Set Up a Follower Goal to Fund a 3D Printer or GPU Upgrade

To fund a 3D printer or GPU upgrade with follower support, create a Brillay Goals, name the exact hardware and price, set a target amount, and let followers contribute cash toward it with a visible progress bar. A wishlist goal is a goal, not a commission: no product ships and no service is delivered in exchange. A Goal is one named goal with a progress bar: followers make one-time contributions and every contribution is yours whether or not the goal is reached — no deadline unless you set one, and nothing to ship.

What counts as a hardware wishlist goal instead of a commission?

If you're trying to raise funds for a printer or GPU, use Goals: supporters contribute one time toward the amount you set, the progress bar shows what has been raised, and there is nothing to ship. A commission is the opposite — a supporter pays for a bounded piece of work and receives that file on a set delivery time.

Brillay's feature documentation is the primary source for that boundary, and it rules out both product-shipping wishlists and reward tiers.

"This is direct cash toward your goal — not an Amazon-style wishlist where supporters buy and ship you products, and not a tiered rewards crowdfunding campaign." — Brillay, Goals

If you're pricing a printable model file for a client, that's 3D-print-ready model commission work, not a wishlist goal — the buyer is paying for a specific output, not helping you buy equipment. A hardware wishlist only makes sense when the money funds your studio, not a client's file. Keep the two offers visually and functionally separate on your page so supporters understand which one they're paying into.

Why would a 3D artist or VTuber ask supporters to fund hardware?

Supporters fund hardware because the upgrade directly improves the content or commissions they already pay for: faster renders, cleaner prints, or a rig that doesn't drop frames on stream. Naming one specific piece of hardware, instead of asking supporters to "help me upgrade my PC," gives contributors a concrete target and a visible finish line to move toward.

Published software requirements turn a hardware ask into a checkable specification instead of a personal preference:

• Blender's official system requirements list 2 GB of GPU VRAM as the minimum to run Blender and 8 GB of VRAM as the recommended amount (Blender, Requirements).
• The Blender Manual's GPU Rendering page documents the Cycles "Out of memory" error as a shortage of memory for storing the scene on the GPU, not a shortage of core speed.
• A goal that names the card and the VRAM figure it targets can be checked by any supporter against Blender's published requirements page.

"This usually means there is not enough memory to store the scene for use by the GPU." — Blender Manual, GPU Rendering

How much does a 3D printer upgrade actually cost?

A named entry-level printer gives a wishlist goal an exact, checkable target. Bambu Lab lists the A1 mini at $219.00 USD, Prusa Research the semi-assembled Original Prusa MINI+ at $549.00 USD, and ELEGOO the Mars 5 Ultra resin printer at a promotional $269.00 USD, all on their own United States stores.

Four cost and workflow facts a filament-versus-resin choice turns on:

• ELEGOO lists the Mars 5 Ultra resin printer at $269.00 USD, marked down from a $338.00 USD reference price, with a 153.36 × 77.76 × 165 mm build volume on its own United States store.
• Filament (FDM) printers suit prototyping, articulated figures, and larger props; resin (MSLA) printers suit fine miniature detail but add washing, curing, and ventilation steps to every print.
• ELEGOO's own resin cleaning guide instructs users to work in a well-ventilated area and to wear nitrile gloves and safety glasses before washing a resin print.
• ELEGOO lists its Mercury Plus V3.0 combined wash-and-cure station at $150.00 USD, marked down from a $199.99 USD reference price, on its United States store (ELEGOO US store, Mercury Plus V3.0), so a resin goal that leaves out curing gear understates the real cost of the setup.

Formlabs, which manufactures SLA resin printers and post-processing hardware, describes washing and post-curing as standard steps rather than optional extras:

"Every part requires a quick wash and many materials require a short post-cure." — Formlabs, Guide to Post-Processing and Finishing SLA Resin 3D Prints

All printer and station figures quoted here are the manufacturers' own United States storefront prices in US dollars, excluding shipping, duties, and sales tax; the two ELEGOO numbers were promotional prices at the time of checking, and prices in other regions and on reseller listings differ and change over time. Name which printer category a wishlist goal funds — filament or resin, and whether curing gear is included — rather than writing "a 3D printer" generically.

How much does a GPU upgrade cost for 3D rendering?

A GPU upgrade for rendering, sculpting, or a VTuber rig usually means buying more VRAM. NVIDIA lists the GeForce RTX 5070 with 12 GB of GDDR7 starting at $549 USD and the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti with 16 GB of GDDR7 starting at $749 USD on its own product page.

Three things worth knowing before fixing a GPU target amount:

• NVIDIA announced the 16 GB GeForce RTX 5060 Ti at a starting price of $429 USD and the 8 GB version at $379 USD on its own GeForce news page, making the 16 GB RTX 5060 Ti the cheapest of the three GeForce RTX 50-series cards compared on this page.
• Blender's official system requirements list 8 GB of system RAM as the minimum and 32 GB as the recommended amount, so a wishlist goal aimed only at a graphics card can still leave a render machine short on system memory.
• NVIDIA's "starting at" figures are United States launch prices for the reference specification; partner-board and street prices vary by model, region, and retailer, so check a current retail listing before fixing a goal amount.

When a scene runs out of GPU memory partway through a render, more VRAM — not a faster core alone — is the constraint a hardware goal should name.

What should a hardware wishlist goal page include?

A hardware wishlist goal should name the exact item and model, state the target amount in your own currency, explain in one line what the hardware fixes for your work, and show a progress bar so supporters can see how close the goal is to funded.

Two exact target examples a supporter can read without any other context: "$219 for a Bambu Lab A1 mini so test prints stop failing" and "$749 for a 16 GB RTX 5070 Ti so sculpt renders stop running out of VRAM."

Brillay's own Goals guidance recommends a specific target over a vague one, stating that "concrete goals get funded; vague ones don't". No public conversion study compares vague versus specific hardware goals, so treat the specific-target advice as a platform recommendation rather than a measured lift.

Fee math on a $100 contribution:

• Brillay's 5% platform fee on a $100 contribution is $5.00.
• Stripe's published United States rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per successful domestic card charge is $3.20 on a $100 charge (stripe.com/pricing).
• $91.80 of a $100 contribution reaches the goal before refunds or currency conversion, so set the target above the hardware sticker price.

How do you set up a Brillay hardware wishlist?

Setting up a hardware wishlist on Brillay takes five steps: claim your free Brillay link, switch on the Goals offer in your dashboard, name the exact printer or GPU in the goal fields, enter a target amount, then preview and publish the page. Connect your bank through Stripe before sharing the goal so you can receive contributions.

1. Claim your free Brillay link. Sign up, turn on the offers you want, and paste the link into your bio (how Brillay works). There is no follower minimum and no monthly fee.
2. Switch on Goals. Open the dashboard for your creator page, find the offer labeled Goals among Brillay's offer types, and toggle it on; it is not enabled by default for a new page.
3. Fill the goal name and description fields. Put the exact hardware in the name field ("Bambu Lab A1 mini") and what it fixes for your work in the description field. Brillay's Goals documentation describes the first setup step as describing what you are raising for and setting a target amount.
4. Enter the target amount. Brillay uses the target amount as the endpoint of the progress bar supporters watch fill up, so set the amount above the hardware sticker price to absorb platform and processing fees.
5. Preview, publish, and connect your own Stripe. Publish the page, open the public view once to confirm the goal and progress bar render, and connect your own Stripe account, which Brillay's pricing page states is required for paid widgets.

The full checklist for what belongs on a Goals page follows the same fields already covered above — name, description, and target amount — set up the same way from your dashboard as any other offer.

Should you fund the printer and GPU as one goal or two?

Run the printer and the GPU as two separate, sequential goals rather than one combined target. That is a practical recommendation based on clarity, not a measured conversion result: no public study and no Brillay figure compares funding rates for combined versus split hardware goals, so treat the split as a page-structuring choice rather than a promised lift.

Brillay's own Goals documentation does point the same way, advising creators to tie a goal to a specific, believable cost such as a piece of gear and to explain what it pays for. Two named pieces of gear meet that description more cleanly than one bundled "new rig fund."

The arithmetic also gets harder to explain when the two items are combined. Adding the $219.00 USD Bambu Lab A1 mini store price to the $749 USD starting price NVIDIA lists for the 16 GB GeForce RTX 5070 Ti produces a $968 combined ask before shipping, tax, and platform fees, which is more than four times the $219.00 USD printer target on its own.

If you run sequential goals, close and publish results on the first goal — printer funded, first prints posted — before opening the second goal for the GPU. Publishing a finished goal's outcome keeps the page from feeling like an open-ended ask and gives contributing supporters a visible result from the goal they already funded.

What else can you offer alongside a hardware wishlist?

A hardware wishlist works best paired with the paid work the hardware enables, not as a creator's only offer. Custom Work lets you sell the print-ready model prep, rigged asset, or sculpt work a new printer or GPU makes possible, while Tips let a supporter send you a one-time amount with nothing to deliver in return.

Goals has no reward tiers or physical perks. You can add a deadline as a countdown, but reaching that date does not cancel the goal or return contributions. A thank-you post or an update once the goal is funded keeps the ask honest about what supporters are paying for. Paid Questions also work well alongside a hardware goal when supporters want to pay your set price to ask one private question and receive one written reply about a sculpt or render instead of commissioning full work.

Frequently asked questions

The most common questions about hardware wishlist goals concern rewards, fees, and eligibility. In short: Goals carries no reward tiers, Brillay charges 5% on goals, and there is no follower minimum.

Can I offer rewards or tiers for contributing to a hardware wishlist?

No. Goals do not include reward tiers or physical perks. Supporters contribute toward the named target, and any deadline you add is a countdown rather than an all-or-nothing cutoff. To sell a specific deliverable in exchange for payment, use Custom Work instead, priced and scoped separately from the wishlist goal.

Should I combine a printer fund and a GPU fund into one goal?

Two separate, sequential goals tend to be clearer for supporters because each has a nameable finish line, such as $219.00 USD for a Bambu Lab A1 mini. A single combined goal is vaguer and takes longer for supporters to see visible progress toward. Splitting a hardware fund into sequential goals is a page-structuring recommendation, not a measured guarantee of faster funding.

Is a hardware wishlist the same as a 3D-print commission?

No. A wishlist goal is cash toward equipment you keep and use in your own work; a 3D-print-ready model commission is paid work where a supporter pays for a specific printable file and receives that deliverable. Keep the two offers separate on your page.

What does Brillay charge on wishlist contributions?

Brillay charges a 5% platform fee on Goals, so on a $100 contribution that fee is $5.00, and Stripe's published United States processing rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per successful domestic card charge adds $3.20 (stripe.com/pricing).

Is there a follower minimum to run a wishlist goal?

No. Brillay's own FAQ explains that there is no follower minimum and nothing to apply for — it works from the first follower. Publishing a goal needs a claimed Brillay link and your own Stripe account for payouts, not an audience threshold.

Do I need existing hardware or a portfolio to publish a wishlist goal?

You can publish a Goal with no approval based on a portfolio or existing equipment. Being specific about what the goal funds, and what it changes for your work, matters more than any prerequisite.

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