If your ROI is very important, than letting someone print is probably the best way.
Most 3d print owners print for other people and ask a small fee. Enough so they can buy materials in more colours etc. I make about 200$ revenue like that a year.
I've been 3d printing for over 5 years now and launching a 3d printing education site http://start-to-print.com. Here are some of the pain points we hear a lot.
3d printing is expensive
- You can have something 3d printed the size of a tennis ball for 5-10 euro's at 3dhubs.com. You save 10 euro on shipment compared to shapeways and you'll have your object in 2 days rather tan 2 weeks.
It's complicated
- Well the first thing I 3d printed wasn't something I designed myself but was something I found online. Chances are that somebody already created the thing you were looking for.
- Even after 200 models I still curse when I try a new (supposed super easy) modelling tool. But hey they are free now and you can find lots of video tutorials. Like me you're probably a fast learner. It's more taking the first step to spend an evening on it.
Desktop 3d printers suck
- Until 2 weeks even I had that impression, but since I bought my 3rd: a 2,000 dollar Zortrax M200 I changed my mind. I'm all into open-source but this thing is really plug and play and take away a lot of the hazzle I had before. Even my wife can start a print now. So far it's been printing for 50 hours and 25 model with zero print failures. I't no longer kickstarterish.
There are better alternatives
- Yes. But 3d printing it's just a good fit for me. I'm a software engineer, I just like to work digital and I'm very lazy. Often I can just download it and print.
The 3d printing hype is over
- Yes, but 500k-1M free 3d models on thingiverse.com is REAL. My 2000 Zortrax printer really works well and is what I was hoping 3d printing would be like.
Most 3d print owners print for other people and ask a small fee. Enough so they can buy materials in more colours etc. I make about 200$ revenue like that a year.