Shop sellings

Is there any statistics available what's the typical markup earnings from shops.

I.e.
Number of shops earning >1000 USD per month
Number of shops earning >500 USD per month
Number of shops earning >100 USD per month
Number of shops earning >50 USD per month
Number of shops earning <50 USD per month

In the many discussions I see in the forums many point out that they are mainly doing that for fun, as a hobby ....

Beyond this group are also a lot of people contributing a lot of input in the forums. Also a big number which do manage their shops permanently (and are also top ranked)

I think it would be interesting for all of us:
- to which group do we belong
- how important is our voice when discussing changes or new features
- how marketing can be done or supported by Shapeways to reach higher volume

Woody64

I bet the competition would love to know these figures... it could even be that the top selling shop owners pale to insignificance in the grand scheme of things, e.g. if we imagine that there may be high-ranking customers who do not even set any of their models to public, let alone offer them in a shop.

Each of us should know the answer to point 1.

Each of us should have an opinion on point 2.

For point 3 I'm sure that:
a) They are already doing their best;
b) They would probably welcome any suggestions;

To make that sure in front I love the possibilities SW provide to us ...

ad 1) Yes for sure we know where we are positioned. But it's a difference if there are 1000 above making better business or some few ...
(My assumption: >1000 and >500 some few, >100 some)
ad 2) I have a personal opinion on that and it was already expressed by some others in the forum like (better shop owner tools, first to try, renders and picture handling, better search filters in my models ....). If a lot of these people who are calling for that are in the lower classes then who cares ....

ad 3) For sure they do.But 3d printing is a beginning business. Currently we have a reliable printing provider with the ability to deliver worldwide in a good quality and in a lot of materials. Good examples for real business cases for the designer(s) are missing.
I had an interview with somebody of ComputerBILD who claims he knows only a handful of people who can live of their activities.
I'm also looking with interest on platforms like Mixee Me and Hero forge (both having SW as partner) ...

I think that's the way how it may work ...

Woody64

In all fields of activity the bell-shaped curve (or a variant thereof) rules. Footballers, actors, writers, SW designers: for every one that is doing well there are a massive number that are doing not so well. If you want a guaranteed good income, get a job.

I suspect that the most successful SW designers are not thinking about how they compare to others but are putting all their efforts into designing, marketing and perfecting their products. Also, SW can only do so much: ultimately it's down to us.

Mixee-Me and Hero Forge are fantastic, and they (presumably) depend on SW to fulfil their orders, but their business models stand alone. Any cross-promotion from SW is doubtless welcome but probably not necessary to their basic viability.

No problem at all with the income of my job

Maybe it's not of interest for you but for me it is
- If there are a lot of Shops doing better business. Why and what are they doing better?
- Is there a need to move to/or build on another selling platform (and use SW as printing provider for that)
(which is my current hypothesis.
3d printing is one of the technologies which is said to be very influencing in the future. And we are still on the beginning. And there will be a lot going on in terms of business. Recently Amazon has raised some offerings.)

Woody64

It is called business secret , if you know how other business make profit then it is not more a business ? It is like asking a singer how he can sell his music when other sing the same by your ear , when in fact you can be tone deaf!

Nobody will answer that questions it all depends of you if you will be the best.

And to everybody , there it is not a safe income job in this world , the investor lose money he close the business ... an entrepreneur must learn that first and take the risks , if you can`t assume the risks of fails and wins then entrepreneurship it is not for you. Yes starting a business it is not for everybody , and there are secrets you learn in practice , fails and wins , multiple fails and maybe less wins. There it is no recipe to success , it is your ability to reach the market.

Sorry guys. I'm asking not for shop secrets. It's a simple statistic (pie graph) on average shop volumes.
(margins can be chosen in a way that they don't harm the shop's anonymity)

Woody64

Thing is the "business secrets" apply not only to the individual shops, but to shapeways as a whole as well. If they would want to tell their competitors just how successful their business model and their wild mixture of shop themes is, they would probably not limit themselves to reporting only the total
number of shops.

Basically by law they only can provide : 1) how much shops are open on Shapeways 2) numbers of files printed at Shapeways /uploaded.

If some shop owners want to share how much they make it is their decision only.

So what it is shared on TV/Blog/Youtube it is all you can get about that.