>I see 3D printing services out there but can't understand who might be using them when you can buy printers for relatively little money.

My impression is that 3D printing is a hassle; between cleaning nozzles, babysitting things, polishing/sanding things post-print (removing supports, etc) and all the other work required.

I love that 3D printing is available, and I love that thingiverse and similar sites let you share models, but in the past year I've only wanted to have ~4 small enclosures printed for hardware projects. At that volume paying somebody else to print something for me is a much more effective use of money than buying a printer and managing it.

I wrote about this, briefly, here:

https://blog.steve.fi/3d_printing_is_cool.html

In short - 3d printing is cool, but its still not a "hit print and wait" process. Until it is I'd rather outsource the actual printing to people with more patience than I possess!