I have been selling on CGTrader for quite some time, and I honestly never expected to reach the point where I would have to ask this question:
What happened to this platform?
CGTrader used to be my main marketplace. I invested a lot of time into building my portfolio here, updating older products, creating new models, improving renders, descriptions and files.
But lately, the experience has become increasingly frustrating, and several things happening at the same time make me seriously question the direction of the marketplace.
First, there is the issue with buyer reviews and seller protection.
I currently have more than one case involving negative feedback where the circumstances are, to put it mildly, questionable.
In one case, a buyer complained about problems related to using the product outside its native workflow, despite the product information clearly describing what is provided. I contacted CGTrader support, supplied the relevant information and screenshots, and I am still waiting for the issue to be properly reviewed.
Then I discovered another case that is even stranger.
A buyer purchased one of my models, left a negative rating and contacted me with very specific claims about the model, including its textures, eye color, arm details, mouth mesh and other elements.
Later, the purchase was refunded.
And the refund record on CGTrader says:
“Accidental purchase. No model files were downloaded.”
So now I have several very simple questions.
How can a buyer make detailed claims about the contents of a model while CGTrader simultaneously records that no model files were downloaded?
Why can someone make an “accidental purchase”, receive a refund, never download the product according to CGTrader’s own records, but still leave a negative rating that continues to affect the seller and the product?
If the transaction is effectively reversed for the buyer, why are the consequences of that transaction not reversed for the seller?
And where is CGTrader support when situations like this happen?
This would already be frustrating on its own, but it is happening while my sales on CGTrader have fallen to record-low levels.
I understand perfectly well that sales fluctuate. No marketplace guarantees sales, algorithms change, demand changes, competition changes.
But the contrast has become difficult to ignore.
CGTrader used to be my main marketplace. Now my sales on other marketplaces are performing better than on CGTrader, even though CGTrader historically used to be the strongest sales channel in my portfolio.
That makes me wonder whether other long-term sellers are seeing the same thing:
Have your sales fallen significantly as well?
Has support response time become worse?
Have you encountered refunded buyers whose reviews remained active?
Do you feel sellers are adequately protected against questionable or factually unsupported feedback?
Has something changed with marketplace visibility or search traffic?
I am not writing this because of one bad sale or one negative review. Those things happen.
I am writing this because there now seems to be a pattern: declining sales, questionable review situations, refund decisions that do not seem consistent with the buyer’s own behavior, and support that is either extremely slow or simply does not respond.
For sellers who have spent years building their stores here, this is concerning.
CGTrader depends on buyers, of course. But it also depends on creators continuing to believe that uploading, maintaining and improving their products here is worth the effort.
Right now, I am increasingly struggling to see that.
So I would genuinely like to hear from both CGTrader and other sellers:
Is this just my recent experience, or has something fundamentally changed on CGTrader?
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