Status report on the interdependencies and ownership of the various 3D model marketplaces related to the 3D printing market.
The 3D printing market for individuals is a growing and very dynamic market as manufacturers launch new 3D printers that are becoming more affordable and efficient. The arrival of Bambulab has given a real boost to this sector and that's a very good thing for makers all over the world! With the advancement of new machines, designers have been able to achieve great things in terms of modeling and STL, 3MF, OBJ files are becoming increasingly high quality, diverse and original.
One of the lesser known aspects of this sector, which has recently been exacerbated by the arrival of new entrants, is the challenge of modeling and the fierce battle for designs.
There is a very strong trend for manufacturers and sellers of 3D printers to control the entire hardware/software ecosystem in order to provide their customers with a complete experience centered around their brands and products. The Apple model is a strong business inspiration for these companies. It is clear that almost every 3D printer manufacturer wants to have its own library of 3D models and become the market reference. This membership is sometimes erased as much as possible to suggest that these platforms are unaffiliated, but it still seemed important to us to make an overview of ownership so that manufacturers around the world know, in complete transparency, who they are sharing their designs and data with.
Under the guise of marketing and open source talk, it may seem like a panacea for all, but in reality it's an echo of the old adage that "if it's free, you're the product!". All platforms, without exception, offer free 3D files, but in fact have something to monetise in exchange for this content (advertising, data, branding, etc.) In an increasingly globalized market economy, we must not lose sight of the fact that these players want to sell their products/services and that these platforms can serve as flagship products to attract new customers and, of course, to retain/upsell their customers.
The sector can be divided into 4 main categories:
Here is a brief summary of the forces present and their respective affiliations:
In fact, we have excluded other services that allow you to share and download files for 3D printers, such as Patreon, Etsy or Gumroad, because they are not strictly speaking marketplaces dedicated to the exchange of STL files, but rather a specific use of their service, which basically concerns many other disciplines (crafts, decoration, music, video games, art, reading, etc.).
We hope this analysis will shed some light on this exciting and growing market. This is by no means a pamphlet or a moratorium, but we thought it would be interesting to explain to our community who owns the sites on which they share their data and intellectual property. Cults3D is an independent and self-funded site that does not answer to any investor or parent company. You should be aware that ¾ of the site's revenue goes to the creators of the platform and therefore the revenue generated on the site is primarily in the interests of those who create the content there.
29/09/2023
When Cults started we would often share Cults designs in the r/3DPrinting thread to promote the work of the best designers on our platform, especially for the designers who didn’t have the reflex to use Reddit. Since this was a kind of advertising for our website, the moderators asked us to stop, which we did.
From the humming workshop floors to cutting-edge design studios, the resonance of 3D printing is unmistakable. Not only has this technology revolutionized prototyping, but it's also recast the entire manufacturing paradigm. Initially, we marveled at the single plastic constructs, yet, today's landscape brings a dazzling array of materials and colors, showcasing a robust evolution.
