Plenty of people sell printed cutters at markets and on Etsy. Here is what actually governs whether you can.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ between countries and the consequences of getting the character question wrong are real.
What you make here is yours to sell
Anything you generate with this tool is yours. There is no licence to accept, no attribution required, no commercial tier, and no watermark. That covers:
- Cutters and stamps traced from your own artwork
- Text stamps set in any of the bundled fonts
- Anything from the Pre made shape library
The bundled fonts are all released under the SIL Open Font License or the Apache License, both of which permit commercial use of the things you set with them. You cannot sell the font files themselves, which is not something you were going to do.
The Pre made shapes are original parametric geometry written for this tool. They are not traced from anyone's model and not downloaded from a model site. Sell the prints.
What will get you in trouble
Characters and brands. This is the one that actually matters, and it is the one most sellers get wrong. A cutter shaped like a well known cartoon character, a film logo, a sports team badge or a branded product is an infringement of copyright, trademark, or both. It does not become legal because:
- you drew it yourself
- you changed it slightly
- you are a small seller
- other people on Etsy are doing it
- you add the words "inspired by" or "fan art"
Marketplaces do take these down, and rights holders in this space do send notices. If your business plan depends on a licensed character, you do not have a business plan.
Generic concepts are fine. A dinosaur is fine, a specific film's dinosaur is not. A crown is fine, a specific brand's crown is not. A robot is fine, a named robot is not.
Someone else's model. If you downloaded an STL from a model site, check its licence before selling prints of it. Many are non commercial. Creative Commons with the NC clause means you may not sell the print.
Food safety and selling
Selling something that will touch food raises the stakes beyond making one for yourself. What sellers generally do:
- Print in virgin filament, not recycled
- Use a stainless steel nozzle rather than brass
- State plainly that the item is hand wash only in warm water
- State that it is not dishwasher safe
- Avoid claiming the item is certified food safe, because for an ordinary FDM print that claim is not supportable
The honest position and the reasoning behind it is in are 3D printed cookie cutters food safe. Read it before you write your product description, because a description that overclaims is a bigger risk than the cutter itself.
Some jurisdictions regulate the sale of food contact articles. In Australia, food contact materials fall under state food safety legislation and the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. If you are selling at scale rather than at a market stall, take advice rather than guessing.
Practical notes from people who do it
- Price the time, not the filament. A 75 mm cutter is around 20 cents of filament and around an hour of machine time. The filament is not the cost.
- Custom work is where the margin is. A logo cutter for a business, or a name cutter for a birthday, sells for many times what a generic shape does, and this tool makes the design step take a minute.
- Print a sample before you list a size. The size that works for a photo is not always the size that prints well.
- Sets sell better than singles. A themed set of four is an easier purchase than four decisions.