The MW current reward point system is a great way to encourage sharing designs. But it doesn’t generate enough revenue for professional creators to live on. CyberBricks might change that, it’s too soon to tell.
Creating a CyberBricks project can be a time consuming process, and professional creators need to be compensated accordingly. The current reward system isn’t going to cut it.
What if in addition to MW commercial license, people can buy a design from verified creators (for personal use) with the reward points. Instead of MW boost, creators set a fixed amount of reward points for a design. This way people have the freedom to buy a variety of designs.
BTW, I see some IP violations in the commercial license. Soon or later, corp attorneys will come knocking. Lego did that to Thingyverse years ago. There is a saying “Don’t mess with the mouse (Disney)”. I hope BL starts cleaning house before army of attorneys come knocking.
Lastly, is the $1000 cash redeem limit a monthly limit?
You seem to be creating a solution for a straw man “problem” you yourself are inventing. Why does Makerworld need be concerned that designs “generate enough revenue for professional creators to live on”?
Points? How about cash? It’s coming.
Sell your model, either print and ship yourself or get a backend solution like the one the Slant3D Youtube account provides that does everything for you.
Nope, that is per transaction.
I believe the limit is $5k per month, that would be at least five separate $1k redemptions.
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Not with reward points. Unverified reward points worth nothing. Maybe with gift cards. When reward points are redeemed for gift cards, MW reviews to make sure the points were gained legitimately.
I think the simplest thing would be to implement one of these two systems:
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To be able to buy boost, and that some designs can only be downloaded with a boost. Users could buy the boosts for 1.25 - 2.00 dollars, in packs of 10-25-50-100 boost, to avoid high commission charges in the system buying boost 1 by 1.
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Same system but with real money, that some models can only be purchased, or are included in a subscription of existing ones, which can not be downloaded without subscription.
These two systems would be similar to other existing ones, like Thangs or Printables, but with the regulations that MakerWorld wants to put, minimum requirements, verification, etc…
The current points system is very good, but at some point Bambu’s funding will decrease and the users’ money will have to be put on the table.
Edit: The current system does allow some designers to live off their free designs, not all of course, but the current limit is 5k per month, which is a more than decent salary.
I would imagine BL goes extra mile in the review process for redeeming cash. Technically, BL would need all your tax info for the IRS (in the US).
In California, starting salary of an entry industrial designer in a large toy corp is around $80K/yr. Senior designers get about $100k-$120K. That’s just toy industry, which is low compared to other industries.
financial incentive is one of major factors of innovation.
I agree with the premise of the post and think Bambu has already shown that they’re moving in that direction but it takes time. The exclusive program is still less than six months old and hitting the $5k monthly limit requires a massive amount of points, I’ve only seen a few users who I think might be close to making that much. There’s still a ton of room for growth through new users who have never 3D printed anything and I believe that’s their main focus with MakerWorld and the content side as a somewhat secondary focus at the moment. I’m super bullish on MakerWorld and the 3D printing ecosystem as a whole but I still think it’s early and needs time to grow to where it can support a large amount of full time creators (e.g. YouTube).
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