New at selling 3d stock, introduction myself and would like advise about models by more experienced sellers.

Discussion started by Polymath-Maniac

Hello CGtrader community, nice to meet you all.

A few years ago i decided to pick up 3d modeling as a hobby. Bit by bit i kept practicing, but at one point i decided it might be a good idea to start uploading my newer models, and i created a account. I mostly make models on my days off when i am not working. I mostly make models the old fashion way with blender, but i recently also started experimenting with photo scanning objects.

I go by the sellers name of Polymath Maniac and i uploaded my first models on this website about 3 months ago.( https://www.cgtrader.com/polymath-maniac ). I never started with the expectations to make a large amount of money, but getting a bit of extra income on the side is always nice, and perhaps i might be able to buy myself some extra days of from my day job every year to make more models.

Problem is tough, i have yet to sell anything. I thought i needed more patience, but i am not getting many views ether (about 20 per moddel at most). Considering i am quite new to selling models, i am not sure if i need more patience or if i am doing something wrong.

A few of my models that have been uploaded the longest.

Also my page to the rest of my uploads

Are my prices of? bad descriptions and renders? or are my 3d models simply bad? (or a combination of everything?) i am not sure.

I don't feel like i am doing all that much wrong (not when it comes to my better models), but then again, i am aware of the Dunner Kruger effect and i might be somewhere on the top of mount stupid.

If anybody has some advise, that would be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Polymath Maniac.

Answers

Posted about 4 years ago
2

Your models look good. I don't see a problem offhand. You only just uploaded most of these in January of this year, so that's only like 2 months ago. You need to give it time and you need to establish yourself before you can expect to make many sales. The truth is, marketplaces like this one are really huge, and unless you are a very well established artist with a large portfolio of quality models, you aren't going to see sales happen as often as you might hope. You only have 13 models currently in your store. While the models are very good, you're going to need more than double that amount before you can expect regular sales, and even then you will need to keep adding new models often to keep the momentum going so to speak. You should choose a niche where you feel comfortable and model mostly for that genre, building your portfolio. I would recommend avoiding oversaturated categories and try to find something unique and interesting, but also something you think might be popular.

Realistically speaking, don't expect immediate results. A product you upload today may not begin to generate sales for you until months later. Maybe not even until next year! It really all depends on how much in demand that type of product is. As a new creator, you should focus your efforts on making new products as often as you can and uploading at least once a week but don't expect anything to sell immediately.

Pricing is all up to you, but one of the biggest mistakes anyone can make is underpricing their work with the expectation of selling more in volume. That's not quite how things work here. Maybe that would work in other amateur or hobbyist markets, but most people who purchase here are working for studios or on their own projects with deadlines and they will pay for what they need when they need it. Yes, overpriced items can cause you to lose a sale, but underpricing will almost certainly lose you money as well.

Polymath-Maniac wrote
Polymath-Maniac
thank you, it is good to know i am on the right path and just need some patience and hard work. like you said, i also think it is a good idea to pick a bit of a specialization into a niche. there are currently two topics/genre that i am considering. its a bit of a hard choice considering i have different reasons for each. one topic, nature elements like plants, trees rocks, etc. this topic i would choice because those elements can also be used for my full time job. the second one is space ships/structures. this topic i would choice because i am a huge sci fi fan and i like making these kinds of models. for now, i supose i am first going to finish making my existing models upload ready. after that i am going to make models for both topics for a while, just to find out what i like best (or perhaps i might find a way to combine them, halo rings have Forrest after all)
Posted about 4 years ago
1

Really nice models you make! I startet uploading models here in november last year and haven't sold anything neither yet. Just enjoy modelling, rigging, experimenting what is possible. Am sure main problem is the vast amount of models which are on here so new ones aren't seen unless someone searches for them specifically and uses same software as you (if there is use of functions e.g. in a rigged prop / figure not available in other programs).

Polymath-Maniac wrote
Polymath-Maniac
thank you, your models are very nice as well. but you raise a good point. good thing that modelling is mostly a hobby for me too.
Posted about 4 years ago
1

Mineral3D mentions another interesting thing. It has a lot to do with the software. Currently, most studios and CG professionals are still using Autodesk products for the most part. So content for Maya, 3dsmax and to some extent Zbrush make up the majority of sales here. Blender is just starting to make waves in the industry, but most of the users are still amateur and hobbyist level (not always, but many of them). So if you're selling only Blender models, you may not see quite as many sales here as you would for Maya or 3dsmax file formats. That could change in time, but Blender users get most of their content from other users for free or from Blender's own marketplace. I'm sure there are people looking for Blender models here, but not nearly as often as the other software packages.

Polymath-Maniac wrote
Polymath-Maniac
good point, i will keep it in mind. thing with blender market is though, they have extremely high standards, and with that way fewer models. i am considering selling there as well, but i am not sure it is worth the trouble. i have seen better models then mine not passing through their screening.
luxxeon wrote
luxxeon
Well, I've started offering my models in blender native file formats here just to test the water. They are the exact same models I might offer for Max or whatever, except I will set them up using either Eevee or Cycles materials and lighting in .blend file formats. I'm signed up to sell at the Blender Market, but I currently have no real interest in doing that. Most of the things I notice doing well over there are either custom addons or scripts for the software itself. Utilities seem to do the best. I've started to test the water here, as I mentioned, by offering .blend file formats with all my models now, but I'm hesitant to make blender my primary native file format. I've only tested it as a native format with a couple of models so far, with mixed results. Not enough data to know for sure how well it does compared to the others.

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