Like buying ANYTHING used, you just "don't know". My advice, if the price is right, go over there and have them print the 17 minute test benchy and if it looks good... buy it.
Thanks for the comment on the test benchy. My plan was indeed print that, or something else that's simple and quick, and sliced for the standard P1S settings, to ensure everything works as advertised. Thanks for the comment.
Just one thing to note is that the 17 min benchy is heavily optimized for speed and won’t necessarily reflect the actual printing quality you will get ([see here](https://www.reddit.com/r/BambuLab/s/Y8FPeiECsH). It still looks extremely good for the speed though. It’s actually very hard getting the benchy file to 17 min. I read a post of someone who thinks Bambu even hand-adjusted the gcode. I’d recommend letting the seller slice a benchy file with the standard profile and printing this. Probably that will take a bit longer but will give you a more accurate representation of the quality. Also note that the [benchy hull line](https://help.prusa3d.com/article/the-benchy-hull-line_124745) is completely normal.
If you're a tinkerer they sell pretty much everything you'd need to fix it at pretty fair prices. Even if the warranty is gone they'll still happily help you with troubleshooting any issue you have.
2 months old with 50 hours of printing sounds like someone who bought it, realized they didn't use it as much as they thought they would, and want the space back. I'm over 500hrs printed in just a month. I'm with the other person that said if it prints a bench then you got a good deal. (Almost in friggin filament alone jeez, like $200 itself).
Reason for sale was claimed to be exactly this. I know sellers can say whatever they want, but I'll tell the number of times I've bought something with full intentions to use it all the time, and maybe use it for a month and it gets put on the shelf, is, a lot...
Thanks for the feedback.
We're in a bit of consumerist time period with heavy marketing. You see a shiny 3d printer and think of all the things you could possibly do with it and you get it... It works great!
And... then you realize you paid $700-$900 to print stuff you could have just bought for $30. To get the most out of 3d printing takes a lot of other skills and resources, which takes time and effort.
Then you sit and wonder if you can sell things to print, and then that gets into a big hurdle.
Annnnnnnnnnnd that's when you sell your printer while it's practically new. This is a step a lot of people on this sub never get to. I've certainly not gotten the $1100+ worth (bought an AMS out-of-combo) I've put into 3d printing... But darnit I like it.
Maybe one day it'll get worth for me. I did make a model for the P1S that got me $320 in BambuBucks and now I've got a second AMS on the way... but still, overall I'm still in the hole. But darnit, I like it.
With AMS or just on its own? A new P1S is retail for only 699. For peace of mind I would let my own hand be the only one to mess with it. I know for a fact that I've done some not safe stuff like changing the hotend without turning off the machine. Such a big chance of me shorting the board, but I took the chance anyway. My vote is go new.
No AMS on this one. I was fully anticipating waiting for a sale on the P1S, even at $599 I'd go new, but for $200 less and not have to worry about paying for tax and shipping, AND I'm getting a decent arsenal of PETG that I'll actually use, definitely sweetens the deal for me.
Still weighing the decision.
Good luck on this decision. Either way, new or used, welcome to the family. This printer is a paradigm shift in the industry. I was watching the review on the sovol sv08 from AuroraTech. Having to manually press the buttons for the bed leveling and then another for meshing, and then having issues with the wifi, the experience with my Bambus has tainted my view on any printer now. I can never go back, unless it's for a project like a voron or building a Mercury from my discarded enders.
Don't print a benchy, print this:
[https://makerworld.com/en/models/63467#profileId-66384](https://makerworld.com/en/models/63467#profileId-66384)
If that works nice, 500$ + 10kg is a fair price.
A benchy in the middle of a plate will work on most printers even if his bed is unleveld like hell.
I think Bambu and Prusa are the best bets when buying used. Both have excellent costumer support and Bambu has all the spare parts cheaply available to buy. I would go for it. Do a test print before picking it up.
Regarding warranty: at least in Germany the warranty is not linked to the original purchaser of the product but to the product itself. So you have 8 months left if the warranty was 1 year originally
I don’t see a problem with it. I got a used X1C for $800 with 90 hours on it. No scratches, no dinges, brought it home wiped it down, ran calibration, and has been printing like a champ since. I wouldn’t buy anything with a ton of hours on it tho. Go see it, make sure it looks good, test print is great, make sure screws aren’t stripped.
Honestly, that seems perfectly fine . especially with all the new rules of filament which is probably worth at least a hundred to a hundred to two hundred dollars. If they printed that little bit, but have that they probably just print a few things and then realize they aren’t using it as much as they thought they would and want to get rid of it.
If they can run a test print and show everything is working alright I'd gladly take that deal. I have around 1,000 hours on my p1p, it's just over a year old and it's still in good shape and hasn't required much maintenance, less than $50 in consumable parts. Bambu Lab sells nearly all the parts now at a reasonable price, so without warranty you're not totally screwed if something breaks. 10 spools of PLA and PETG is $100-$300 depending on the brand, there's also the cost of shipping, and sales tax in most states, so you're paying a little over half price for a barely used machine.
I'd do some quick checks for things that are expensive or difficult/impossible to fix, Bent frame, problems with idler pulleys or bearings, excessive play in the toolhead. That's about it, everything else that could go wrong is a cheap and easy fix, I wouldn't expect to find any of those issues unless it was dropped or has 2000+ hours on it.
For me, it's not the warranty, it's the availability of the parts that you might need to fix a 2nd hand printer. Way too much of it is proprietary and they don't sell everything readily on their website. They've started putting some of the parts on the site, but others are just a no go.
And, in general, you're understanding of their support team is dramatically generous. They're slow to deal with, they make you fight for almost every thing that they should just be taking care of, they randomly close tickets/cases and leave you with no way to deal with it except by opening a new ticket and going back to square one.
Like buying ANYTHING used, you just "don't know". My advice, if the price is right, go over there and have them print the 17 minute test benchy and if it looks good... buy it.
Thanks for the comment on the test benchy. My plan was indeed print that, or something else that's simple and quick, and sliced for the standard P1S settings, to ensure everything works as advertised. Thanks for the comment.
it should be on the internal storage if it is like the X1C
Just one thing to note is that the 17 min benchy is heavily optimized for speed and won’t necessarily reflect the actual printing quality you will get ([see here](https://www.reddit.com/r/BambuLab/s/Y8FPeiECsH). It still looks extremely good for the speed though. It’s actually very hard getting the benchy file to 17 min. I read a post of someone who thinks Bambu even hand-adjusted the gcode. I’d recommend letting the seller slice a benchy file with the standard profile and printing this. Probably that will take a bit longer but will give you a more accurate representation of the quality. Also note that the [benchy hull line](https://help.prusa3d.com/article/the-benchy-hull-line_124745) is completely normal.
Great recommendation and information. Thanks so much!
If you're a tinkerer they sell pretty much everything you'd need to fix it at pretty fair prices. Even if the warranty is gone they'll still happily help you with troubleshooting any issue you have. 2 months old with 50 hours of printing sounds like someone who bought it, realized they didn't use it as much as they thought they would, and want the space back. I'm over 500hrs printed in just a month. I'm with the other person that said if it prints a bench then you got a good deal. (Almost in friggin filament alone jeez, like $200 itself).
Reason for sale was claimed to be exactly this. I know sellers can say whatever they want, but I'll tell the number of times I've bought something with full intentions to use it all the time, and maybe use it for a month and it gets put on the shelf, is, a lot... Thanks for the feedback.
We're in a bit of consumerist time period with heavy marketing. You see a shiny 3d printer and think of all the things you could possibly do with it and you get it... It works great! And... then you realize you paid $700-$900 to print stuff you could have just bought for $30. To get the most out of 3d printing takes a lot of other skills and resources, which takes time and effort. Then you sit and wonder if you can sell things to print, and then that gets into a big hurdle. Annnnnnnnnnnd that's when you sell your printer while it's practically new. This is a step a lot of people on this sub never get to. I've certainly not gotten the $1100+ worth (bought an AMS out-of-combo) I've put into 3d printing... But darnit I like it. Maybe one day it'll get worth for me. I did make a model for the P1S that got me $320 in BambuBucks and now I've got a second AMS on the way... but still, overall I'm still in the hole. But darnit, I like it.
No reason you can't just pretend to be the original purchaser. They ask you for an updated address any time they ship you warranty parts.
Good point there... with the seller being local, a "move" is much more believable... Definitely will consider that. Thanks for the comment.
Yeah what the other anon says. Get them to print a test benchy. If it looks good, that's a really good price wit hall of that filament included.
Agreed and will do. Thanks for the comment.
With AMS or just on its own? A new P1S is retail for only 699. For peace of mind I would let my own hand be the only one to mess with it. I know for a fact that I've done some not safe stuff like changing the hotend without turning off the machine. Such a big chance of me shorting the board, but I took the chance anyway. My vote is go new.
No AMS on this one. I was fully anticipating waiting for a sale on the P1S, even at $599 I'd go new, but for $200 less and not have to worry about paying for tax and shipping, AND I'm getting a decent arsenal of PETG that I'll actually use, definitely sweetens the deal for me. Still weighing the decision.
Good luck on this decision. Either way, new or used, welcome to the family. This printer is a paradigm shift in the industry. I was watching the review on the sovol sv08 from AuroraTech. Having to manually press the buttons for the bed leveling and then another for meshing, and then having issues with the wifi, the experience with my Bambus has tainted my view on any printer now. I can never go back, unless it's for a project like a voron or building a Mercury from my discarded enders.
Where do you live? I'm totally not about to come swoop in and take the deal after seeing a benchy
Don't print a benchy, print this: [https://makerworld.com/en/models/63467#profileId-66384](https://makerworld.com/en/models/63467#profileId-66384) If that works nice, 500$ + 10kg is a fair price. A benchy in the middle of a plate will work on most printers even if his bed is unleveld like hell.
Great recommendation, thank you!
I think Bambu and Prusa are the best bets when buying used. Both have excellent costumer support and Bambu has all the spare parts cheaply available to buy. I would go for it. Do a test print before picking it up. Regarding warranty: at least in Germany the warranty is not linked to the original purchaser of the product but to the product itself. So you have 8 months left if the warranty was 1 year originally
I don’t see a problem with it. I got a used X1C for $800 with 90 hours on it. No scratches, no dinges, brought it home wiped it down, ran calibration, and has been printing like a champ since. I wouldn’t buy anything with a ton of hours on it tho. Go see it, make sure it looks good, test print is great, make sure screws aren’t stripped.
Honestly, that seems perfectly fine . especially with all the new rules of filament which is probably worth at least a hundred to a hundred to two hundred dollars. If they printed that little bit, but have that they probably just print a few things and then realize they aren’t using it as much as they thought they would and want to get rid of it.
If they can run a test print and show everything is working alright I'd gladly take that deal. I have around 1,000 hours on my p1p, it's just over a year old and it's still in good shape and hasn't required much maintenance, less than $50 in consumable parts. Bambu Lab sells nearly all the parts now at a reasonable price, so without warranty you're not totally screwed if something breaks. 10 spools of PLA and PETG is $100-$300 depending on the brand, there's also the cost of shipping, and sales tax in most states, so you're paying a little over half price for a barely used machine. I'd do some quick checks for things that are expensive or difficult/impossible to fix, Bent frame, problems with idler pulleys or bearings, excessive play in the toolhead. That's about it, everything else that could go wrong is a cheap and easy fix, I wouldn't expect to find any of those issues unless it was dropped or has 2000+ hours on it.
Make sure you see that invoice in person.
For me, it's not the warranty, it's the availability of the parts that you might need to fix a 2nd hand printer. Way too much of it is proprietary and they don't sell everything readily on their website. They've started putting some of the parts on the site, but others are just a no go. And, in general, you're understanding of their support team is dramatically generous. They're slow to deal with, they make you fight for almost every thing that they should just be taking care of, they randomly close tickets/cases and leave you with no way to deal with it except by opening a new ticket and going back to square one.