Which filament to stock when you sell 3D prints

Short answer

Most products that sell well are decorations, gifts, signs and small household items, and PLA covers almost all of them. Start with PLA in a handful of colors, add PETG for things that go outside, in the kitchen or in a hot room, and add other materials only when an order asks for them. The filament guide explains the differences between the materials.

PLA for most products

PLA prints easily, comes in the most colors and finishes, and gives clean detail on text and small parts. That makes it the material for names, signs, ornaments, figures and desk items. Its weak point is heat: it softens at around 60°C, so it doesn't belong on a car dashboard, in a dishwasher or in a sunny window.

A matte PLA such as Bambu Lab PLA MattePartner link hides layer lines better than a shiny one, which makes prints look more finished in photos and in the hand. A standard PLA such as Bambu Lab PLA BasicPartner link has the widest choice of colors.

PETG for outside, water and heat

PETG is tougher than PLA and handles more heat, water and sunlight. Use it for plant labels, garden parts, bathroom holders and anything that gets bent or knocked. It strings more easily and sticks very well to some build plates, so it takes a little more care. How to print PETG covers the settings. Bambu Lab sells several PETG filamentsPartner link.

ASA and ABS go further on heat and sunlight, but they need an enclosed printer. Add them only when you sell parts for cars or long outdoor use.

Which colors to keep

Colors are where stock gets out of hand. A shop with personalized gifts can quickly want twenty colors, and every spool ties up money. Start with a small set and add colors only when you have sold something in them, or when an order pays for a spool.

• White and black: the base for signs, labels and most two-color text.
• One or two neutral tones, such as grey or a wood-like beige, for home items.
• A few strong colors that suit your products, for example red and green before Christmas or pastel colors for baby gifts.
• One silk or matte specialty color if your products are decorations, as it photographs well.

Show buyers the real colors

Colors look different on every screen. Print a swatch card for every filament you have, with the filament swatch generator, and photograph them together in daylight. Buyers can pick from what you really have, and you see at a glance when a color runs low.

Stay with one brand per color

The same color name from two brands is rarely the same color, and even two batches of one brand can differ slightly. For a product you sell in a fixed color, buy that color from one brand and keep the spool label, so a repeat order matches the first one. When a customer orders a set, print it from one spool.

Keep it dry

Filament takes up moisture from the air, and wet filament strings, pops and prints rough surfaces. PETG and TPU suffer most, PLA less. Store open spools in a closed box with desiccant such as Bambu Lab Silicone DesiccantPartner link, and dry a spool before an important order if it has been open for weeks. How to dry filament gives temperatures and times.

Abrasive and specialty filaments

Glow-in-the-dark, carbon-fiber and some wood or metal-filled filaments wear out a nozzle much faster. Bambu Lab's maintenance guide for the A1 replaces the PTFE tube every 2 spools of carbon-fiber material instead of every 6 spools of PLA. Price that wear into products made from these materials, or skip them until an order pays for it.

How much to keep

Keep enough of each color to finish the orders you usually get in a week or two, plus one spare spool of your most used colors. Managing filament stock shows how to work that out from the grams per product.

Frequently asked questions

Make it

Filament Swatch

Sample cards for your filament collection

3D render3D Printing

Sources

1. Bambu Lab Wiki: A1 maintenance guidelines