Istockphoto type site but for 3d files

[Headhunter]

I am curious to get some feedback on the concept of creating an online warehouse of 3d cad files similar to like Istockphoto sites do with photographs. I realize that there are places already doing this for free. We would want to charge but make it the most visible go to site out there. What obstacles do you think a startup would face creating this concept? Also, what are the other companies that already do something similar doing that needs improvement and is there anything lacking that you you wish a site like this would offer?

[cokreeate]

There are a few free sites where you can DL stuff and then there are sites where you can actually buy the files.
Many of these sites are pretty good at it already but there is always room to grow. You would need
alot of traffic and good designers to sell stuff on your site. 3d printing for the public is still really new and most of the time
they will just dl a free file just to learn the basic.

[awerby]

There are plenty of sites like this already. The one that's got the most traction is Thingiverse, where all the files are free. That site made a lot of money for Makerbot when they sold out to Stratasys, but none of it flowed back to the designers who created all that content. If your site shared revenue with your designers, that would be more equitable, and might encourage designers to produce better models.

A bit more focus would help differentiate your site from others. Instead of a general repository of miscellaneous objects, if you concentrated on something particular, like household implements, or toys, or tools, then you might stand out from the crowd a bit. We've started a site that sells 3D scans, which are to CAD models as photographs are to drawings - you can check it out:

Andrew Werby
3DScanHub.com