3D Printing Column // August How do you sell 3D printed parts to make money?

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3D Industrie GmbH

Wuxi InfiMotion Technology Co., Ltd.

Selling 3D printed parts initially seems like a simple and lucrative additional opportunity to further utilize your own printer and generate more revenue. However, in most cases, this tends to be damaging to the business, something no one initially anticipates.

The buzzword 3D printing or additive manufacturing was quickly packed onto the company's own website by the agency. And just because one owns a 3D printer somewhere in value between 500 and 1,500 Euros, has three rolls of PLA filament in the drawer, and out of stinginess has converted a fruit dryer into a filament dryer, many production and industrial firms, who are at home around machine and plant construction, believe to be innovative.

In a way, this is understandable: The person responsible for the 3D printer greatly appreciates their work and regularly inundates everyone in the company with their own persuasive speeches on 3D printing. The printer runs once or twice a week and one believes that with an FDM 3D printer worth 1,500 Euros, they can now manufacture rocket parts for the aviation industry.

As the current business figures of many machine and plant manufacturers unfortunately show, there is still a certain arrogance prevalent in the industry. Too many companies believe they are innovative and forward-looking, can do everything on their own, and do not want to accept help—because they are a German machine builder and know no problems. Meanwhile, many parts which can be simply 3D printed today and are not safety-relevant, are still produced in a cumbersome and expensive manner with existing manufacturing processes. For me, it is therefore not surprising that insolvencies are increasing, if only technology is talked about and not used or money generated with it.

Selling 3D printed parts: Seven mistakes you should avoid

Strictly speaking, selling 3D printed parts is not about directly offering parts. Instead, one offers the service of creating a 3D printed solution, which presupposes a created sales opportunity. A sales opportunity is a generated need that then needs to be met. If this need is not awakened, the whole venture can become damaging to the business.

Therefore, you should know and avoid these seven mistakes:

1. Lack of situational awareness in sales 
   If your sales activity consists of taking orders and showing suitable items for the customer's problem, which they have identified as challenging, then your sales team lacks the right awareness. And thus there is also a lack of the most important basis to be able to offer 3D-printed parts at all since the customer already knows their needs. If the sales cannot generate an explicit demand for this production method, then you probably annoy the customer when talking about 3D printing. Because this can then appear intrusive, as the customer does not understand why 3D printing should now provide added value.

2. Wrong approach 
   If the sales colleague has 70 to 90 percent of the speaking time in the conversation and recites the benefits of 3D printing based on the parts in the sample case, you are moving further and further away from a sales opportunity, because the start of every 3D printing conversation is the correctly asked and customer situation appropriate question.

3. No Aha-experiences 
   To receive a 3D printing order, an aha-experience for the customer is one of the basic prerequisites—otherwise, they would have already made contact regarding 3D printing. This is achieved 95 percent only in conversations with the right structure, which we regularly demonstrate in workshops and consultations using a 5-step guide. In the end, it must really click with the customer.

4. Fear of addressing problems 
   If the goal of a sales conversation is always to be fun, you will not conclude a business with 3D printed parts. You have to dare to ask the customer about real problems and challenges. If you don't ask this question, then you might be afraid of the customer's answer. But you don't have to be. Because 3D printing only makes sense if you solve a problem with it.

5. (Mis-)Belief to be an expert 
   Only training the sales team regarding the technology, manufacturing processes, possible material, the process or post-processing makes everything even worse. Because often it makes little sense to fill the conversation with many complicated details for the customer, without having asked beforehand where a problem needs to be solved. And whether they would like to accept help for it. Once this is clarified, the customer is in the same boat and gladly accepts the expertise.

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   Date: 08.12.2025

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6. Indifference 
   If the customer's problem is known and 3D printing can help, many salespeople fall into a kind of indifference—because there is no catalog item that can be offered. The path to the solution seems difficult because you have to communicate the customer's problem and the suggested solution internally and a visit report is necessary for this. However, there is exactly a lot of money in the request right now, because the customer has a need and is willing to invest more, because it is specifically not a ready-made solution.

7. Faux pas 
   In conversations with customers about 3D printing, there are many pitfalls that the customer doesn't intentionally set up. You should be sure to listen carefully to the questions about technical details, otherwise the supposed argumentative advantage can quickly become a disadvantage.

Technical knowledge is one thing, the right approach is another

So, anyone who believes they can simply and quickly include 3D printed parts in their portfolio on the side is destined to fail. They will quickly feel the lack of success but will not want to admit it.

Sales for 3D printed parts is not more difficult, it simply follows a different procedure. If you're not open to this, the printer will not get into full utilization and customers will not get 3D-printed solutions that could actually help them. So if you already know a lot about the technology of 3D printing, you should develop your skills in the right approach, because with that you pave the way for a fruitful reception of your technical knowledge.