Printables launches an online store selling 3D models created by users

The Czech manufacturer of 3D printers – PRUSA Research, has launched an online store with 3D models as part of its Printables platform. In December last year, the company created a section of official profiles of brands that make their resources available for 3D printing, including: Adafruit, Raspberry Pi, Warhorse Studios, World of Warships or Prusa Research itself. In August this year, a new subscription system appeared on Printables – Printables Club, used to support your favorite creators and gain access to models available only in these clubs. Now this feature has been significantly expanded with the Printables Store.

Printables Club was based on the concept of designers creating “clubs” where users could “subscribe” and regularly receive exclusive content. There were five different subscription tiers, each providing an additional level of access over the default free tier. Now this model has been modified and transformed into a classic platform for selling/buying 3D models. With one important change…

The problem of many repositories of this type that have implemented the store concept is a large number of very similar 3D models offered at low prices. As a result, it is flooded with low-quality content and finding valuable things among them becomes difficult and discouraging. PRUSA Research didn’t want this to happen to Printables, so they implemented several policies to limit “3D spam” among the items they offer:

• the number of possible sales is limited to 1 person
• minimum fee of $5 per 3D model.

Sales start at one copy per person. To get more selling options, you must make an actual sale. This gradually unlocks more slots for new products, until after 50 transactions, the creator will receive an unlimited number of 3D models on offer.

All Printables users can start publishing models to the store. To insert your 3D model into the store, select the “Shop and sell” option in your account settings, provide information about yourself, add your own terms and conditions and configure your Stripe withdrawal details. You can then activate your store and upload your first paid model. For store models, you can choose from three available model licenses:

• standard license for digital files
• commercial use license
• commercial use – no derivative works.

Source: www.prusa3d.com