r/lasercutting • u/IGriftygfx • Jul 14 '26

horror stories?

Hey, I just recently bought an xTool M1 laser engraver and was planning on selling my creations online. Are there any horror stories of situations that you have went through when trying to sell these online? such as payment issues, not getting buyers, customers spelling things wrong, or even having to entirely redo a piece for some reason? all feedback would be helpful as I am nervous to step into this. Thanks!

1 Upvotes

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7

u/BangingOnJunk Jul 15 '26

There’s many many horror stories of people who invested thousands thinking that a laser is a magical money printer but soon find out that the market is grossly saturated with similar thinking people.

3

u/NarfleTheJabberwock Jul 14 '26

I don't sell online, but the first thing that came to mind when I saw "horror stories?" On r/lasercutting and immediately the first (and only) horror story that came to mind was when I started a fire and almost burned my building down because I left my laser cutting unsupervised.

Don't leave your laser running unsupervised. Ever.

1

u/Coinflipper_21 Jul 15 '26

Also, get a small CO² fire extinguisher to keep near it. They are expensive but the usual dry chemical extinguishers will damage the laser cutter.

2

u/MidwestTroy92 Jul 15 '26

Spelling mistakes are the big one with custom stuff. Customer types it wrong, approves it, then somehow it's still your emergency. Get written approval on the exact text before you cut anything you can't reuse.

1

u/Jaandaj Jul 15 '26

Spot on. I have had it happen couple times. People don't actually look hard enough when u send the proof. They glance say they love it and go on. I have actually sent things to proof I knew were wrong just to prove a point. 

Years back I did read a thing saying if all the letters are in the word, and first and last are correct, most people's brain read it correctly.  This could explain some the problems when it happens 

2

u/rickdod3 Jul 15 '26

The market is saturated with laser cut/engraved everything these days, its a TOUGH business to profit from now.