Are Cheap 3D Printers Good or Bad for the Industry?

Another cheap 3D printer is set to be released on the market in October 2017 retailing for a low price of $249USD. The new Da Vinci Mini is another 3D printer targeting the rapidly growing 3D printer market. XYZ are well known in the 3D printing industry for their low-cost 3D printers. Personally, my experience with these printers has not been very pleasant but their affordable price tag makes their 3D printers appealing to consumers. I often ask myself if this doing more damage to the industry then good? Are consumers expectations in line with the current technology available at this price?

In 2016, 3Design tested six or more 3D printers that were priced between $300 to $800USD. They all claimed to be plug and play consumer-ready products, however, after weeks of testing we thought differently. Two of the six (M3 and ICEMAN 3D) printers produced a number of quality prints then soon started failing and eventually ended up in the boneyard with the others. As a 3D printer retailer, I'm always hunting for new products to offer my customers. However, if a printer doesn't work for me, then how’s it going to work for them? The larger retail chains are offering cheap printers, but are they really worth buying?

The trouble is that people who don’t understand all of the common problems most cheap printers have, think that price point for a decent machine is too high, but for small production runs, there really isn’t any comparison. I hope that as the consumer market matures, customers will look to higher quality machines that may be a little more expensive, but will save them huge amounts of time and stress.

Before buying a cheap 3D printer always ask yourself these questions.

• What type of support are you getting?
• Does it come with a warranty?
• Ask to view sample prints, print quality and see its capabilities.
• Look at its specifications and construction.
• Check its build size (most cheap printers have a small print volume and you need to decide if this will suit what you will be using it for).