Share your creativity with the world! If you've always wanted the product you designed, others are sure to want it too. By opening a shop and offering your product for purchase, your passion could earn you some extra cash. And who knows? It could even become the next big, best-selling product and launch a whole new business for you.
1. Create Your Shapeways Shop
Sign up/log in: If you haven't already, create a Shapeways account.
Create a product: Please make sure to upload at least one model to your Shapeways account. Then go to https://www.shapeways.com/mymodels and locate the 3 dots to the right of the model you want to edit. Then, click "Create a Product." Here you can set your markup, add your photos, and select the materials you want your model to be sold in. From then on you will be able to open your shop here.
Open your shop: Please follow the steps described in our How to open a shop tutorial.
2. Setting up your Shapeways Shop
Once you've created your shop, you will be sent to your Shop Inventory page, all your products will be displayed there. Make sure to finish the shop set-up by visiting your Shop Settings by hovering over your avatar and clicking Shop Settings. Here you can customize your shop header, description, and more. Shoppers want to buy products from people they can relate to and who have stories behind their products. This is your chance to share your story!
Shop Header
Think of your header as a place to visually express what your shop is all about. This visual asset sits at the top of your shop and is the first thing people see so it's a great place for branding. The image pixel size used is 1600 x 350 px.
Shop Name
You can change the name of your shop that's displayed to public. Please note that this will not affect your URL, which cannot be changed once your shop is opened.
Descriptions
Tell the world what your shop is all about! Introduce yourself and the story of your products. People love hearing what inspires designers. This is a brief 1-2 sentence bio that appears in your shop header. If you choose to include an extended description (not required), this will appear below the products in your shop.
Social Links
Add in your brand's social links here: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. These are a great way for customers to stay connected with you and to learn of new items for sale in your shop!
Shop Sections
Shop sections enable you to organize the items in your shop by category. If you sell both jewelry and gadget accessories, these can live in separate sections to help shoppers browse and ultimately find exactly what they are looking for. You can add, remove and reorder shop sections as you please. This also appears to the left of your products.
Google Analytics
You can tap into Shapeways’ Google Analytics to track shopper behavior and product views in your shop in order to further optimize sales. Find out how to get your identifier code to incorporate Google Analytics into your shop. Once you have the code, add it to the Google Analytics section in your shop settings.
3. Optional Settings
Hide Material Renders
If you already have photos of all of your products, you have the option to hide renders. Renders are available on a product level, and give customers an idea of what your product looks like in multiple materials if you don't have photos available.
Business Users
If you are using Shapeways for your business and have a tax exemption certificate or reseller license, please send your reseller or exemption form to Customer Service to have your documentation logged and your account updated for business use.
Payments
From here, make sure to set up your payments. Enter your information in the "Getting Paid" tab located to the right of the "Shop Settings" section you just filled out. After that you’ll be on your way to sharing your creations with the world! You'll be paid out monthly on the 15th as long as your markup balance is $30+. If your balance is less than $30, it will roll over to the following month until you meet the minimum payout threshold.
Want to learn more about how to make your Shapeways shop successful? From product storytelling to press tips, we have all kinds of great tutorials for optimizing your shop.