Tag Archives: marketplace

3D Printing Makes Online Marketplace Etsy Change Its Handmade Policy

Founded in 2005, online marketplace Etsy has become a popular destination for handmade goods. From art to clothing to jewelry to toys, Etsy sellers create it all, and many sellers are quite sensitive about the definition of handmade.

As Etsy has scaled its business to now hosting over 18 million items for sale and attracting more than 60 million visitors per month, the company has had to consider how it can support sellers who are also achieving scale. And in that vein, Etsy has made a dramatic change to its policy about how goods are sourced.

No longer are items required to be handmade, but instead must have authorship with the seller. 3D printing is one of the factors influencing this decision.

“We have jewelers, for example, on Etsy who are using 3D printing to make parts for their jewelry. Those are hand-made, I think in spirit, even though they are designed on a computer and printed on a 3D printer,” said Chad Dickerson, CEO of Etsy, in an interview with NPR.

In fact, when you search Etsy for 3D printed goods, you find quite a selection. Approximately 750 items are listed in a 3D printing market on Etsy at this time.

Etsy 3D Printing

While artisans who specialize in handmade goods are not happy with Etsy’s policy change, it will be interesting to watch the diversity of new items that are listed on Etsy as a result of the company embracing 3D printing.

Perhaps Etsy will even start to compete with Shapeways and other 3D printing marketplaces as it finds profits and popularity in 3D printed goods.

Only 3 Days Left to Enter CGTrader’s 3D Printing Competition

CGTrader 3D Printing Competition

Competition Ends June 30 – Win an Ultimaker 3D Printer from CGTrader

As we reported in may, 3D model marketplace CGTrader is hosting a 3D printing competition, looking for innovative 3D printable models. Winning submissions will receive great prizes, including two Ultimaker 3D printers, 3D prints, gift cards from Sculpteo, Filaco, Stash, as well as an opportunity to sell designs in 3D printing store iMakr in London

In order to participate, designers need to create 3D printable models in .STL format and upload them for sale or download to CGTrader. Further information on the competition is available here: http://www.cgtrader.com/challenges-and-competitions/3d-printing-competition-2013.

The competition ends June 30, so submit your designs in the next 3 days!

Want to learn more? Read our full interview with the CGTrader team published in May 2013.

Win an Ultimaker! 3D Printing Competition at CGTrader

CGTrader 3D Printing Competition

3D Printing Competition at CGTrader

3D model marketplace CGTrader is hosting a 3D printing competition. The company is looking for innovative 3D printable models and are giving away great prizes, including two Ultimaker 3D printers, 3D prints, gift cards from Sculpteo, Filaco, Stash, as well as an opportunity to sell designs in 3D printing store iMakr in London.

In order to participate, designers need to create 3D printable models in .STL format and upload them for sale or download to CGTrader. Further information on the competition is available here: http://www.cgtrader.com/challenges-and-competitions/3d-printing-competition-2013.

We talked with CGTrader’s Dalia Lasaite about the competition and the marketplace.

On 3D Printing: What is CGTrader and why are you running this competition?

Dalia Lasaite: CGTrader is a designer-friendly 3D model marketplace for artists and designers. We aim to offer the best conditions for both sellers and buyers of 3D models – the authors on our marketplace receive over 90% of royalties, and can interact directly with the buyers, thereby landing additional jobs or establishing relationships. On the other side, the buyers enjoy direct contact with the sellers, low prices, as well as high quality of the models. Our aim is to make sure that talented designers can make a living off creating and selling professional-level, high-quality 3D models. The 3D models traded on CGTrader are used in a variety of fields, including games, visualizations, ads, architecture, simulations – and now, increasingly, in 3D printing.

The 3D printing industry is rapidly developing, and we noticed increasing interest in this technology from both buyers and sellers on our marketplace. In order to encourage our designer community to step into this exciting field, we decided to start this competition and challenge them to create 3D printable models. While majority of 3D designers have primarily worked in digital domains, they typically have very strong 3D modeling skills and unlimited creativity, but may have not tried using a 3D printer or designing for 3D printing – so this competition was a natural step and had a very positive reception.

On 3D Printing: We’re not quite halfway through the competition yet. Are you seeing any submissions that excite you yet?

Dalia Lasaite: We’re always amazed by the creativity of the 3D designer community! The submissions started rolling in recently, but we’ve already seen a whole spectrum of models from useful to beautiful to crazy. Steampunk-based alphabet letters, parts for coffee machines, Escher sculptures, graffiti spray gun, cars, characters, toys – you name it! And of course, there is the Robohand, whereby you can actually print the whole prosthetic hand – definitely changing the world for the better. There are a few submissions representing the first 3D printable model of designers – and it is great to see how willing they are to learn and pick up this technology.

On 3D Printing: You’re giving away an Ultimaker 3D printer. Why that 3D printer?

Dalia Lasaite: Yes, and not one – but two 3D printers! We’re very excited to work with Ultimaker for this competition. Ultimaker printer is one of the best printers on the market right now. It has a large build volume, is very fast, and delivers high-quality prints. When organizing the competition we discussed it with several experts, and all recommendations pointed to Ultimaker – so it was fairly easy to choose.

We also have other awesome sponsors – including 3D Print UK, iMakr, Sculpteo, Filaco, Stash – the winners of this challenge will be very lucky!

On 3D Printing: What’s the future hold for CGTrader?

Dalia Lasaite: CGTrader aims to be the largest 3D model marketplace for professional level, high-quality 3D models. It is hard to say how the 3D printing industry will develop during the coming years – but our goal is to help designers monetize their creations, and provide the buyers with a wide selection of 3D models directly from designers. At the same time, we hope to contribute to the growth of the industry by providing a place to trade 3D models and encourage more designers to try their hand in this field.

 

Thanks to CGTrader for this interview!

Enter the CGTrader competition before June 30th to qualify.

Startup Azavy Launches AirBnB Marketplace for 3D Printing

Azavy 3D Printing

Azavy, an AirBnB for 3D Printing

In college, all the Azavy team members independently had difficulty getting access to a 3D printer. Having lived through this challenge, they created Azavy to efficiently connecting designers with makers (owners of 3D printers).

Co-founder Michael Anderson described to us the vision for the company, ”3D printing is a nascent market with vast potential. We see parallels with the early personal computing industry. With rapidly developing technology, lowering costs, and increasing ease of use, the number of printers and their capabilities are expanding dramatically. Azavy allows everyone to participate in and capitalize on this new technology–by purchasing items, designing products or fulfilling orders.”

Think of this like the AirBnB of 3D printing. You want a design. Someone has a printer. Get it printed cheaper than higher-end 3D printing services through crowdsourcing. The service is similar to Teleport It 3D, but more trusting in the kindness of strangers.

Bringing 3D Printing Costs Down

Consumers buy 3D printed products because they are manufactured just for them and can be made from unique stunning designs. Products bought through Azavy arrive 2x faster and up to 6x cheaper than current competitors. User reviews and feedback establish consumer trust, and Azavy guarantees product delivery or your money back.

Azavy 3D Printing Marketplace

How Azavy Works

Designers start selling their 3D designs for a price-per-product that they specify, without requiring any upfront capital. Designers retain full rights to their uploaded files, and can choose to be the sole manufacturer if they do not wish to share their design with other makers.

Makers (owners of 3D printers) monetize their expensive assets which would otherwise sit idle. Azavy allows makers to place bids on products to fulfill orders, and monetize their 3D printers.

Anderson describes the marketplace:

Azavy will rapidly democratize the 3D printing landscape, empowering designers, consumers, and printer-owners. There are two primary sides to the Azavy platform:

1) “iTunes store” for 3D Designs: Designers are compensated on a per-product-sold basis, incentivizing them to create the most desired designs on the market, while retaining full ownership of their digital models. As the store grows, Azavy will be a major ecosystem in the intellectual property space for 3D designs, as physical items become digitized, transferable, and shareable.

2) Dynamically Routed Local Manufacturing: The Next Industrial Revolution will be on-demand, localized production. The Azavy platform makes this possible by connecting designers and consumers with local fulfillers. The secret sauce is the Azavy algorithm for routing work-orders based on consumer preferences, while optimizing for price and delivery time. By dynamically routing orders to local makers, Azavy enables the next generation of manufacturing efficiency – on demand production at the closest possible location.

The Azavy algorithm works by suggesting the best fulfiller for each item, specific to each consumer. Consumers also have the option to choose any of the various makers bids on each product, and the algorithm incorporates customer reviews, adjusting the “preferred fulfiller” for each item and trending to higher-quality manufacturing.

The Azavy vision is this manufacturing model on a global scale. 3D printers, supported by a library of digital designs, and an efficient crowd sourcing and order routing system, will enable production of physical items anywhere in the world on-demand. This is the Next Industrial Revolution, and represents a tidal shift in how people will go about producing products. By dynamically routing orders efficiently, Azavy represents the global production model of the future: items created on-demand, locally, for the cheapest price by available resources.

Azavy launched in April and is targeting early adopters and hobbyist 3D printers in the United States, while looking toward a long-term vision of a global marketplace.

In May, Azavy was named a winner in the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition.

Below is a video made by the Azavy founders.

 

Learn more at Azavy.

3DLT Launches at TechCrunch Disrupt After Challenging Past

3DLT 3D Printing Marketplace Launches

3DLT Launches 3D Printing Marketplace

3DLT, a 3D printing marketplace that was accused of stealing designs and subsequently issued a mea culpa, has rebounded and officially launched. Wearing a tuxedo, founder and CEO Pablo Arellano, Jr. pitched on stage during the battlefield round at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York.

3DLT describes itself as a marketplace where industrial designers, companies, and makers can sell 3D printable designs, direct to consumers.

“The 3D printing market needs a retail marketplace where consumers can buy print-ready designs,” said 3DLT’s Founder and CEO, Pablo Arellano, Jr. “With all of the interest in 3D printing, and the sheer number of 3D printers being sold, there will  soon be a huge demand for content, and that’s what 3DLT provides.”

Lux Research predicts 3D printing will be an $8.4 billion industry by 2025, up from under $1 billion in 2012. Research firm Gartner believes that enterprise-class printers priced below $2,000 will be available in the market from as early as 2016, and some low-end printers, including the MakiBox, are already available for less than $200.

3DLT provides files – the blueprints for 3D printable products. Consumers can visit 3DLT.com and browse through multiple, well-curated categories of 3D printable designs. Once purchased, they can download and print-ready files on their own 3D printer. They can also send the designs they buy to 3DLT’s network of 3D print shops for local pickup or drop shipment directly to their door.

3DLT’s business model has the potential to change the way we shop,” Mr. Arellano said. Walmart made shopping easier by putting millions of products, all under one roof, closer to the consumer. Amazon took the next step of delivering to your doorstep. 3DLT goes even further by allowing you to choose, when, where, and how the items you buy are manufactured.”

Watch Arellano pitch at TechCrunch Disrupt in the video below.