You might consider finding an Ebay drop-off store to do this work for you. I don't think they are officially connected with Ebay so their rules and fees would be variable. But if you could somehow get the item to one of these places they would likely charge a few bucks to take decent photos and do a listing for you on Ebay. Since it would be a consignment type sale they would charge a large percentage of the selling price. If it does sell you might get a rough idea of what your model is worth, and if it doesn't it doesn't sound like you care what happens to it if they can't ship it back to you.
I doesn't sound like Shapeways wants to get into the business of taking photos but maybe they could forge an agreement with a company that could do this. All it would require is a check box on the order form to divert a model shipment to the third party location. The customer would continue to be charged for shipment since it is being shipped and Shapeways could save on overall shipping costs since several orders going to the third party could be sent in the same box. Sounds like a win-win for everybody. There is an opportunity for an entrepreneur to step into this void!
Last edited: Jan 25, 2014