ShareCG now selling stuff?

[McGyver]

DISCLAIMER: The following statement is the rantings of a known to be insane individual who's opinions and ideas are a function of his own personal form of insanity and does not express in any way the opinions of Hivewire3d, their staff, their pets or their neighbors.

I would have made that all in bold and red or something, but the iPad won't stop dropping the selected text every time I try and do something up there...


So I'm sitting here waiting for my kids and to waste time I check out ShareCG....
WTF?...
Shouldn't that now be "ShareSomeStuffButChargeForOthersCG"?
Blegh....
I was able to wrap my mind around the extra (invasive) ads...
I know a long time ago they asked if people wanted a store there too, but they often ask users what they think about stuff and usually just do nothing.
Kinda disappointing...
The main page is littered with for sale stuff... You'd think that when you ask people if they want "a store", it would mean a separate page...
A lot of the stuff I'm seeing is by a couple of artists who do quality work and sell at other sites...
But I'm just waiting for all the hacks who rip off 3D Warehouse stuff to start flooding the site with hastily converted models, once they catch wind of this.
Now that money is involved, I'm just counting on how this will attract phishy and hacky lowlifes....
Must everything be monetized?
Seriously.... SHARE...C...friggin' G!
I honestly didn't care if it was a separate page or store as they asked about, but mixed in, it will get abused in a heartbeat.
Not to mention new people will see stuff for sale mixed with stuff that's free and think it's a phishy gimmick...
Maybe I'm the only one who sees it this way, but it's like going to a library and finding some books with a price tag...

You know... It's probably just me... I'm really sick of caring about stuff...

Like I said, it's all my opinion, but I thought people might want to note the change...

 

[Gadget Girl]

So I had to go check it out to see what was happening. Actually the main page for me only showed two items for sale, the rest were free, which didn't seem to bad. But then I hit the link to browse for Poser stuff and about half the stuff was marked with 'Pending sale approval'. I tried clicking on one of these times for a better explanation of this, because it seemed odd to me that you would list stuff that you could neither get for free nor buy (yet). No explication was given. Just if you tried to download the item in question you just got in an endless loop of going back to that items page.

I kind of agree I don't like the change, not if it's all just mixed in with ShareCGs regular stuff. As it is, looking through ShareCG requires patience, like shopping at a thrift store. But you accept that because you are trying to find something for free, so it's okay if you have to look through a lot of stuff you don't want. But if you can't filter out the paid stuff (or the stuff you might be able to buy someday, but not today) it makes it a much less friendly site. Especially when you consider that 3d sites that are built around being stores make it easy to show just the free stuff.

 

[McGyver]

I like the thrift store analogy... I was once trying to describe what SCG reminded me of and I fumbled up a less perfect example, but that one hit it squarely.

 

[Faery_Light]

Hmmm, if I could get time to poperly do a page with images for freestuff, I would put mine on my own site.
Right now got so much going on that I can't concentrate on html and or learning php or what ever else is out there.

 

[3WC]

I was curious what their terms were, but can't seem to find any info about selling percentages, etc. The only link I found was just to fill out an electronic w-9 form.

I have always loved ShareCG for freebies, but to be honest it seems a little unprofessional for pay items. If I were them I think I would separate the pay items into a different section.

 

[Miss B]

Or even a better designed "sister" site.

 

[Faery_Light]

I can't even find the actual store site, just links to products.

 

[Miss B]

That's why mixing them together seems weird to me.

 

[robert952]

That's why mixing them together seems weird to me.

Kind of like Amazon Prime Video. If you don't pay attention you can accidentally click on a pay item. (Happened once so far. But came close a couple of other times.)

 

[mininessie]

i think the same i would prefer a different tab for the store...not the mixing with the free things!

 

[Dakorillon (IMArts)]

There is a blog post about it back in 2015 or 2016 that I read, but nothing more than that. I was very disappointed when my "daily report" started having all this pay stuff show up. I need to go through and unfollow a bunch of people so my report goes back to free stuff.

 

[CajunBeauty]

DISCLAIMER: The following statement is the rantings of a known to be insane individual who's opinions and ideas are a function of his own personal form of insanity and does not express in any way the opinions of Hivewire3d, their staff, their pets or their neighbors.

I would have made that all in bold and red or something, but the iPad won't stop dropping the selected text every time I try and do something up there...


So I'm sitting here waiting for my kids and to waste time I check out ShareCG....
WTF?...
Shouldn't that now be "ShareSomeStuffButChargeForOthersCG"?
Blegh....
I was able to wrap my mind around the extra (invasive) ads...
I know a long time ago they asked if people wanted a store there too, but they often ask users what they think about stuff and usually just do nothing.
Kinda disappointing...
The main page is littered with for sale stuff... You'd think that when you ask people if they want "a store", it would mean a separate page...
A lot of the stuff I'm seeing is by a couple of artists who do quality work and sell at other sites...
But I'm just waiting for all the hacks who rip off 3D Warehouse stuff to start flooding the site with hastily converted models, once they catch wind of this.
Now that money is involved, I'm just counting on how this will attract phishy and hacky lowlifes....
Must everything be monetized?
Seriously.... SHARE...C...friggin' G!
I honestly didn't care if it was a separate page or store as they asked about, but mixed in, it will get abused in a heartbeat.
Not to mention new people will see stuff for sale mixed with stuff that's free and think it's a phishy gimmick...
Maybe I'm the only one who sees it this way, but it's like going to a library and finding some books with a price tag...

You know... It's probably just me... I'm really sick of caring about stuff...

Like I said, it's all my opinion, but I thought people might want to note the change...

I feet the same way. I have an ad blocker so I don't see the ads, but I like going there for the freebies. It's nice to have a few new free items to play with when you can't afford to buy anything. This for me keeps my art fresh.

 

[Miss B]

Kind of like Amazon Prime Video. If you don't pay attention you can accidentally click on a pay item. (Happened once so far. But came close a couple of other times.)

I don't subscribe to Amazon Prime, but do subscribe to a daily email from BookBub, which sends links to Kindle eBooks available at Amazon, and a couple of times I didn't notice they were more expensive than what I wanted to pay for them, so yes you have to be doubly careful.

 

[McGyver]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels it's kinda messy that stuff is all mixed in... A separate tab, or section for pay items is great and I don't want to deny anyone an opportunity to earn income... But mixed in like that it's a mess and in a way, it's kind of not fair to people who contribute free items that stick to the "Share" concept to have to "share" the same section with pay models... Come on, it bad enough when you upload something new you've been working on and suddenly your stuff is three pages back because someone uploaded a ton of converted game models or different color cubes... But now you are going to have to share the same place with pay models.

Then you have the other factor which concerns me which is people pirating free models from other sites...
There are still at least one person who routinely uses 3D warehouse models from different artists and takes credit for them... (So far he is not charging)...
A while back there was a fellow who was doing the same thing and people were openly commenting on it there and it took months for anything to be done... Complained several time to SCG and provided links to the origin models... I even found a DAZ car over there too (and to thank me for mentioning it a DAZ mod deleted my post asking about it)-(megh) it was quickly removed but still the guy persisted...
To be honest I think EnglishBob and some Star Trek modelers were probably the ones whose voices finally got that joker banned.
That guy probably only received praise for his stolen models, but the idea of someone like him (he had a donation link, so I don't think he was above accepting money) not just getting praise and thanks for someone else's work, but money as well... That really bugs and I'm pretty sure soon enough the lax policing of content there is gonna result in more nonsense...

Then you also have the fact that over the last couple of years the amount of Poser/DS stuff showing up there has decreased... I'm guessing people who were cutting their teeth in modeling moved on to providing pay content, and the whole way the Genesis series seemed to overnight cut down the number of free characters, the widening of the Poser/DS divide... Maybe even content providers not having as much free time due to economic difficulties... It really cut down the amount of new stuff showing there... Not to mention that a lot of stuff requires you to already own an item, a morph or other character...
So already the choices were diminishing, now you are dumping another factor into the mix...

I often feel like I have that "the sky is falling" attitude, but right now I feel like before long much of the stuff there is gonna be overpriced novice pay items.

Already one guy seems to be charging for all of his new stuff... And realistically, based on the equivalent items at established stores... For a single item, the price is not realistic.

Maybe it will all work itself out.

Who knows...

 

[3dcheapskate]

Check ShareCG admin's response to the "Paid Items" thread on their forum Discussions Search: Board: suggestions; View Counted; (<= I still don't like the way the Hivewire forum software automatically changes the link text to whatever the target website set the page title to). To paraphrase, they simply ignore the actual question (which is simply asking for them to separate free and paid stuff) and say that they've been carrying the cost of the site for many years and that the business model's not working.

I can believe that. But I don't think that this new business model's been properly thought out.

So any recommendations for the new best place to host freebies ?

 

[3dcheapskate]

I've sent them a message "End User Feedback - filter for freebies / priced items please"

Given that ShareCG is now selling stuff, it seems asensible idea to add a 'Cost' filter to your existing 'Member Type', 'Format', 'Usage Rights' and 'Categories'.

Screenshot of the obvious way to do this attached.

Cheers,
Pete

 

[McGyver]

Well, one thing I'd think they should do if their business model is not working out is...
I'm going out on limb here...
And this is just a thought...
Real far, way out on a limb...
Find advertisers that people who go to the site might actually click on...?
So far this year I have needed zero bulldozers, industrial lasers capable of cutting steel, pneumatic relay blocks, assorted industrial grade plastic bearings that are far superior to metal ones, robotic welding arms...
In fact ever since I finished building my evil lair in the volcano on Death Skull Island, I haven't had any use for those sort of things...
(FYI... When building an evil lair in a volcano... Start in the part with no lava)
But maybe an ad for a 3D printer, or some normal techie stuff that ordinary people not digging a network of tunnels deep beneath the earth might be interested in...
I know nobody likes ads, but there are lots of tech sites that at least do it tastefully and right.
One, TechDirt actually has a button to "report this ad"... I kinda think that is cool if you are gonna allow ads.
But the point is if you are wasting space on ads, waste them on relevant ones.
A couple of years ago they complained the site wasn't doing well and they wanted to charge a fee or they might go under...
A lot of people complained and offered lots of suggestions that were brilliant.
I know most of them said they either commented there, or sent an email and I know I repeated a list of the best most practical ones in an email I sent.
As far as I could tell it fell on deaf ears.
Then more ads showed up.
Whatever...
It would be a shame to see them fail, but I don't see this new "strategy" working out.

 

[3dcheapskate]

I've sent them a message...

I've still had no reply (and there's no free stuff filter yet that I can see).

So I guess that they probably think I'm being snarky... ;o)

 

[mininessie]

the put an store button...but the store things still are merged in the other tabs

 

[3dcheapskate]

the put an store button...but the store things still are merged in the other tabs

Hopefully an adjacent "Free" button will appear next...