I Tried Starting a Sidewalk 3D Printing Business

THINGS I USED IN THIS VIDEO:

MY FAVORITE THINGS:

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MUSIC (in order of appearance):
Gotta Earn It - Wanda Shakes
Grifting in Vegas - Kit and the Caltones
Braver - Jones Meadow
Moment - Jones Meadow
Biology - Jones Meadow
Ogonblick - Jones Meadow
Can't Fake It - Larry Poppinz
Closed Eye Floating - Giant's Nest
Sticks and Stones - White Bones
Grounded - Smartface
Relax (Hold On) - Autohacker
Numb - Nihoni
The Fire, Baby! - Par Hagstrom

#DIY #business #3dprinting

[supportyourself]

Street vending is tough. People have their guard up. I bet you would absolutely CRUSH a farmers market setting. Great video, label me inspired.

[johnwaynewilliamson]

When picking a locale to sell plants, you have to consider, is your foot traffic prepared to handle the problem of "how do I get this home without destroying it". Farmer's market would be a better fit. Great vid.

[bunch]

2 pieces of advice for shows. 1) Have clear pricing on everything. It is human nature to just keep moving when the offer is not clear. 2) Stand as much as you can. People engage more when the seller is standing and doing something.

[thomas_shelby]

I tried to become a street vendor for about a week. I offered bags that my father made and T-shirts with my designs on them. It was tough considering that I am an introvert. Most people just ignored what I was selling, and every time someone asked about my products, it truly boosted my hope even though they didn't buy anything. I only sold one shirt, but I'm so glad that at least one person noticed me. I have so much respect for all the street vendors.

[matthewnirenberg]

@MorleyKert As a mechanical engineer with a heap of CAD experience across basically all 3D CAD packages used in industry, here's a friendly tip for doing the 3D CAD pot design much faster:

Create a bunch of planes 15-20mm apart, create a polygon shape (icon looks like a hexagon but you can specify the number of sides), exit sketch, go to next plane and repeat but start rotating the polygon shape 5 degrees per plane.

Once you've done this on the first plane and then on all the offset ones, use the Loft tool to loft between all the sketches on the planes. Once the loft creates a solid body, use the shell tool to hollow out the body of the pot. In the shell tool, you can define a face override - this is great for selecting the bottom face on the outside of the model and setting its thickness to twice that of the side walls.

There's the pot in 1/3 to 1/4 the time.

To adjust the twist, simply edit the sketches and adjust the rotation of the sketches, then click "Generate to Last" (or whatever your software calls it (sometimes "regenerate")) and its updated.

[lisalange]

as a flea market & art show vendor, I have found you set up one with the packaging...plants are hard to carry, so If they "see" you thought about that, they will get one. And similarly, you set one up to look like a perfect quick gift with a cute bag and blank gift card. Also buy 2 and get a discount kind of thing.

[metacombs]

I'd also give them a way to easily carry the pot around since they likely will be walking an hour or more with it. Small box and a bag or a drink holder. Might help.

[leelee]

I’m so impressed with the wealth of vending advice in the comments! 🙌🏾👏🏾👍🏾😂

[oneloveRudy]

As a plant lover I wouldn't necessarily spend $15 on a plant just because it has a nice pot. The pot would need to be something that I really want. I have seen 3D printing create some pretty functional stuff. And having the 3D printer there makes it for a great conversation piece. Since you're there at a social event you could try selling things like 3D printed toys. My kids love those things and don't cost much to make. Kids always ask "can you buy me that"

[anniemorrison]

Hi Morley, I was never a street vendor, what I did was a booth at craft shows where we sold items we made to raise money for "care packages" for deployed military working dogs. We, my friend and partner, did better when we were standing rather than sitting behind our tables. I think people are more likely to stop if they think you are busy (I'm not sure why that is). I hope you are enjoying your travels. Oh, and yes it is hard work to set up and be there all day, and then tear it all down. We had pop-up covers too. Lots of work for sure.

[FarrisWorkshop]

I also think part of the issue could be that many haven’t seen 3d printing in real life, and they mistakenly thought the dirt and the plant were ALSO 3D printed (the man who wanted to touch it also touched the plant and the dirt) and were probably subconsciously disappointed by it just being the pot. Which is of course the opposite feeling we want to give any patron.
Great videos! Keep it up!

[ThinkLascivious]

I'm a vendor here in L.A.... (Hollywood) simple... you need more tables. A longer set up will allow more people to browse and shop.

Also, keep in mind... the weather is a factor to a good day and a slow day. The time of year matters, too. Some months are just slow anyways.

Lastly, price point with large signage is important, too. If you lowered prices... had 3 tables with one price group on each table ... it will be simple to see & understand for the casual passersby.

[NoMoreBsPlease]

Best advice I can give: LABEL THE PRICES! It's so infuriating when a seller doesn't label the prices. It makes me think you are giving different prices and I'm more likely to keep walking than asking.

[beatbeans]

How have I not found this guy on Youtube before?! As a 3D printer hobbyist, I love your content man!

[vishwanath-ts]

Not displaying the price for pots was a bummer, people saw 3D printer and all that fancy tech.

They might've thought it'll be super expensive, that's why many people just walked off by looking.

[LolliLife.]

I think it's great that you have the succulents planted already, but sometimes what draws people to buying is the experience. You did have education with the printer being there with it actively working, but if you had a "Build a Plant" with steps and options for people to purchase, I think you would have a better chance of getting people to buy. It's all about the experience for a customer. And yes, street vending, farmers' market, art/crafts shows...they all are long, tedious and arduous! I do agree with some that a farmers market venue would work better for you. People already know what to expect and are prepared for it. Great video! Keep it up!!!

[alexfroncillo]

These are my absolute favorite videos to watch, thank you for making them! I think its such an interesting study on the economics of 3d printing, and I would love to see more of this type of content. Love from Arizona

[baggepinnen]

Maybe you could design the pot with a water reservoir that would slowly self-water the plant? That'd be cool and useful 😊

[josephosorio]

I agree with the printer at the table. It draws in a lot of people. I did the same thing when I sold at the Town festival. I also made cheap Marvel keychains that only take a few minutes to print, and handed them out as free gifts for the kids. I did make sales but had a blast demonstrating how the 3D printer works

[NewtyCollects]

What an absolute legend, goes and does this as an experiment- then provides the files afterwards for others to try! New subscriber for you mate!