So I was wanting to try to start selling my models on the various 3D marketplaces, but I look and apparently the best royalty rate out there is 60%. What? What happens to the rest of it? If the other 40% of every sale every artist makes goes into the pockets of a few webmasters… then I have no interest in participating in such a scheme. I know hosting these files costs money for server space, but not remotely that much. So I’m asking sincerely, what the hell is the deal with these royalties, and is there any site that does it differently?
I’m not sure about general freelance, but 60% is similar to what you’ll see through ad companies for being the middle men of sales. They charge this rate because people will accept it, and 60% of something is better than 100% of nothing. Maybe try a few models out you don’t have that much investment in to see if you do better on them vs. on your own portfolio site.
You could always make your own homepage and sell your models there… but then you’ll sell nothing and also have to pay for a homepage.
Also it’s not that bad. $6 of $10 and you have some pocket change.
Make 100 models and get $600, pay your rent.
There is no deal. Make your own page as bigbad said, get the traffic, sell the models and get 100%. Easy, right? There definitely are sites that take less royalty, good luck finding them! And keep in mind that clients who would be willing to buy your models will have equally hard time finding that site so you probably won’t sell in millions.
Running a business isn’t about covering the costs (of which the servers may be a small part), it’s about making a profit. If you’re not making a profit, why run the business?
Taking 40% may sound like much, but 40% of a small amount of sales is still small money, yet it has to be enough to sustain the business. If the market for 3D models was large, that profit margin would go down, because there would be tough competition.
In reality, it’s just a few websites that get any traffic whatsoever - would you rather get 95% of nothing or 40% of something? The top sites also do at least some advertising. If you google “3D models”, you will see an ad for “Turbo Squid” right at the top.
It isn’t assumed that any given online marketplace is a business and not a service. There are some great online services out there that help people make money for their talents.
Taking 40% may sound like much, but 40% of a small amount of sales is still small money, yet it has to be enough to sustain the business. If the market for 3D models was large, that profit margin would go down, because there would be tough competition.
Theorically it should work that way. Even if 3D models aren’t a big market, on a site with hundreds of thousands of models, 40% from every sale seems like it would be a big draw to me. But I’d love someone to explain why I’m wrong.
What is that distinction supposed to mean? Most services are offered by businesses. Businesses need to stay profitable. What services are you talking about that that aren’t and who offers them? Non-profits? Charitable individuals?
This here forum is also a service offered to you by a business, namely CG Cookie. They have a marketplace (blendermarket.com) and they take royalties like everyone else.
Theorically it should work that way. Even if 3D models aren’t a big market, on a site with hundreds of thousands of models, 40% from every sale seems like it would be a big draw to me. But I’d love someone to explain why I’m wrong.
It’s irrelevant how many models there are, if the sales don’t add up, it’s little money. For blendermarket.com, they even let you look at the sales numbers, they’re in the single digits (or zero) for most models. You used to be able to sort by number of sales as well, but they removed that feature - maybe because it was too discouraging?
You also have to factor in the cost it takes to develop such a website, do your legal homework, etc. If you think you can do better, just go ahead and take only 20%. Surely, those poor exploited artists will come in droves to sell on your website!
It’s a free marketplace. You are free to sell whatever you want however you want. Most people find selling through Turbosquid or the like is more profitable than trying to do it yourself.
Factor in the 40% cut when setting the price. The buyer is who pays it, not you.
But that can work, up to a point. You have to price your models at least in the same range as other similar offerings and at best competitively. But really it is no matter. It is all relative. As already mentioned, you are paying for a service.
Considering how competitive selling models is, I’d have to say that the fee is the least of your worries. Selling enough of them to make it worthwhile regardless is something to worry about.
And when you look at the market you see it is a lot of companies in this market. Not individuals. Companies that can afford to crank out a large offering of things at a competitive price. I imagine it is a real challenge to make good money if you are just one guy.
Just my guess. I have never tried it.
I have made an account on Cgtrader.com, but i have not uploaded anything yet.
They start with 70% profit and over time it goes up (if you upload more…)
Sounds fair to me.
Cgtrader is fair… they start you on 70% like Romanji mentioned, and the more “points” you have, the more royalties you get. it can rise up to 90% depending on your points count 
and you dont need to sell models to get points, you can comment on others work and/or make tutorials for points also. along with MANY other things that get you points. basically engaging with the website will get you them.
it’s detailed fully in the link below
read this - https://www.cgtrader.com/blog/a-new-royalties-system-is-here-and-it-makes-it-clear-reputation-is-everything
40% commission is high, but did you know art dealers typically take 50%? Just for providing a room with white walls to hang art on! The very nerve! Clearly, you are better off without these leeches…
In all seriousness, they spend money running servers, marketing their site (and thereby your works), advertising, compliance costs, etc. People work there full time. 100% of zero is still zero. If you can find a better deal, you should take it. But there are very good reasons that such deals may not be available.
Yeah man. Running a marketplace is expensive and time consuming. It is another business. You can’t do both really. It ain’t just the cost of the servers. The costs of running and programing a site and keeping it updated with support is expensive. Takes a team and salaries. They are making bank though. They should be. It is a business not a charity. In the end you get what you pay for.
One could make an account on more than one marketplaces and then adjust the prices to their royalties. Less Royalties = higher price.
That way you get more exposure and the same amount of money for your work, let the customers decide where they want to buy.
CG Trader is probably the best place to sell. Turbosquid is supposed to be the biggest since they put lots of ads on google. However, they only provide 40% with a max of 70%.
I’ve tried looking into this and can’t get a clear picture of how the cgtrader payment system actually works, especially since they keep changing it a lot.
Looking at some older comment:
On a later blogpost:
Also, there seems to be a 200$ minimum until payout, which several commenters are upset about:
None of this information is in their FAQs, you probably have to sign up to find out. Meanwhile, the supposedly high royalty rates are the biggest attractor to the site.
Some of the other commentors also mention much higher sales on Turbosquid, even while charging more. You also get a higher royalty rate if you stay exclusive to Turbosquid. For all I can tell, Turbosquid remains the best place to sell your models on, whether you like them or not. Not being on there (even non-exclusive) doesn’t seem like a wise business decision.
50 percent or higher is pretty much the norm for just about any storefront where anyone can register to sell their products on (even the big ones such as Amazon). Feel fortunate if you are given the opportunity to sell work at places that only take a third or less.
Another option would be to just make your own website on a host that provides tools for storefront building, but you will have to take care of the marketing on your own and you will need to pay annually to keep it running.
Any business you do is going to be less than 50 percent profit of the gross anyway. If you are selling models for a business, there are a ton of expenses that will all add up and they take away from a profit margin. You have to spend a lot of money and time just getting one sale. Anyone thinking it ain’t no big deal to just put up a site is not taking into account the realities of running it as a business.
These are two separate hats.
You have to consciously decide yo want to run it as a business or it will be a waste of time.
So you will also spend a great deal of or time running it as a business. Just to make any money at all.
So you give it to a company. Let them take those expenses. You spend time modeling and reap those rewards without the time and money invested. It is a win win.
I only sell on turbosquid. I’ve sold about 11 times.