Business
The business of printing for profit — pricing, margins, print farms, and the equipment economics that make or break a shop.
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Business
How to Price 3D Printing Services: A Framework That Actually Works
Most makers underprice their printing services by failing to account for machine time, post-processing, failures, and overhead. Here's how to build a pricing model that's profitable from the start.
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Business
3D Printing and Intellectual Property: What Makers Need to Know About Copyright and Patents
Printing a copyrighted character for personal use, selling prints of patented designs, and sharing STL files all have different legal implications. Here's what the current law actually says.
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Business
How Bambu Lab Makes Money: Hardware Margins, Consumables, and Cloud Lock-In
Bambu Lab disrupted 3D printing with aggressive hardware pricing, but the real business model is in filament consumables, AMS accessories, and a cloud ecosystem strategy. Here is how the economics work and what it means for buyers.
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Business
Global 3D Printing Market in 2026: Size, Segments, and Where Growth Is Happening
The additive manufacturing market surpassed $20 billion globally in 2025. This analysis breaks down market segments, growth drivers, polymer vs metal printing dynamics, and which applications are driving investment in 2026.
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Business
3D Printing and the Right to Repair Movement: Parts, Policy, and Community Libraries
3D printing and the right to repair movement are natural allies — home printing of discontinued parts is one of the most practical demonstrations that repair is possible. Here is the legal landscape, the manufacturer pushback, and where community part libraries stand in 2026.
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Business
How Chinese 3D Printer Manufacturers Came to Dominate the Global Market
Bambu, Creality, Elegoo, and Anycubic together now sell the majority of desktop 3D printers worldwide. This is how Chinese manufacturers built that dominance, what it means for western competitors, and what comes next.
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Business
3D Printing in Schools: What's Working in K-12 and Higher Ed in 2026
Schools from middle school makerspaces to university engineering labs have adopted 3D printing as a teaching tool. Here is what the evidence shows about outcomes, hardware choices, and what actually works.
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Business
3D Printing Service Bureaus Compared: Hubs, Xometry, Shapeways, and Craftcloud in 2026
When you need a part in metal, a material your printer can't handle, or just a fast professional turnaround, service bureaus are the answer. Here is how the major platforms compare on price, materials, and lead times.
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Business
How Bambu Lab Disrupted 3D Printing: Speed, Ecosystem, and Prusa's Response
Bambu Lab arrived in 2022 and changed 3D printing faster than any company since MakerBot. Here is the full story of how they did it, what it cost the market, and how Prusa Research responded.
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Business
Who Actually Makes Filament: The Supply Chain Behind Your Spools
The filament market is less diverse than it appears. A small number of polymer manufacturers supply most brands. This guide traces the supply chain from raw resin to finished spool and explains what quality differences actually matter.
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Business
Open-Source vs Proprietary 3D Printers: The 2026 Trade-Off Guide
Voron and Prusa represent open-source printing; Bambu Lab and Ultimaker S-series represent the proprietary end. Both camps offer real advantages — this guide breaks down the honest trade-offs for 2026.
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Business
How Patent Expiration Unlocked 3D Printing: FDM, SLS, SLA, and What Comes Next
Key patent expirations in 2009, 2014, and the 2020s triggered waves of desktop 3D printer innovation. This article traces how each technology became accessible and which patents are expiring now.
