Three months ago, we released the first public beta of our Etsy plugin that lets anybody access our print farms. Since then, we've made plenty of mistakes, made lots of modifications, and made lots of changes. So now, we are finally releasing version three of our Etsy plugin that lets anybody access our giant print farms.
3D printing Etsy stores have a few problems. One of the biggest is really just the challenge of getting set up—knowing where to find boxes, how to ship items, knowing what printer is the right one to build into your print farm, knowing all the logistics of how to set up a factory, and create a small fulfillment operation. If you've just created a product and are looking to create something that people enjoy and make your customers happy, all of this other stuff can be a distraction.
But then, even if you figure that out and you get rolling, the only way to grow is to purchase more 3D printers. Now, that's great if you really love 3D printing, but it's kind of like eating too much cake. One piece is great, but a whole cake starts to make you feel sick. And the same kind of goes for 3D printer farms—very often, once you pass like 10 machines, it becomes a job and a lot more effort than it's worth. So the business isn't able to continue to grow because you don't want to add more machines and put more work on yourself of having to turn them on every day and pack up boxes and ship them out.
There's also the very real risk of demand spikes—if your product goes viral on TikTok or you go into a seasonal spike, you end up either having to purchase a bunch of machines to meet demand that won't be used ever again, or you end up losing that demand because you can't fulfill the orders. These are the core issues we're trying to solve with these Etsy apps—giving Etsy businesses access to giant print farms only when they need them. If you need one machine, you can use one machine. Or if you need 100 machines, you can use 100 machines. You now have access to that scale, as well as all of the fulfillment operations that go along with it. This allows you to focus on creating better product and taking care of your customers, rather than dealing with the logistics of printing, packing, and shipping your products.
So, here is how the Etsy app works: When you sign up, all of your active listings inside of your Etsy store will appear inside of the Etsy app. You can then upload individual 3D models that would be attributed to those product listings. If you have a listing for a controller stand, you match it to the file for the controller stand. As soon as the file is uploaded, the cost to print will immediately appear next to each one of the files so you know how much it costs to make one of your items. This cost is only the price of printing; shipping is calculated at the time of order of the customer because shipping is dependent upon weight and distance traveled and size of the box.
We've partnered with USPS in order to provide shipping for all of our customers within the continental US. Once that file is matched to a listing, we are now able to start printing and shipping that product for you. So now, as soon as the Etsy app is turned on, whenever an order comes through that is matched with a file, that order will be sent to us. We will print the item, we will post-process it, and then put it in a box and ship it directly to that customer. As soon as the item is shipped, a tracking number will be sent back up, notifying Etsy, your customer, and you that that item has shipped and give you a means of tracking it. With this new release, the time for shipment is about 2 to 5 days, so 2 to 5 days to make the part and then whatever the shipping time is on top of that. So you are able to update your Etsy listings to make sure they have the appropriate lead time on there.
And just to reiterate, only matched products will ever come to us. If you have hundreds of listings but you've only matched two to come to us, those two items are the only ones that we would ever be able to print and ship for you.
We are very excited to be releasing this new version of the Etsy app out to wider adoption and higher signups. Over the last 6 months, Etsy stores connected to our print farms have produced hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. This has included everything from cookie cutters to headphone stands to trailer hitch covers, and we're so excited to see what entrepreneurs create from here. This is going to make it so much easier for online business owners to create new products and better support their customers without having to worry about the logistics and hassle of knowing what kind of printer to get, how fast it's going to ship, having to post-process parts, box things up, keep track of shipping cost—all of that is now able to be in the background so that they can grow and become successful and focus on the things that are truly important. Below is a direct link on how to get started with our Etsy Plugin! https://www.slant3d.com/slant3d-etsy-integration