3D Maker Saver is a free resource for people who 3D print for a living — or want to. It exists to do two things: help you spend less on supplies, and help you skip the expensive mistakes that come with turning a hobby printer into income.
I run a small e-commerce business built around 3D-printed products, selling across Taobao, Pinduoduo, Douyin and Xiaohongshu. Most of my filament and parts come from Chinese marketplaces, because that's where my margins live. This site is the buying knowledge I wish someone had handed me when I started — written down so you don't have to learn it the expensive way I did.
Prices that show the real gap. Filament, resin, nozzles, boards and spares, priced in USD against what Chinese sellers actually charge — so you can see the gap before you decide where to buy.
Walkthroughs for buying from China yourself. Step by step through Taobao, 1688 and Pinduoduo: accounts, payment, freight forwarders, customs. Written for people who don't read Chinese and have never done it before.
Numbers on turning prints into income. Business and side-hustle ideas with real figures — what a print actually costs to make, what customers pay, and which products are already too crowded to bother with.
New developments, without the hype. Plain-spoken takes on new materials, machines and the products other makers are building small businesses around, including whether any of it matters yet.
They come from the same marketplaces Chinese sellers use, and they include the parts most guides leave out: forwarder fees, consolidation, and what happens when a parcel gets stuck in customs. Local shop prices are easier to find and much easier to pay. That's the trade.
I check prices when an article goes up, and then they drift. Read them as a range, not a quote.
Anyone with a printer should be able to buy a spool at a fair price, and should know what a printing business actually costs before spending a year finding out.
If this site works, you stop overpaying for filament and you learn from other people's bad decisions instead of making all of your own.
Longer term, I'd like the prices here kept honest by the people using them. Spot one that's off, email me and I'll fix it. That's about as far as the master plan goes.
Questions, corrections, or a price that looks wrong: official3dmakersaver@hotmail.com — or use the contact form. I read everything that comes in.