[Lab] Introducing TugBits.com - a marketplace for makers

[Tom Burns]

Hi Andrew!

I am glad you are interested.  I am a fan of your work!

Thank you for bringing Broodr to my attention, I had not seen it before.

Doesn't Etsy also charge a listing fee?  Our site is free-to-list to
hopefully promote growth, but clearly our original 25% idea is too high.
 Once we internally agree on a lower number I will let the list know :)

While we are not against eventually supporting physical items, to start it
is digital only.  It is a simpler model for everyone involved to not have to
deal with shipping.  Also I am not sure if we want to compete with Etsy.

One of our potential ideas is to partner with existing physical services
like ponoko, sparkfun/mouser, and easy PCB, to offer simple JIT kit
ordering.  For single quantities and multiple-source shipping it might end
up being too expensive compared to traditional sales models.

Another way to look at our target marketplace would be "App Store for
Arduino/CNC/RepRap".

Cheers,
Tom

On Wed, Jun 8, 2011 at 3:08 PM, Andrew O'Malley <aomalley at gmail.com> wrote:

> Tom,
>
> As an active on-line seller, I'll be interested to see the development
> of Tugbits.
>
> For reference, sites like Etsy and Broodr.com take less than 5% of
> each sale, so as a seller it's a great trade off for all the overhead
> they take care of.
>
> Etsy isn't really directed to electronics/maker stuff, but that's
> where most of my sales come from.  Broodr is a newer site dedicated
> more to maker stuff, but I have yet to make a sale there even though
> they claim to be promoting it as well.
>
> Is Tugbits for physical objects as well?
>
> Best of luck and keep us updated!  Nice to see a local approach!
>
> Andrew
>
>
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2011 13:25:33 -0400
> > From: Tom Burns <tom.i.burns at gmail.com>
> > Subject: [Lab] Introducing TugBits.com - a marketplace for makers.
> > To: lab at artengine.ca
> > Message-ID: <BANLkTinCRSY-ETHCw0nYPWwmmVsCwoToTA at mail.gmail.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> >
> > I'd like to introduce the community to a website I've been working on
> with a
> > few friends.  I would love to hear your feedback on the idea and the
> site,
> > http://www.tugbits.com .
> >
> > Our dream goal is to help people quit their desk jobs and pay their bills
> > doing what they love, making things.
> >
> > TugBits.com is a digital marketplace for makers.  You upload your design
> > files, list them for sale, and collect money via PayPal when your item
> > sells.  Likewise, you can use the site to find quality, reviewed designs
> > suitable for printing on your 3d printer, milling on your CNC, running on
> > your Arduino, etc.  Also suitable would be e-books, schematics, source
> code
> > libraries and tools, etc.  Only after the PayPal transaction is the buyer
> > able to download the files.  There are no physical items sold on the
> TugBits
> > store, only files.
> >
> > Our goal is to help talented makers easily profit from their hard work.
>  We
> > do not want to replace the existing "free/open source" model, but we want
> to
> > augment it. We think that if you can get paid for your work it will
> compel
> > you to go the extra step and make it that much better.  Market driven
> > innovation.
> >
> > Registering and listing items is free.  We charge 25% of your gross
> revenue
> > and bill monthly.  Depending on our costs and community feedback this
> number
> > is probably going to change, but it's similar to the costs associated
> with
> > putting an app on an app store or a musician listing with iTunes.
> >
> > Currently you can register on the site and list items for sale, which is
> > what I would love for any of you interested to do.  We are in the final
> > stages of getting PayPal to sign off on the site, at which point sellers
> > will be able to collect money and items will be able to be sold.
> >
> > Please visit the site and let me know what you think!  Even if you hate
> it,
> > please reply to tell me why.
> >
> > Thank you,
> > Tom Burns
>
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