A new online marketplace focused on professional 3D printing services has launched: RP Marketplace.
The new service focuses on “professional” markets for rapid prototyping. We’re expecting this service to attract independent commercial 3D printing service bureaus rather than home-based 3D printer operations.
Why? It’s because RP Marketplace seems to have thought of and implemented many features attractive to business users, such as milestone tracking and funding, payment escrow services, supplier rating systems and much more. We took a look at their policy documents and they seem strongly oriented to ensuring a clean, professional experience when using the service. They want to “makes selection and contracting safe, transparent and efficient.”
This is confirmed by CEO Steven Jaffe:
Our goal is to streamline the process of sourcing professional rapid prototyping services for small to medium size businesses that don’t have the time or money to setup and maintain top-of-the-line machinery needed to produce professional prototypes.
It’s free to register, so how do they make money on this operation? It’s quite straightforward, as RP Marketplace will take 7.5% of the service fee as it travels from buyer to seller.
Small businesses, this could be the place to safely and easily find appropriate 3D print services for your project. Meanwhile, those with idle commercial 3D printers might consider joining this service to gain some extra work and subsidize your operations.
Via RP Marketplace