How people are getting so many points/gift cards on Maker World

MakerWorld
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Bambu is generous with rewards, and it’s great to have a hobby pay for itself. I’ve gotten enough gift cards on Maker World that I’ve run out of things to buy. I’ve bought all the AMS units and filament that I can physically fit in my house. So I thought I’d share what I’ve learned about the system to help others who might want to do the same thing.

First of all, I think of this as a fun hobby. While points are nice to pay for upgrades, the first goal is to have fun and make stuff that you enjoy. These tips might help you understand how people are getting so many points seemingly so easily, but the intention is not to “game the system”.

At the most basic level, you get points for:

  • Lots of downloads/prints (both models and the print profiles that go with them)
  • Boosts from users (i.e. direct user appreciation)

When you start getting into the hundreds of downloads/prints for an object, you’ll start accumulating points at a noticable rate. And downloads naturally lead to boosts (if you ask for them).

In other words, popularity = points. If you want more points, you need to appeal to the widest possible audience. It’s just like any other market with supply and demand where certain types of items are way more popular than others. The actual quality of the item you make only has a minor relationship to how popular it will be.

Instead, here’s how to think about it:

  • Items that almost everyone can use are going to be way more popular than niche items. Maker World lets you see the most popular searches. This is a good way to understand what is popular with the largest audience (i.e. fidget toys, organization, Bambu printer upgrades, seasonal items, etc.) and what is not (a sick upgrade for your 1990 Plymouth Laser that no one else has).
  • Originality WITHIN A GENRE is vital. Don’t make the 40th version of the same fidget spinner and think you will get downloads. Nobody wants the off-brand version when they can have the popular one. Instead, make a new kind of fidget spinner that is unique in some way but still appeals to fidget spinner people.
  • Total originality is risky but sometimes pays off if it finds an audience. So don’t be afraid to try new things, but don’t be disappointed if they don’t get many downloads. Getting only a few downloads doesn’t make the designs less good or less useful to the people who do download them!
  • Small items that print quickly and use little filament are always more popular than big, complex items. More people are willing to try them out. If you have a big item, maybe offer a mini version to get people to try it.
  • Items that print reliably will get better ratings and more promotion than items that are pushing the limits of the printer and fail often.
  • The difficulty of modeling something has no relation to its popularity. There are no points awarded for being good at CAD, only points for giving the market what it wants. However low effort models (with flat/simple geometry) ARE ranked lower by Bambu.

Once you’ve made something you are proud of, you need to present it well. Bad photos and poor description will keep you from finding your audience.

  • Clear, obvious pictures are vital. The cover photo needs to immediately communicate what the item is and why someone would want it.
  • Using animated gifs as cover photos is excellent, but make sure the first frame of the animation works as a stand-alone picture. Too many people upload animations where the first frame is just a blur, but that’s what people see initially when scrolling by. Creating gifs is easy—just take a video with your phone, trim it down to the shortest possible clip that looks good, and use any “video to gif” converter site online to make a gif.
  • Print your item in a filament that is attractive in photos. If it is geometric, maybe use a multi-color filament that looks cool and shows off the angles. If it is a designer object, use filament choices that make it look fancy. If it is a fun toy, use vibrant colors. Show the photo to someone else and see if they think it looks appealing.
  • Light your photos well. You don’t need any equipment. Just take photos on a clean table near a sunny window with all the other lights off.
  • Write a short, clear description of your item that communicates how much work you put into it. Mention all the prototypes you tried. Talk about how much you cared about crafting this item. Otherwise the reader has no idea how much work you put into them and won’t value them.
  • Always, always, always politely ask for boosts in your description. The description editor lets you drop in a “boost button”. You’ll get half of your points from boosts and if you don’t ask, people won’t remember to click it. Don’t be spammy. Just say something honest about how you’d appreciate boosts if people like your item.

Once you get a decent number of points, you’ll qualify to start marking your items as “Maker World Exclusive.” The upside is that you get more points for the same number of downloads (which you can redeem for cash, if you want) and you get more promotion on the site, which in turn leads to more points. The downside is that you can’t post your stuff anywhere else. The choice is yours, but it’s worth doing if you want to maximize points.

And most importantly, here’s what NOT to do:

  • Gift card redemptions get reviewed when you redeem them. Don’t assume that scammy looking posts that get a lot of quick downloads ever get any rewards.
  • Don’t try to game the system by having your friends download your items to juice the numbers. Bambu will detect this and not award you gift cards anyway.
  • Don’t steal other people’s work and post it. Bambu will detect it and take away your points.
  • While users love items created from their favorite copyrighted movies, tv shows, pokemon, video games, etc., it’s really risky to publish these kinds of items. The companies will eventually have your items taken down, and you will lose all your points—even RETROACTIVELY. There are lots of people on the Bambu forums with -15,000 point balances. Again, just because you saw a sick Naruto figurine with 10,000 downloads, don’t assume that author got any rewards. Just make your own original stuff.

That’s a lot. But in short, make original, small, appealing, quick-to-print items that fall into popular genres. Add good pictures and a good description. Ask for boosts. Experiment to see what people respond to. Repeat. That’s pretty much it. You’ll get lots of points.

And don’t stop making the unpopular stuff you care about, either. One or two really popular items will get you plenty of points. Then you can waste all your free filament following your passion to make that sick upgrade for your 1990 Plymouth Laser.

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As someone that regularly makes larger and more complex items. Don’t be afraid of them. If you make something cool, interesting, worthwhile, people will download and print it.

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Good advice - thanks for sharing. You’ve made some really great models.

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Nice informative post, I think you have hit a lot of key points on the head. Particularly presentation is just as important as the model itself.

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This is a sad fact.

Yes. For designers who value originality in their designs, this is a major mental hurdle to overcome to become popular.

I will have to look more into this one. I always thought that including how much work one has gone through won’t make a difference, because 1) users don’t read the description that much, 2) they only care if the model is what they want, not how much work the designer has put into; 3) adding these info makes the description longer which might make users even less likely to read it.

But I can be wrong.

So far I have resisted asking for boosts. Maybe this is something to try.

Sadly, these are the items that draw the most attention. It’s one of the easiest ways to get downloads. Until some major IP holder takes the platforms to court and win a landmark case, this will not change. The only thing that prevents a designer from going this path will be their own ethics guardrail.

Once a designer has successfully made a brand of themselves, or get into the small circle of designers who have been deemed by Makerworld as showcase-worthy, this will be true.

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I feel like this is how all great models are born. For the love of the game rather than profit.

That’s all fine in theory, but I couldn’t get it to work on MakerWorld global. I put several frames at the beginning of my .gif showing the light illuminated, and MakerWorld China seems to display my .gif properly, but the global site won’t. @MakerWorld

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Understatement of the year.

I constantly get questions from users that are easily answered by reading the description. I actually named some of my profiles “READ THE DESCRIPTION” but that hasn’t helped any.

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I agree. Some of my most successful models have been complex ones. You may get less download and prints, but you tend to get more boosts.

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Complexity doesn’t have to mean large models with long print times either, it can be as simple as iterating on a design until you get something that is both easy to print and assemble. Not all designs need to be multiple parts but can you make a design better if you split it up and take advantage of print orientation? If your goal is to design a print that is downloaded thousands of times, how much effort are you willing to invest to make sure those 1000 copies all satisfy the users who print them?

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I find this to be true too - the boost ratio is like 2-3x higher on the more complex models (even before the recent change)

Also it is less likely to get drowned by similar models over time! Less people are willing to compete as more people prefer the quicker rewards.

I find this to be true - especially for bigger and more complex models - sometimes users want to know they are not wasting filament and writing about all the prototypes that were involved reassures them before printing. I often write a lot about the development - even some videos. But I can see how this might not matter for cute flexi pigs and other more artsy models where the print pic is all you need.

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Haha I put “WASH PLATE OR GLUE CORNERS” into one print profile name and that cut down almost all of the comments about warping as well as poor ratings for warped prints (it’s a very easy print as long as the plate isn’t greasy).

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Great post with great advice, thanks!

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Love the post.

What’s your plan now that you’ve filled your house?

Posting at specific times helps as well. Closer to the weekend versus Monday @ 1pm.

Niche down has definitely helped grow my hobby into a side hustle.

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Thanks for the great tips! Although we also welcome an occasion sick upgrade to a 1990 Plymouth Laser that no one else has :laughing:

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Thanks for the long, useful list of good advice.
This is what I expect from a healthy and friendly community.

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In my view and based on my experience, one of the most important things to get right is the cover photo.
With hundreds, if not thousands of new models being uploaded daily, users tend to scroll through them primarily by looking at the cover images.
A professional-looking photo that is visually appealing (and NOT AI-generated!) will help you stand out from the crowd. The ultimate aim is to establish your own unique identity, so that people can recognize it’s your model just by glancing at the cover.

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That’s been my experience, too. And don’t be afraid to try a second photo in the cover slot if people don’t seem to be responding to the first one.