Well, you’re supposed to boost models, not creators… just saying. As far as “supporting” is concerned though, if you release a new model and only 10 of your followers download, print, and rate your print profile… you’ll receive 30 downloads (10 plus 2x for prints), which means 18.75 x 3 for your model and 3.75 x3 for the profile. This times 8 models is one gift card… or double the number of followers above and it’s 4 models to get a gift card.
A single boost on the other hand is 15 points and people only have a max of 3 each week they can earn to hand out to creators. So really, if the “community” is supposed to support the creators, they should really print more models. Case in point, @austinvojta has over 1k followers; however, his last four models all have less than 100 downloads; that’s only 10% of what the “community” could do for him.
I have “niched down” if you will. I make a whole bunch of different models for a small group. If that group can no longer boost me then it will make me stop making things for that group. I can see how boosting the same creator a bunch could be taken advantage of but if my models stop showing up on makerworld then I can no longer provide free models to that group.
It’s also completely new information for me. What are 5 boosts per year? It’s only 60 points (or 75 if exclusive), it’s nothing. And I’m not even talking about boosting and supporting a specific creator - but the thing is good creators usually have good models (or ones which are in a specific style or a niche that suits us) and we just want to boost models that we think are worth it.
Right now, if your designs are good and have a specific audience that wants them, the best option is to sell them, the maker world model in which free download models were rewarded, has its days numbered.
I totally agree. I love what they’ve done and its helped grow a bunch of designers. I could see a world in which they pivot and do a printables type of thing, like offering free, premium and membership models.
Unexpectedly I just found out that’s not entirely true - one person just gave me 6 boosts today, but one model was boosted twice. Maybe there is a limit to boost 5 models from one creator (and each model can be boosted twice, so this gives 10 boosts to one creator per year).
I just confirmed last night that it is true. This actually saddens me. I strive for 1 model a month. That model is usually in a specific genre and targets the same users who are interested in that genre. Not gonna lie this has knocked the wind outta my sails for posting to makerworld.
Yeah and if you are talking 10 boosts for 5 models which seems like that might be a thing. That’s $5-$10 from each user per year. I thought boosts were supposed to help the niche designers. It seems more like its hurting them. Because if you start crunching the numbers you realize you have to start designing things that are for the masses if you actually want more than just filament.
I don’t want it to sound all doom and gloom. I think makerworld is the best online repository from the software and user friendly side of things. I get the most feedback from users on this platform than any other. But where this use to be my main platform to post on because it got me the most money/3d printing things. It is now 3rd on my list for earning potential.
We have commented several people in this thread, whoever designs as a way of working should check Thangs memberships, they have a very very good system.
These are my stats for the last 3 months, leaving aside the spikes produced by 2-3 designs that went a bit viral and were in the trending panel, you see a clear decrease in boosts while user activity and points per download remain stable.
And this is the graph by months since I entered the exclusive designs program, the impulses go up month by month due to a greater involvement on my part by uploading more designs, of varied themes and different qualities, to prove that people liked more. Last month you can perceive a considerable decrease, although it is true that the previous month I had 2 designs in trend, the fall is quite noticeable.
The interesting thing is that the first month (343 impulses) I received more impulses than the fifth month (226 impulses), however now I have three times more designs published than the first month.
Currently I have about 50 designs ready to upload, and I think at least 10 are very good, but I will try to publish them in other repositories and see which one brings me better earnings.
In the end this is a business, like any other, and many designers will look for the site where their work will be rewarded in a better way.
I think we all understand that the funding by bambu lab to give away boosts could not be infinite, and we will not doubt it, this is also a business for them, but at this point, it would be good to let users buy premium boosts and can distribute them as they wish, without restrictions.
