According to multiple sources, 3D printing marketplace Shapeways.com is facing bankruptcy. If you still have files on there that you don't have backed up locally, I recommend you get them off asap.
If you're a shop owner, this forum topic contains information on how to download your sales data - you may need it for tax purposes.
I have a LONG history with Blender - I wrote some of the earliest Blender tutorials, worked for Not a Number and helped run the crowdfunding campaign that open sourced Blender (the first one on the internet!). I founded BlenderNation in 2006 and have been editing it every single day since then ;-) I also run the Blender Artists forum and I'm Head of Community at Sketchfab.
4 Comments
Ooooh! That's super sad...
Their service and website are the best...
Thank you for the warning Bart.
If you just want to sell your 3D files, Sketchfab is a great place to do that, their 3D tools are great, more geared toward digital assets than printable files but both exist on the platform.
iMaterialize has a marketplace too - https://i.materialise.com/en/3d-printing-business/open-a-shop
I've never used it so can't tell you how easy it is, might be worth a comparison at least. I know their printing prices were about even with Shapeways last month when I checked to print a gold ring.
I've used Imaginarium for all my metal printing in the last few years, they are FANTASTIC (and an old vendor of SW) but you need to deal with customs from India yourself (not hard, just takes longer).
If employees were told the bankruptcy news and told to go home on Monday then even if they wanted to post or send something to shopowners they probably were locked out of their logins, software and systems on the same day. And as you can imagine they might be worried about not having a job suddenly first. :(
If I hear of other options I'll post!
Sad news. What a terrible end to a great company. Didn’t you used to work for Shapeways, Bart?
Yeah I did!