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I designed a cardboard cutter that turns boxes into free cat scratchers (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/3dprinting@lemmy.world
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Also good for composting and making room in your recycling bin

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[–] 39 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Looks like the specific design in this video is being sold here, but if you'd prefer something that isn't behind a pay wall there's a few options (like this one).

Side rant: I'm all for people getting compensation for creative work but I feel like it's wrong to put the source file behind a waywall instead of simply selling the actual print directly to people that don't have access to a printer, that seems much more fair imo

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  • [–] 19 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Selling the actual print is more work than selling the STL.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Oh definitely, I just think it's easier to justify paying for a physical product than it is paying for a single file if you still need to manufacture it yourself. Still a valid business practice, I'm just biased toward "information should be free" and all that.

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  • [–] 21 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It's $3 which is well worth the time saved by not having to design it from scratch.

    Someone had to use their skills to create it, do you think they should work for free?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I don't disagree, never said people should work for free. I recognize there's a disjoint in believing good information should be free[ly accessible] and also that people deserve compensation for work, though. It's just one of those contradictions I haven't solved as far as my own beliefs.

    More than anything I was complaining, like I said it's a totally valid business choice, I'm just a penny-pincher lol.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago*

    I think there's a way to reconcile it, but it requires people to behave themselves. It can still be under a CC license, but also behind a pay link for the author. Yes, we could get it from somewhere for free, but that takes more effort and we're not supporting the original creator.

    This is basically mutual aid applied to non-physical goods. We know you still need to make a living in capitalism, and we'll agree to exchange useful things for money under that system until we have a better one.

    There's also an argument similar to the one for streaming services (the one the services themselves have forgotten in the last few years). Yes, we can pirate it, but that takes effort, the sites involved have all sorts of shady advertisements and try to infect your computer with Windows XP viruses, and we can get all we want and more for ten bucks a month.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    But it's not just information, someone sat in front of their computer and put the work in to design it, then print it and iterate.

    You're paying for that process, and for the time and effort the person took to acquire the necessary skills.

    However, there should be a noticeable price difference due to the easy scaling / replicatibility when distributing digital goods.

    I'm with you insofar as the final product feels like it should be 3 bucks, not the file.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago

    I replied to another response similar to yours so I won't bore you unless you want to read more, but I mostly agree with what you said and I totally agree that the work itself to create the file is worth compensation. I'm just a penny-pinching bastard who would rather find out if the print is actually good before paying lmao.

    Pay-what-you-want, donations, and subsidizing with a higher price for the final product makes more sense to me in terms of these kinds of digital goods, but that's besides the point, and I'm no expert on this kind of thing.

    Honestly I'd be willing to pay 5-8 bucks for the final product since it looks more polished than any of the free designs I've seen. But yes, fair points.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I mean, buying things like clothes patterns and carpentry plans is definitely a thing. An stl is really no different.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago

    That's a fair point, I guess I think of digital goods in a different context.

    They definitely deserve compensation for their work, and how they chose to do it is absolutely valid. I think I'm biased toward open source hardware where the labor of creating their digital files is subsidized by selling the physical product instead. I realize that's a risk and takes more effort though, so I totally understand why they didn't do that.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    I tried to buy the model from an artist recently for personal use(friend wanted some Mickey ears of a specific style). Person told me no and quoted me $130 with a 3 week wait time for a physical product that was something I could print in about an hour myself. For a Disney product they were already infringing on themselves.

    Went elsewhere and found someone selling the model for $7. Figured that was fair for the effort to transform it into a model file.

    Turned out I was wrong - only took me 20 minutes to print.

    Some of these artists are ridiculous....

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    I've made a few things. One, Mickey shaped cabinet hardware I put up for free because I didn't want to deal with Disney. Though I might put the raw print up on Etsy or something just because.

    Another is a frame to turn a Disney name tag into an ornament. I'm selling the completed product rather than releasing the design because I wanted to really offer it to people who didn't have 3d printers and wanted to ensure that it met my standards. And I didn't want competition. That said, it takes quite a lot of time to print, prep, sand, and paint. I spend a couple hours in finishing each and sell it at a price that... Totally doesn't make it worth it.

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