3D-Printed Planters to Sell: Leaks, Sun and the Right Plastic
The two things that decide a planter’s reviews, settled before the first one prints, with the make cost for each size live.
Planters are one of the most natural products to 3D print and sell. Shapes that would need a mould in ceramic, faceted, ribbed, twisted, cost nothing extra to print, and people buy them in sets and as gifts. Two things decide whether a printed planter gets good reviews or bad ones: whether it leaks onto the windowsill, and whether it survives the sun. Both are settled by choices you make before the first one prints. Pick where yours will live.
Size
Where it sits
How it is watered
Print it in
PLA Basic
Indoors out of direct sun, PLA is the right plastic: the most colours, the cleanest detail and the lowest cost.
Design in a drainage hole and a matching saucer. A printed wall can seep a little water between its layers, so the saucer catches both.
To make, in PLA Basic
$9.96
Planter, medium · 120 × 120 × 110 mm · 123 g · 2.5 h
A real part sliced on our production profile, priced live at the cheapest spool of PLA Basic. Other plastics print a little differently; your own file is re-sliced in the plastic you choose.
The planter that sells easiest
A cover pot sized to slip over a standard nursery pot.
WhyNo drainage hole, no saucer, no leaks. The buyer drops the plant in, still in its nursery pot, and it looks finished.
Water, sun and size
- Water
- A printed wall can seep a little water between its layers. Either design a drainage hole with a saucer that catches everything, or make a cover pot that the plant’s own nursery pot sits inside.
- Sun
- Indoors, PLA is the right plastic. Outdoors, a pot in the sun runs hotter than the air, so use PETG-CF or ABS, which hold their shape to 74 °C and 87 °C against PLA’s 57 °C.
- Size
- Material and print time grow fast with size. Our medium planter, 120 mm across, takes about two and a half hours; the small succulent pot takes under an hour.
- Weight
- Tall pots tip easily when they are light. A thicker base adds weight where it helps.
Planters that sell
- Faceted and geometric
- The shapes ceramic struggles with and printing does easily.
- Matching sets
- Three sizes in one design and colour. Sets raise the order value and photograph well.
- Small succulent pots
- Cheap to make, quick to print, and bought several at a time.
- Wall and hanging planters
- Light printed pots suit walls and hooks, where ceramic is heavy.
- Plant labels and markers
- An easy add-on to a planter order, and a small product on their own.
For planters and vases that sit with other home goods, see home decor that sells. To compare plastics side by side, see PLA vs PETG, and for what a planter costs to post, see how to ship 3D prints.
FAQ
Not reliably. Water can seep between printed layers, so design a drainage hole with a saucer, or make a cover pot that holds the plant’s own nursery pot.
PLA indoors: the most colours and the cleanest detail. Outdoors or in strong sun, PETG-CF or ABS, which hold their shape at higher temperatures than PLA.
In shade they can, but a pot in direct sun can get hot enough to soften PLA, which holds its shape only to about 57 °C. Use PETG-CF or ABS for outdoor pots.
It depends on size. A small succulent pot costs a few dollars to make; a medium planter around ten to twelve dollars, depending on the plastic. The calculator above prices each size live.
Design the pot. We print every order.
Each planter printed in the plastic its home needs, checked by hand and shipped under your name. A price per part in seconds, no account needed.
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