Can I sell Gridfinity prints?

The original Gridfinity designs were released under the MIT licence, which allows commercial use. Remixes and generators have their own licences, so check each. On Etsy, sell only bins you designed yourself.

How much does a Gridfinity bin cost to print?

A 1×1 bin three units tall is about 9 g of PLA and 22 minutes on our printers. On its own it costs the $2 order minimum; in a run of ten it is about $1.39 each.

What size is a Gridfinity unit?

42 by 42 mm on the grid, with heights in 7 mm units. Bins are made slightly smaller than the grid, 41.5 mm a cell, so they drop in easily.

Do Gridfinity bins need magnets?

No. The stepped base holds them in the baseplate. Magnets, 6 by 2 mm, make them hold firmly; we can fit them before shipping.

Selling Gridfinity Bins: The Licence, the Cost, the Kits

Gridfinity is a modular storage system built on a 42 mm grid: a baseplate cut to fit a drawer, and bins in whole multiples of that grid that drop into it and stay put. It is widely printed and remixed, and people who do not own a printer want it too. The bins are light and quick to make, which makes a well-chosen kit a good product. Here is what one costs, from bins we modelled to the standard and sliced on our own printers.

Baseplate

Bins (grid units wide × deep × 7 mm units tall)

1 × 1 × 39 g · 22 min each4
2 × 1 × 316 g · 30 min each2
2 × 2 × 329 g · 48 min each1
2 × 2 × 638 g · 59 min each0
3 × 2 × 653 g · 78 min each0

Kit to make

$13.69

Printer time

4.0 h

Bins

Fills

12 of 16 cells

Reference parts modelled to the published Gridfinity profile and sliced on our production profile, in PLA Basic at today’s rates. Copies of one bin share a printer bed and get the quantity price; magnets are fitted before packing at their part price.

The licence, in one line

The original Gridfinity designs were released under the MIT licence, which allows selling prints.

The catchMany popular Gridfinity generators and remixes have their own licences, some non-commercial. The original MIT release does not cover them.

What you can sell, and where

The original designs: Released by Zack Freedman under the MIT licence, which allows commercial use. Keep the credit to the original project in your listing.
Remixes and generators: Each carries its own licence: some are GPL or LGPL, some state none, and some are non-commercial. Check each one before you sell its output.
Your own bins: The grid is an open standard. Bins you design yourself to its dimensions are your own design, which is the safest position and the only kind Etsy allows.
On Etsy: Etsy requires 3D-printed items to be your own design, so sell bins you designed, not downloaded files, however they are licensed.

This is general information, not legal advice. Our guide to selling prints of downloaded models decodes every licence the model sites use.

Kits that sell

Sized to a real drawer: Sell kits by drawer size: a baseplate and a set of bins that fills it. Buyers measure the drawer, not the grid.
A mix of bin sizes: Mostly small bins with a few larger ones. Small bins are cheap to make and the ones people need most of.
Magnets as an option: Magnets hold bins firmly in the baseplate. Four per grid cell add to the cost, so offer them as an upgrade.
One colour per kit: A kit in a single colour looks finished; a second colour for labelled bins helps people find things.

Two practical limits: our printer bed is 256 mm, so the largest single baseplate is five or six cells a side, and bigger drawers take two plates side by side. And a part too wide to share the bed with a second copy, like a 5×5 baseplate, is priced as a one-off at any quantity. For the cost of other everyday products, see the Make-Cost Index and desk accessories to sell.