This weekend I uploaded my TARDIS charm and elegant styled TARDIS rings to thingiverse, as well as a hypnoring for my kids. But everything I can lately have come with a “for sale in my etsy store” tag line at the end of the descriptions and I wonder if I’m offending anyone with that. I get the sense that most poeple in this community are understanding, but I’m still using thingiverse as zero cost advertising.
Thing is sales are how I support my habit. Literally. If I weren’t making things to sell I probably wouldn’t be able to do the cool things I’m doing. However, thanks to owning a Makerbot and Etsy that’s changed. Etsy hardy charges anything and pretty much runs the store for me. And the Makerbot produces my ideas so I can sell them.
I’ve been lucky, I recognize that. It took a lot of work to get that lucky, but in the end it could have just as easily been someone else. I was lucky to win the Repliator. I am lucky to have sales that I don’t have to do any promotion for. But I don’t want to rely on luck. I want to work and find some way that I can afford another Replicator (or whatever’s coming next) so I can grow my business. But I have to grow slowly. So I hope the thingiverse community doesn’t mind.
