"Pay what you want" markup

Discussion in 'Shapeways Shops' started by happyinmotion, Aug 26, 2011.

  1. happyinmotion
    happyinmotion Member
    Does Shapeways offer a way to do "pay what you want" pricing? Are they planning to?

    Obviously, this only applies to the markup, over and above the manufacturing cost.

    I'm working away at a design that's put together using open source tools (OpenSCAD, processing, and some random code I found on the web) so I'm happy to give back to the open source community by making my work available for free (yes, the design will end up on Thingiverse).

    The goal for me is not the saleable product, but the process of learning. I'm not looking for income, but that said, I'm not going to say no if someone thinks the design is worth more than just the cost of manufacture. Thus I'm keen not to set a particular markup, but let people decide for themselves. Can this be done?

    (And no-one here is selling a similar product, so I'm not undercutting anyone who wants to make a living here.)
     
  2. Magic
    Magic Well-Known Member
    Hi Happyinmotion and welcome to Shapeways,

    For now there is no "pay what you want option" (and I don't know if it's planned). What you can do (and I think it has been done is the past as a "sponsor" model) is proposing, say, 4 identical models with a markup of $0, $1, $5 and $10.

    Not ideal, but it works...

     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2011
  3. happyinmotion
    happyinmotion Member
    Yup, I thought that might be the only way to do it.

    I think I'll offer:
    a) A "free" version through Thingiverse, where I provide the original code and STL, so that people can print it themselves however they choose.
    b) A couple of priced versions through Shapeways with a mix of margin for me and a donation to an open-source project.

    Thanks for your help.

    (And yeah, Ponoko do a much better job of letting people buy our designs, but their 3D printing is only for the US, I'm in NZ, and Shapeways has free shipping...)
     
  4. MitchellJetten
    MitchellJetten Shapeways Employee CS Team
    Magic said it the right way :D

    Unfortunately that is for the moment the only way to achieve your goal!

    Maybe in the future we will add this, but can't say that it's on our short term list.