Combo AMS included as we saw the work potential of the P1P.
Image curtesy of All3DP
How are we doing
After the big rush of the holidays, with Black Friday around the corner, and new products we've released, we made ourselves an entire office space dedicated to just 3D printing. During the holidays we were basically getting 100 orders a week that we had to get yet another P1S, this time we took to Facebook Marketplace and we needed a new printer NOW. It was expensive as they basically wanted full retail price, luckily we got a deal with about 15 rolls of filament along with the P1S and AMS combo, so it wasn't the worst deal ever.
After the holiday rush making about $5k of profit in two months, we realized we needed to optimize prices and get less orders at a better return while keeping quality control high, we sometimes even consider a defect if a spec of dust gets stuck on the top surface of our prints.
Now after all the big gifting season is over, January is actually still going great, an extra $2k a month is not a joke, its almost a full-time job with us working for about 4 hours a day on this hobby, packaging, designing and pressing `Print`. We are hoping this trend to continue as we release more gaming related personalized items that we hope people will love!
What's our plans
After realizing how insane the holiday rush has been, and now we get about half the orders, but still much higher than it was before in January, we decided to invest in our future and get into Laser Engraving. Yes, we just purchased a xTool M1 full kit from Facebook Marketplace with an air Purifier and Air Assist, the whole thing. It did cost us half of our profit from the recent months, but we believe this tool will give us better profit per hour due to its insanely quick working time. We did save over $700 purchasing this 2nd hand, with the risk of course of it not being new and possibly damaged.
As the weeks go by, we will be releasing new items, experimenting and blogging about our discoveries and adventure here, hoping to bring high quality items to our eCommerce stores. Hopefully bringing high quality laser engraved/cut to market at an economic price using bulk manufacturing to help reduce prices.
Why did we get a Laser Engraver, you may ask? Well, I have a mother that is about to retire and is unhappy with the $400 a month she will be receiving knowing how our economy is ever getting more expensive with insurance, food and cost of living is. So we want to start up a business she can take care of and get an some nice cash to help with the bills. Believe me, I know how nice it is to have our small business here help pay off the car for 12 months straight.
Hopefully you see what we are doing here and just catch up every now and then to see how we are doing! Thank you to all 1,000 of our clients and repeat customers to help get us where we are at today!