How to get a 3D printer cheaply: six routes and what each saves

Several of the six routes below stack: the base model, bought in a sale after its successor has launched. For the lowest launch prices, see the cheapest 3D printers and 3D printers under $200 lists.

How can you get a 3D printer cheaply?

Buy the printer without its multicolor unit, which saved a median $160 at launch, and buy it in a sale: makers’ Black Friday prices were a median 23% below launch in 2025. Outgoing models are often cut when successors arrive. Refurbished units, Prusa kits and used printers also cost less, with less warranty or more work.

Route	Dated example	Saving	The catch
Skip the multicolor combo	Bambu Lab P2S at launch: $549 alone, $799 with an AMS 2 Pro	$50 to $300 at launch, median $160	Adding the unit later costs more
Buy the outgoing model	Bambu Lab P1P: $699 to $599 on 26 June 2023, 17 days before the Bambu Lab P1S went on sale	$100 to $150 at the first official cut	Support ends on a set date
Buy maker-refurbished	Anycubic Kobra X, 2 November 2026: $219 refurbished, $279 new on sale	$50 to $60 below the same model new that day	3-month to 2-year warranty, 7- to 30-day returns
Buy in the Black Friday sales	Bambu Lab, 2025: A1 mini $199 (launched at $299), P1S $399 (launched at $699)	Median 23% ($120) below launch at the makers’ US stores, 2025	Sales run from late October to early December
Build a kit	Original Prusa MK4S, 27 October 2026: $709 kit, $999 assembled	$290 to $300	Several hours to a weekend of assembly
Buy used	Set by the seller	Whatever it undercuts new by	The warranty runs from the first owner’s purchase

Skip the multicolor combo

A combo is the printer sold with a four-spool multicolor unit; the 3D printer combo price guide lists the launch price with and without the unit for 25 printers. If you will want multicolor later, the combo is the cheaper way to get it. At launch the AMS lite cost $249 on its own but added $160 to the Bambu Lab A1 mini Combo, and Creality’s CFS cost $319 alone but added $150 to the Creality K2 Combo.

Buy the outgoing model after its successor launches

Official price cuts often come with a newer sibling’s launch. The Bambu Lab P1S fell from $699 to $549 by 20 October 2025, as its successor (the P2S) arrived. More dated cuts are in 3D printer price drops.

Clearance goes deeper but does not last. After the Anycubic Kobra 3 V2 arrived, Anycubic’s store cut the Anycubic Kobra 3 from its $369 launch price to $199 by August 2025 and listed the last units at $169 in December 2025. It was sold out by March 2026.

Before buying a discontinued model, check its maker’s support dates. Bambu Lab ended P1P sales on 10 February 2026 and lists firmware feature updates until 14 November 2027 and spare parts until February 2031.

Buy refurbished from the maker

Flashforge’s refurbished Adventurer 5M (AD5M) was $199 on 2 November 2026, against $249 new. Warranty and returns vary more than price:

• Anycubic: a 1-year warranty and a 7-day return without reason, with return shipping paid by the buyer. Cosmetic wear is not grounds for a return.
• Flashforge: a 3-month warranty on a refurbished printer, against one year on a new one.
• Bambu Lab: a 2-year warranty and 30-day returns on its US refurbished listings, announced on 3 September 2026. The refurbished P1S page returned “page not found” on 2 November 2026, so stock comes and goes.

Amazon’s, eBay’s and Micro Center’s refurbished terms are in the refurbished 3D printers guide.

Buy in the Black Friday sales

In the makers’ 2025 sales, cuts ran from none to 43% below launch. Older models fell furthest: printers released in 2023 or 2024 sold a median 30% below launch, against 14% for 2025 releases.

Check a sale price against the launch price in the printer’s record, not the store’s “was” price. The Creality Ender-3 V3 SE sold for $199 in Creality’s 2025 sale, reported as $20 off $219, but $199 was its launch price. Prices by maker are in 3D printer Black Friday prices.

Build a kit

Bambu Lab, Creality, Elegoo, Anycubic and QIDI sell no kits. Prusa Research does, and says the kit and assembled versions are the identical printer, with the same warranty. On 27 October 2026 the Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) was $999 as a kit and $1,299 assembled.

The kit costs time instead: Prusa says a first printer build generally takes several hours, and the CORE One+ kit usually a full weekend. Other kits, including Voron designs, are in 3D printer kit prices.

Buy used

A used printer saves money only when its price beats the same model, or its successor, new and on sale. On 27 October 2026 the makers’ US stores sold a new Bambu Lab P1S for $349, a Bambu Lab A1 mini for $199 and a Creality Ender-3 V3 SE for $179.

The warranty does not restart. Bambu Lab’s runs from the date the original customer received the printer, and Prusa Research covers a second-hand printer for one year from first delivery if the buyer has the original invoice.

Before you pay, confirm the exact model and its support dates, ask for the print hours and watch it print. Have the seller unlink a Bambu Lab printer from their account. The used 3D printer inspection checklist covers each step, and the used 3D printers topic has guides to buying a used Ender-3, a used Prusa and a used Bambu Lab printer.

When is the best time to buy a 3D printer?

Late October to early December, during the makers’ Black Friday sales: in 2025 their US stores sold printers a median 23% below launch, and most sales opened four to five weeks before Black Friday. The other good moment is a successor’s launch, when the outgoing model is often cut. Official cuts came a median 7.5 months after release.

• Black Friday season. In 2025 the sales opened between 24 October (Elegoo) and 1 November (Creality), and most ended on 1 or 2 December. Black Friday 2026 falls on 27 November. Prusa Research opened its 2026 promotion on 22 October, with free accessories rather than lower printer prices. Anycubic followed on 26 October, Bambu Lab on 27 October and Elegoo on 2 November. Bambu Lab’s and Elegoo’s sales run to 1 December. Creality and QIDI were still running Halloween sales on 2 November.
• Early sale prices mostly held. The Bambu Lab P1S was $399 on 28 October 2025 and again on 10 November. The one sourced exception was the QIDI Q1 Pro: $399 on 17 November 2025, $349 on 30 November.
• Mid-year sales came close. Amazon’s Prime Day (23 to 26 June 2026) overlapped a Bambu Lab anniversary sale that ran to 15 July. Bambu Lab’s store then listed the A1 mini at $209, the Bambu Lab A1 at $279, the P1S at $369 and the Bambu Lab H2D at $1,499. Its Black Friday prices on 27 October 2026 were $10 to $100 lower: $199, $259, $349 and $1,399.
• At launch, only at an early-bird price. Creality launched the Creality Ender-3 V3 Neo Combo in October 2026 at $329 against $369. The Kobra X opened at $279 against a $399 list price, the same price Anycubic charged in its 2026 Black Friday sale on 2 November.
• Prices can rise while you wait. The Bambu Lab H2D launched at $1,899 in March 2025, was listed at $2,399 by 21 April 2025 and was back to $1,999 by 30 June. Prusa raised the Prusa CORE One L from $1,799 to $1,999 on 7 April 2026.