How To Know When To "Double Or Nothing” Your 3D Printed Product

You’ve launched your 3D printed product, sales are OK but not amazing, and possibly they’re stagnating after a few months.

What should you do? You could either double down on the promotion of that product to try increase sales, ruthlessly pull it down from sale, or just leave it while you focus on the next product…

The journey of an e-commerce business owner, especially those that sell 3D printed items on platforms like Amazon and Etsy, is laden with potential highs and lows. Knowing what these at least look like ahead of time can help spur you on to bridge the gap when needed. 

The road to success is rarely linear. Seth Godin's concept of "The Dip" speaks directly to this reality. So, if you’re unsure how you should proceed, how do you navigate this tricky phase and make quality decisions about when to persevere or when to pivot? 

Let’s take a stern look so that you’re not wasting time or resources on the wrong things, or be at risk of potentially quitting too early…

It’s key to keep in mind; can I objectively be the #1 or #2 best for this market or product? If no, it may be worth reconsidering. 

For ecommerce business owners in the 3D printing niche, this "Dip" might manifest in various ways:

• A sudden decrease in sales after the initial product launch.
• Negative customer feedback or low star-ratings.
• Challenges with product quality or fulfilment.
• Rapid market changes, such as the introduction of a competitor product, or a change to the “master-product” that your 3D printed parts are an accessory for. 
• Operational problems, like printers breaking down or running out of stock.

They not only provide potential customers with assurance about the quality of the product but also give sellers insights into areas of improvement.

Why 10? Because it's a number that's achievable, even for new sellers, and it offers a diverse range of feedback. Positive reviews can start building momentum, while negative ones can provide valuable data points for product iteration - which with 3D printed products is a core advantage because it’s so easy to iterate and release new and improved versions to market. 

Where to sell 3D printed items?

It’s also worth mentioning you’re best focusing all your efforts on one sales platform to begin with. For example starting on Amazon and diverting all your reviews and early sales promotion there. Then later sell 3D prints on Etsy to grow cross platform, for example.

Usually if you can get to 10 reviews, you can build sales to a semi respectable rate where it’s at least worth to continue selling. If it takes longer than a few months to reach these reviews, despite a solid plan in place - then it could be a marker to re-think the product or the market. 

And if it won’t increase in sales once you have those 10 reviews, even by doing the steps we outline when positioning your 3D prints to sell, it could point that the product doesn’t have much potential. 

This is where it’s worth running it through our 3D printed products in demand validation checklist (it’s free) - to check your product even has sufficient demand in the categories / markets you’re trying to sell it into. Click the button below for your free copy.

However, remember that feedback is more than just a number. It's about quality, genuine customer experiences, and actionable points. Blindly aiming for reviews without considering their substance can lead you astray.

The “Cut de Sac” (meaning “Dead-end" in French)

“If something’s too hard, it’s probably not worth doing” - Homer Simpson

A dead end can be described as putting work and work into something for sustained effort and time, and making no clear progress. It’s vital we learn to spot this, because we can spend years treading water on a dead end, if we’re not careful. 

I spoke with a couple just the other week who had started their 3D printing business 3 years ago, and despite working on their business for around 60 hours a week between them their sales were still well under 2000 Euros per month. 

And profit was far lower. When we did the maths their hourly rate was lower than low (for a Western country). Their business plan, the model they were using to try to grow the business - was just not working. 

They didn’t just need to know how to sell 3D prints, but they needed to know what was really worth selling. It pays to start with the most profitable 3D printed items and then focus

It’s important to understand here the difference between quitting and failing. It’s not failing if you’re making a conscious decision to quit, because you’ve tried all that you can for X period of time, and not made worthwhile progress. 

Your appetite to persevere while maintaining objective realism about your progress is key to being able to accurately identify if you’re going down a dead end, and if your time and resources may be better spent on another product idea. 

Some of the most successful people who sell 3D prints realise when they’re not making progress, or when there’s a more worthwhile cause. Or perhaps just realising that there’s probably a much better / faster / easier way of achieving the very thing they’re working towards. 

No one ever made progress or got commended for re-inventing the wheel from scratch. Progress was made through history of innovators building on previous innovations to move forward. 

The Dangers of the Cliff

While the Dip is a challenge, there's another curve that Godin warns about: the Cliff. This is when you experience skyrocketing success perhaps prematurely, only to crash and burn suddenly. For e-commerce sellers, this can happen if their first product becomes a massive hit. The sudden influx of sales, reviews, and attention can be intoxicating and a little addictive. 

But there's a catch.

Resting on the laurels of one product's success can be perilous. It’s quite common for clients I work with to have their first product be a roaring success. Great - but the works just beginning; I’ve seen people kick back and enjoy the sales for far too long. It’s OK to enjoy the fruits of your labour for a while, but just like in chess, we need to be thinking of that next move or 5. 

Soon it can lead to overconfidence, lack of innovation, or failure to address underlying issues. If you don't have the infrastructure, customer support, or quality assurance in place to handle the demand, your business could face significant setbacks when the tide turns.

Furthermore, if they felt things were easy with their first printable product and got overconfident, their next product lacks many of the main “fundamentals” that got the first product the success; so they’re not as successful ongoing. 

Decisions: Push Through or Pivot?

So, with an understanding of the Dip and the Cliff, how does one make the crucial decision to push through or to quit?

We need to have our eyes and ears open - we’re looking for objective clues as to what is the most likely thing to do. 

Evaluate Feedback Quality: Are the negative reviews about shipping delays or about the product's fundamental design? The former might be a logistical issue, while the latter could signal a deeper problem with the product itself.

Market Trends: Is there a decline in demand for similar products, or the niche it’s in, or is it specific to your product? Utilise tools like Google Trends or Amazon's sales data to assess the market landscape.

Resource Allocation: Are you spending a disproportionate amount of resources, be it time or money, on this product compared to the returns? A skewed resource-to-return ratio might indicate it's time to reconsider. 

You don’t want to be thinking so short term that you’re expecting results for everything you do in your business, but you do need to be seeing a trend over time of results paying off for your efforts. 

Embrace Evolution: Remember, quitting doesn't signify failure. It means you're evolving. If a product isn't working, can it be reimagined, improved, or even replaced? With 3D printing we have an opportunity to change and re-imagine limitlessly. 

Avoid Complacency: If your product is a hit, avoid becoming complacent. Innovate, diversify, and always be prepared for market shifts. Think; what’s the next product we can sell - ideally to the same customer group as the first one so you can grow the value of each customer (more on this in another article). 

In Conclusion

The journey of an ecommerce entrepreneur, especially in the niche of working out what 3D printed products will sell, is filled with exciting challenges. We have access to a tool that is unmatched through history in terms of creating something physical, on repeat, with minimal human effort involved. 

While the Dip represents a phase where many may give up, understanding its nature and using practical markers, like the 10-review rule, can guide your decision-making process.

Remember, it's not about avoiding the Dip or the Cliff but embracing and navigating them with intelligence, adaptability, and a commitment to delivering quality to your customers. 

The choice to push through or pivot is not a one-size-fits-all answer, but with careful evaluation and strategy, you can turn challenges into stepping stones towards greater success. The key takeaway with all this is thinking “how can we fail faster so we can find the successes sooner?” 

As with anything, if you’ve launched 2 - 5 products and you’re still not getting anywhere, it could be worth reflecting on your growth strategy for your products, or it could be your method for identifying product opportunities that are in need of attention. 

To get help with either of these, I recommend this in-depth training on how to identify & launch a 3D printed product, that I created here.