Ok, this seems a little strange, and I am wondering if I got spammed. A woman from 3dCommune solicited me with an email to sell my Emily character on their site. Did this happen to anyone else? Anyone know anything about 3dCommune? Seemed kinda fishy. magnet

3DCommune is pretty well established and mostly is made up of many of the members from Renderosity from before the split-up (what? about a year ago?). I think many people like myself still haunt both. Originally Jack Kammerer was going to run or help run the Commune, but then there was a major falling out between his people and theirs. Overall I think you are secure dealing with Renderosity, the 3DCommune, and (if it ever gets back on its feet again) Renderotica. You'll hear from time to time sniping between the various groups, but that should have little impact on your dealings as an individual. None of the three are "fly by night" or mesh pirates..... Scarab

I sell some poses sets at 3D-C. I've been treated fairly by nice, responsive people. A pleasure to do Biz with them. -3Don

I sell everything there that I sell here, and although there isn't as much traffic there, they are nice folks on the whole.

I think it's kinda strange myself. Why would they actively attempt to recruit artists from another site that way? -Jeff

If they want to fill their store I don't see a problem with it. As a matter of fact I would take it as a compliment that they saw a nice model and thought it would sell well. People need to stop being suspicious and start getting along again. There are recruiters everywhere. Just because you get an offer doesn't mean someone is trying to steal you away from Renderosity. 8^) Marque

I don't think it's so much "actively recruiting" artists from here, Jeff, so much as extending an invitation to artists on the whole who may not know about their store service. It's more than likely a legetimate offer, magnet, from a legetimate site. Take it as a compliment that you have something nice that brokers are interested in. ;]

Be aware magnet, that the Commune allows it's testers and admins to keep copies of your products. If that's ok with you, then more power to you. We don't allow that here on Renderosity. Testers and admins have to buy the products just like anyone else.

Which means wherever you decide to sell your products, you need to carefully read all agreements. 8^) Marque

I was wondering, after someone has built their public image through selling from 3rd party tested sites (like renderosity), why would they KEEP selling at the 3rd party store which will take 51% (or slightly more) out of the sale? From "selling products" page: we'll pay you 50% of the sales generated from your work, after all credit-card processing fees have been deducted (typically 2-3%). which is how I got the figure 51% or slightly more. Anyway, by the time you've sold a few major works, you have a group of acquaintances who can test and verify for you, and you sell off your own site, using paypal, and you get more than 49%... or you can afford to take down your price to more affordable levels... Inquiring minds :) I just want to know how and why it works... I'm not saying it shouldn't BE this way. :)

Exposure. I doubt an artist's personal site would generate the traffic that Renderosity does, currently over 260,000 page hits a day.

Its definitely for the exposure, third party vendors just tend to get way more traffic than a person can generate for a personal website,although there are a few personal websites I see around that probably do pretty good for theirselves, I think its 50% here and at daz and 70% at commune that the artist gets. There ALL good places. Magnet , if I were you I would just take it as a compliment , Im not a vendor but I dont see it as spam , they were asking you to share your work. I dont think anyone can argue that the more exposure you get the better off you will be if youre trying to profit from your work.

A product exclusive to the MarketPlace at Renderosity gets 60/40 in favor of the artist. I think I'll move this thread to a more appropriate forum. -JH.

wow, I am glad I saw this thread (well, I get all the threads but still...) sometimes it's good to have these talks on the software forums, just so those that don't frequent others get the information. I had no idea the communities took so much of the sale. I always thought 20% was the high end of percentages for "agents". Glad I caught up. it will help to me make a better decision in the future when I try to sell my textures. Not that I wouldn't read the agreement when ready to go for it, but...

April I think selling through 3rd parties is the only alternatives for some people. Look how many people hate using PayPal, and most buyers wants instant gratification. That means immediate verification of cc's and downloads. For that you need a merchant account and merchant accounts aren't that easy to get, depends on your credit and the software they use. The company I'm looking into now willcost me $200.00 a month in setup fees and about $87.00 a month to keep. That's the processing and software costs. I'm still looking around which is why 3-D Arena's store isn't opened yet.

As a moderator on the 3dCommune site, as well as an active member of Renderosity, I can honestly say that the admin folks on the Commune staff are very sensitive to the relationship between there and here. Being asked to consider offering your product at the 3dCommune store was a compliment to your ability and creativity, and most definitely NOT an attempt to steal you or anyone else away from Renderosity. By and large, the members on 3dCommune are just like members here (and in many, many cases, one in the same...): friendly, amiable artists looking to share and learn from each other. Please don't take offense at what was meant as a compliment and a gesture of recognition for your talent. None was intended. jscott (aka liteluvr on 3dCommune)

I sell at both places, and rest assured, the people at 3D Commune are all really great, and if they asked you if you would be interested in selling there, as well as here, you should take that as a compliment.

I still sell privately. However, if 3d Commune asked me to sell to them, I would not take offense. In my book they are very reputable. They are just a bit smaller than Rnederosity.

LadySilverMage, is Costco an option for you? If you don't know, it's a membership warehouse store, that has an option for a business "Executive Member" that has a pretty good deal on merchant accounts. http://www.costco.com Poppi, what is the URL of your site? I don't think I've seen your work yet.

{I think it's kinda strange myself. Why would they actively attempt to recruit artists from another site that way?} They've been encouraging people to post stuff both to their store and any other stores out there since they finally got the store running. They don't want anyone selling stuff exclusively through them, nor do they want anyone selling stuff exclusively somewhere else, it seems... A kind of "Share the wealth and keep the COMMUNITY alive" mentality (in other words, they're idealists... For once I hope the idealists are right...).

oh this is where this thread got to! (is there any way you mods can leave a placeholder in the original forum for moved threads?) yep, i know about secure sites, used to set them up myself... set up 6 of them last year. yep, it cost our clients a lot... shrug i don't use paypal and don't know much about it, but i thought it was a convenient and cheap alternative. thanks for the explanations :)