Here at Pinshape, we’ve been growing like crazy, and without a doubt, one of the most common questions we get asked by the community is “What’s selling?”. Well, our 3D Printing Trends report has the answer! Take a look into the 3D printing industry!

We’ve combed through our masses of data, crunched the numbers and came up with these 7 easy-to-digest insights about what the 3D printing community loves to print. As you might expect, some of these insights may be pretty obvious, but now you’ll know just how much the details of your design listing really matter!

1. How To Price 3D Models

This is one of those insights that is pretty obvious; the lower the price of the design, the more likely it is to sell. The designers that tend to see the most success are the ones that price their work in a range that most consumers don’t really question the price at, very much like $0.99 apps on the app store.

2. What To Design

While every designer has their own field of expertise and inspirations, there are certainly some categories of designs that makers prefer over others. The most downloaded designs tend to be those that fall into the Toys & Games or the Home categories, while Jewelry & Fashion falls way behind.

3. How Often To List New Designs

When it comes to getting noticed, staying active on a marketplace is key for designers. Regularly posting new designs for sale really helps, since 50% of all transactions happen in the first 2 months after being listed. Keeping a fresh portfolio means more views and sales for the new items, as well as the older items in your portfolio.

4. Design Descriptions Matter

Putting some effort into not only the way you design something, but also how you present it for sale makes a big difference. Having a description of your design goes a long way; with 50 words or more, you’re 1.7 times more likely to sell something than if you have a shorter description.

5. People Love Pictures

Like with most things, makers like to know what they’re getting before they decide to buy 3D printable files. In this case, the data backs that up, indicating that you’re a whopping 3.1 times more likely to sell a design when you have at least 3 different pictures of your model in your listing.

6. Makers Print What Others Print

If you want to help out your sales even more, make sure to show off the prints you’ve done of your files. Our data shows that Prints (uploaded proof that a design will print successfully, along with the slicing settings to get the same results) make a design 2.7 times more attractive to makers than those that don’t have any proof or printability.

7. Real Photos Win

Last, but certainly not least, taking high quality photos of your already printed design has by far the largest effect of all our 3D printing trends. We found that designs with photos of real, already 3D printed designs are 7.3x more likely to be sold than those with computer generated renders. What a difference!

BONUS TIP: Spread the Word

As we mentioned, the Pinshape community is growing FAST! We’ve seen over 100% month-over-month growth for the past 4 months straight. This is great news for makers because we have more great designs than ever! For designers, that means there are more sales than ever. We’re doing what we can to get the word out about Pinshape, but our most powerful weapon in building this community is YOU! To help the community continue to flourish, make sure to share your work on your social media accounts and tell your 3D printing friends about Pinshape.

Do you want to start selling and sharing your work on Pinshape, or just want to find cool 3D printable designs? Great, you can get started for free today, and with our Thingiverse importer, you can be up and running in minutes!