FREE or PAY ?
A couple of the posts of people selling 3D-printable things makes me curious.
With all the tools to design your own things free, and all the free downloads already out there being shared, how likely are you to pay for a model you’ll print?
For myself, I think I’m only 2% likely to pay for something, and only if I REALLY want/need it and can’t design it on my own. (I love the overall “let’s help each other if we can” attitude in the 3D print it yourself world)
Well Iam on the free side. Id pay for a design of already produced things (spare parts of my car and such) but I wont pay for some figurine or part I can design myself…
@allanGEE I think it might be for people like me who don’t have a printer but follow the development in 3D printing. If one day I need a bracket or something. I could design it and sent it to someone who could tell me if it’s printable or not (yet). And have it printed. Or someone wants something in a material he or she is not familiar with. Nevertheles I like the 3D Printing community with its discussions and ideas. For example the effect of speed-shifting with the transparant is an extra “dimension”. Thumbs up for everybody contributing.
It would have to solve a good problem in a spectacular way before I’d pay for it.
That said, I might be willing to pay for some CAD / engineering guidance, but reality is I could not afford to pay the hourly rates that an experienced pro could justify charging.
It’s unlikely I’d pay for a 3D-printable model, but I’m not saying a definite “no”, either: anything that I can reasonably well do myself, I’ll rather do myself or if I can find it somewhere for free, but something much more complicated, like e.g. a detailed, high-quality model of some character from a game or something that I just don’t have the skills to do myself, sure, I might even be willing to pay something.
Then again, the models I’ve seen on the various websites so far are way above the amount I’d be willing to pay, so that’s an entirely different issue – no way I’m going to pay $40 for a single model.
If someone has already designed a working thing, I’m likely to pay them a few bucks for saving me the time (and effort, and time it takes to be an expert) of doing so. I’ve paid quite a bit for some .stl files of dungeon terrain for gaming, for example, because I’m not an amazing sculptor.
Both. It depends on the situation.
I’m strongly on the free side, but I have and would pay for an extraordinary design.
The only design I’ve ever paid for was for a very nice electric ukulele, which I printed twice as gifts. I could never have designed that kind of thing.
I’d pay in a heartbeat, wouldn’t even think about it. I know how much work it is to do some good designs out there and they are definately worth it. I won’t even go into the all work behind a fully downsized engine someone published on thingiverse, can you imagine all the manhours behind that. I cannot, and I’m really fast behind CAD. Hats off to that guy.
Speaking of it, must look him up to see if his got some patreon account to drop him a buck, even if I don’t print any of his work ever.
I’ve bought a 3dkitbash model too. I plan to buy a 3d printable fighter plane kit. But otherwise, there’s so many decent free models that paid models will be an exception, such as when I want something very specific.
I’ve bought the 3dlabprint radio control Spitfire model and have to say it was well worth it. Its cost was less than my hourly rate.
Depending on the model and the use, I would consider paying for a model if I couldn’t easily replicate it myself, but only for source files. I wouldn’t pay for an STL.