Quote - > Quote - Please point out where I said that no one makes money at this. The difference is in how much is made, and the motivations behind it.

 

As for the "motivations behind it", I can suggest a few.  Eating is one that comes to mind.

Heh - if you depend on the RMP for your next meal, you'd best be one of the best there is at mesh-mongering ;)

Meanwhile... let's go over what I had said:

Quote - There was once a time when volume made up for price; back when the RMP here had less than 300 "merchants". There was a time when a solid modeller with an eye on the community could rake in a solid living from just selling stuff here.

Now - it's a flood. Just like a Gold Rush, most of the money has been made; there is still some to be made, but very few will reach the heights once held by the 'big hitters' of 5 years ago. Of course, that doesn't stop the masses from giving it a go.

Yep. Everything seems to be in order... so, let's see what you make of it:

Quote - The obvious implication here being that potential newbie marketeers shouldn't bother; the mines are now exhausted -- every bit of ore that there could conceivably be is already gone. :rolleyes: 

Compared to earlier days, it pretty much is true. Tell me, how many merchants does the RMP have nowadays? Care to draw up a curve showing income ratios among them? I bet it isn;t as generous as it would've been back when the RMP only had 600 merchants.

Quote - Just keep thinking that way -- (the converse philosophy is one reason why Rendo is successful & growing).

No, "Inertia" is why it still exists, coupled with Bondware.

Quote - > Quote -

I have instead a question for you: Tell me what percentage of Poser freestuff posted here doesn't require purchasing anything beyond Poser (or downloading D|S).

Tons.  I've downloaded a lot of it myself.

So now you answer my question.

As soon as I see some number from you, and not generalities ;)

 

Quote - > Quote - > Quote - Quote - "And a website which wouldn't exist without the vendors providing the financial wherewithal to run it. "

Really? Why do you insist that such a thing must be true? After all, how many consignment or direct merchants sell things from sites such as Tom's Hardware? Slashdot? Drudge Report? Craigslist? MySpace? Facebook? These sites make quite a bit of bank on advertisement alone... and Craigslist doesn't even do that, IIRC.

I insist on such a thing because it's true -- or I suppose that Rendo could become a subscription site like some other 3D sites are.

A store is one business model.

So you finally admit there are other successful business models worth pursuing, while denying it to be possible at the same time for Rendo?

So, in your opinion, is Rendo that incapable of pursuing such new (and obviously far more successful) avenues of income, or are they just being lazy about it?

I ask this because their current business plan may be great for making themselves money, but it really tends to distract from the actual community aspect of it, esp. anything beyond the "how can I make money offa dis?" aspect of it all.

Quote - Does a website need to be the size of Drudge or Youtube, etc. before it qualifies as a successful one?

Of course not - I merely chose the more obvious examples, in case you decided to try and escape the facts by claiming obscurity of data points. ;)

/P