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

[Tom Burns]

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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