Will you share your files?

The topic begs consideration of a subject called "value".

My top selling model (in units) at Shapeways took me ~2 hours to build, and after ten years, I've sold it 265 times, for a net markup of $255, less than $1 per item, but an effective hourly rate of $125/hour.

My top revenue item sold only 13 copies, produced $335 in markup, and probably took 300 hours to build. That's approaching $1 per hour for labor, nothing near the $15 per hour being toted by politicians.

Out of the 900 items in my shop, I've got 158 items that have never, never sold. Probably an average of 25 hours/model to build, and to date, have generated zero revenue whatsoever.

If you've ever looked at turbosquid.com, it's been the standard 'market' for 3d models for a very long time, and their models average $75-$100 per model, and they are not print-ready.

I'm not in this for the money, (I have a dayjob), but it doesn't hurt that I make some money from the hobby. A fair bit of what I make monthly from Shapeways goes straight back into buying more locos, track, and railcars. It's nice to have a hobby that pays for itself.

I certainly don't want to be a snob, but "Sharing" just not compensate for the time I put into building some models. A quality, printable mesh takes real work. Some concept of "Trading" might be worthwhile, but I have zero interest in 1860's European Gscale railcars - not anything I'd ever put on my layout. But.. buy me a hamburger and we can have a discussion.

On the other hand, I'll voluntarily spend HOURS to teach others how to draw in 3d.

Teach A Man To Fish...