Selling 3D Models Online - Check Out How I Earned $44,000

Decline in sales

In the following years, I began to notice a greater decline in sales. The results looked as follows:

2016 - 6182 $
2017 - 5643 $
2018 - 3155 $
2019 - 2919 $
2020 - 2156 $
2021 - 2011 $
2022 - 1286 $
2023 - 827 $
2024 - 688 $

Sales results on the chart:

I believe that such a significant drop was caused not only by the lack of new products, but mainly by a competing platform that was gaining popularity - 3dsky.org.

3dsky unlike Turbosquid offers a lot of free models, and the PRO versions are sold very cheaply - at fixed prices of around $7 each. TurboSquid ensures that models are not sold for too cheap and that other users do not undercut prices. I have received messages asking me to raise the prices of some models because their algorithm considered them too cheap.

Personally, I think 3dsky somewhat spoiled the market and reduced the profitability of selling models. When the same model is available for $10 on TS and for free on 3dsky, it's clear which one will be more appealing to the customer.:)

Above is the Google Trends chart for the phrase 3dsky. The highest growth was around 2017 when the biggest sales declines began.

Selling 3D models - Who I recommend it for

As you can see, in the past, it was possible to make decent money from 3D models. Unfortunately, the competition is increasing, and the number of 3D models is only growing. I think it's extremely difficult to make it the main source of income now. However, as an additional income to support our budget, it's a great solution. It might be particularly interesting for people who enjoy modeling and do it for pleasure in their free time. Then, we can be creative and have an additional source of income.

This can also be useful for people who are just starting to learn 3D programs and have the opportunity to spend many hours preparing a specific model they want to showcase in their portfolio. Since they've spent a lot of time on it, there's nothing stopping them from earning a few extra dollars from it.

It can also be a good motivator to speed up their work and model more effectively. In this case, the speed of work is crucial. The more and faster we create high-quality models, the greater the chance of earning decent money in relation to the time we've invested in them.

Alternatively, it could also be a good option for people who work in visualizations and occasionally need to independently prepare a 3D model or entire scenes for their needs. It's possible that part of their work can be monetized in this way.

Selling 3D models - Who I don't recommend it for

I definitely wouldn't see this as a simple and main way to make money. The biggest problem is that we have no certainty that anyone will buy our product. It may turn out that we spend 100 hours preparing 10 models and end up earning only $100. In terms of hours, it gives us $1 per hour for our work.

Advantages of selling on TurboSquid

An enormous advantage of selling on TS is that it's a truly passive income. We don't have to worry about anything at all. Apart from adding the model to the website, everything happens without our involvement. Conversion to other formats and answering questions are handled by TurboSquid's support. Asking us to check something or add missing textures are one-off situations. I probably haven't devoted even an hour to managing these sales or the platform over the last 2-3 years, yet I still earn some extra bucks to my budget each month.

Disadvantages of selling on TurboSquid

The commissions, especially at the beginning, are really high. If we don't join the so-called SquidGuild, TurboSquid will charge up to 60% of our earnings. Only after joining the Guild can we expect an increase in commission.

In total, we have 7 levels that we achieve as our sales increase. We reach the final level after exceeding $10,000. We can then count on 60% of the value of our sales. Additionally, if we participate in the affiliate program, we can expect an additional 20%, which in total gives us up to 80% in commission.

The commissions charged by TS are certainly high, but considering how many customers still use this service and the fact that we don't have to worry about anything at all, this should compensate for it.

Quality of the 3D models sold

The models we offer must not only look great in visualizations but they must also have the best-prepared geometry. Currently, TurboSquid requires the addition of visualizations showing the wireframe of our object, so nothing can be hidden.:) We must, therefore, be careful to ensure that, for example, a cup model doesn't have 100,000 polygons, as it won't be well-prepared geometry.

Summary

As you can see, it's still possible to earn additional money in this way. Nevertheless, it's certainly becoming increasingly difficult due to the high competition, growing requirements, and the time that needs to be invested. If you're interested in starting to create such models, I encourage you to take advantage of our online courses on the 3ds Max program. I personally enjoy modeling, and I think I'm doing quite well. In the majority of materials created by me, you will find many hours devoted to creating high-quality 3D models step by step.

Best regards!