HOW TO MAKE MONEY 3D PRINTING CAR PARTS
Have you ever been deep into a car build, only to be stuck waiting (or overpaying) for a part? Instead of hunting for discontinued or overpriced parts, lets review how you can make and sell your very own 3d printed car parts for profit.
From plastic clips to cold air intakes and even custom dashboard components—like a iPad mini mount for our BMW E30—we started designing parts that didn’t exist… and that’s when a wild idea hit us:
Could we actually sell these 3D printed parts to fund our build?
Before jumping in, we did what any good seller does: Make 3d printing car part profit tools and perform good research.
3D PRINTING CAR PARTS PROFIT CALCULATOR
STEP 1: STUDY THE PROS
As we searched for small businesses selling 3d printed car parts, we stumbled across Car Chains 3D—a small but mighty brand making $4,000/month selling custom 3D printed car mounts. Watch the owner interview here on YouTube.
Their custom 3d printed screen mounts sell for $150-200. This shows us that automotive enthusiasts are will to paying for clean, problem-solving solutions.
STEP 2: SPY ON EBAY
We also wanted to see what 3d printed car parts people are actually buying on open markets like eBay.
So head to eBay, type in a custom part like “BMW e30 custom cluster gauge” and filter by “Sold Listings.” Boom—you’ve got real-time data.
You can also click on an eBay seller, filter again on “Sold Listings” to see what other 3d printed parts they might be selling.
Just don’t copy—improve.
We used this method to spark ideas like the need for a radio delete plate with empty switch panels and to price our own designs.
STEP 3: BUILD YOUR LISTING
Using eBay's “Sell Similar” feature makes it easy to launch quickly. You can find a similar part and make the appropriate modifications.
The AI description works well, but I like adding a bulleted list on the features like:
Material (ASA filament for better UV resistance)
Color/Texture
Features / Function
💡 Pro tip: If you don't own a printer, try a print-on-demand service like PCBWay.com. We’ve made 3d printed designs using ASA and even aluminum parts like a spark plug wire separator using PCBWay.
EBAY VS SQUARESPACE SELLER FEES
eBay search can get your 3d printed car part exposed to thousands of potential buyers, but it comes with a hefty fee.
eBay collects up to 13% of the total price regardless if shipping is included or not. The only positive is eEbay also handles collecting and baking in sales tax, so you don’t have to worry about that.
Now you could sell on your own website using something like Squarespace which charges around 10% with a monthly website subscription fee if you plan to promote products yourself.
You’ll just have to make sure you collect appropriate sales tax and purchase your own shipping labels.
WHAT 3D PRINTER SHOULD I PURCHASE?
Need help selecting the right 3d printer and filament for printing your next car part? Check out our other 3d printing car part tools:
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