Selling 3d printers from China?

Question

Business Informatics

If anyone has been selling goods from China, they know that the most suitable goods are those with the least risk of breakage (returns), popular and light in weight. The importance of 3D printers cannot be overestimated.
There are possible suppliers from China. But then the question arose: How much will it be in demand in Russia? The weight of the goods is rather big, the complexity of assembly (although there are goods immediately assembled) and the high price (from 15000r), which complicates the sale through a one-page in Russia. I would be grateful to hear the opinion of competent people.

Answer 1

But after all, you can test your idea right away in battle - make a landing page and launch a direct.
Without printers, without offices, deliveries, and even without a legal entity. Just trying to sell a printer that you don't have.
Having spent 10-20 thousand rubles for direct, you can roughly estimate whether there is any interest in this topic at all or not. And it will be much cheaper than you decide to immediately buy a batch of printers, which will then gather dust and lie dead in your house.
But in general, the topic is still too young to enter the mass market with it. It seems that without building some kind of community, without DIY training videos, without working with various "circles", it will not be so easy to sell a printer. Laboratories, of course, do not need them. And for the home, this thing is a little expensive - many would like to play, but not everyone is ready to spend even 15 thousand on it. And what kind of printer for 15 thousand? What can he print? What is its layer thickness? Under what conditions can he work? The ideal surface and temperature at home is not easy to achieve. How easy is it to maintain? I suspect that the person who bought it will not part with the file.
In short, if you want to sell 3D printers, it’s better to do it in b2b and sell something worthy that can compete with the same Formlabs.

Answer 2

The seeming popularity of 3D printers in Russia, as well as the DIY segment as a whole, alas, is only apparent... I myself worked for a company that also supplied Chinese 3D printers and even assembled and sold my own development based on one of the popular open source projects. Sales were generally low, even with fairly high promotion budgets, the category was at a loss.
My advice is to shift to a more mass segment (for example, video recorders, etc.) and work closely with content, or vice versa, into a narrow niche.

Answer 3

Shift the focus from hardware to customer value. The 3D printer itself is a pain in the ass. Only technically trained enthusiasts may need them, and there are very few of them. Moreover, such an enthusiast will order a printer without you, or even assemble it himself.
For a business, you need a bulk supply, that is, for a mass segment. The mass segment is not about 3D printing at all ... until you significantly simplify the technology itself or show how you can make money on it.
I would suggest starting with the second one. Make a one-pager that will teach anyone who wants to make money on 3D printing with a guarantee and orders will flow like a river.
If we talk about niche demand, then maybe educational institutions will make a cash desk for you if you can supply them with a certified product in the right amount, prepared for teaching computer science, etc.

Answer 4

You can find suppliers from China for any product: alibaba.
We entrust import and customs clearance to companies that specialize in this.
Those do not make sense to start sales only because of the presence of a supplier.

Answer 5

https://tema.livejournal.com/2673221.html

Answer 6

Test a niche .. the only thing I can advise.