Demand for 3D models is growing in gaming, architecture, animation, product design, and 3D Printing. With a bit of creativity, you can turn your models into downloadable products and sell them to customers globally. However, great designs aren’t enough. You’ll need a website that showcases your designs and allows customers to buy and download.
Many WordPress themes can help creators set up an online store. Some are for single sellers, whilst others provide a marketplace for many creators. Below are 5 themes that will help you build a business around your 3D Assets.
The Business Behind Selling 3D Models Online
There are more people buying models than you’d expect. Game studios will need characters and environments, an Architect will need furniture and building models to render, manufacturers will need CAD files to save time on prototyping and hobbyists will just want to print something.
This opens up many options. You can sell human figures, creatures and animated characters to game and creative teams; buildings, interiors and landscapes to architects and props, weapons and environments as game assets. You can also sell your STL files for 3D printing, textures and materials for digital rendering and CAD models for engineers and product creation.
All of these can be sold from your own store, or you can join an online platform where other designers have listed their designs. Alternatively, you can create your own 3D asset marketplace.
Different Ways to Sell 3D Models Through a WordPress Website
Before you pick a theme, decide how you want to run your business. Your selling model shapes the tools and marketplace structure you’ll need.
1. Self-Hosted Design Store
This is likely to be the easiest way forward if you’re designing your own 3D models. It will give you complete control over everything regarding your designs. You’ll be able to write product descriptions, set prices and manage orders.
The benefits of this option are that you establish your branding and have control over everything in your catalogue.
2. Multi Vendor Marketplace
A multi-vendor marketplace brings all your designers and buyers into one place. The artists will sign up to the marketplace and upload their products. They will earn money from any sales generated.
As the owner, you will earn money by charging a percentage commission on sales, listing fees or selling premium seller packages. This option would work well if you want to set up your own marketplace.
3. Subscription 3D Asset Library
You could offer a library of 3D models for users to download. Users will pay a fee to gain access to the files.
This will be successful if you’re constantly adding new models and want users to return. Be sure to explain how subscriptions will work and how many downloads they will be able to do. Licensing should also be explained.
5 Best WordPress Themes for Selling 3D Models Online
Not every digital marketplace theme has tools for showing 3D files. Some cover general digital products. Others use layouts built for 3D assets. These five are worth a look.
1. Heilz – Best for Building a Multi-Vendor 3D Asset Marketplace
Heilz is a digital downloads WordPress theme and marketplace WordPress theme site that allows you to sell downloadable content from one website. It can support managing different types of digital assets, including 3D assets, so it is perfect if you want your own asset marketplace.
Heilz uses WooCommerce to provide payment functionality, but also allows ways to make money off your marketplace.
Key Capabilities:Â
- Support a multi-vendor marketplace
- Front-end product submission
- Vendor dashboards and user management
- Download & Submission Plans
- Commission, listing fees & promotional functions can be set up.
- Custom fields, categories & search filters.
This means you can easily categorise different types of 3D products and manage individual sellers. You could have categories for architectural models, game assets, printable designs, etc.
This is perfect for entrepreneurs who want many creators to sell their items in a single marketplace.
2. WS Mesh – Best for 3D Model and Printable File Storefronts
WS Mesh is a block theme for WooCommerce designed specifically for those selling 3D files. Many digital marketplace themes often leave out any specific information that 3D buyers will need. With WS Mesh, there are sections to give your customers all the information they need. The demos also show examples of selling 3D models, game asset packs and 3D printing files.
Key Capabilities:Â
- Product previews (Shaded & Wireframe)
- File Format & Technical Specification sections
- Polycount & Textures information
- Licence Comparison Layouts
- Product Bundles & Downloadable Files
- WooCommerce Shop, Product, Cart & Checkout templates
These features allow you to provide all the information your customers might need when purchasing a file. This would be great if you wanted to design a store based around what your 3D assets look like and how they perform.
3. Mayosis – Best for Selling Digital Creative Products
Mayosis is a marketplace theme created for Easy Digital Downloads. It allows you to easily manage your range of products such as stock photos, music, templates, software, and downloadable products. It has front-end submissions, meaning you can turn your store into a marketplace.
Key Capabilities:Â
- Easy Digital Downloads Compatibility
- Product submissions from the front-end
- Customisable Product Pages
- Live Cart functionality.
- Paying Products option
- Marketplace Extensions Compatible
This theme is ideal if you want to sell multiple types of digital products. Designers will love the product page features of this theme to organise and showcase their products.
4. Tijarah – Best for WooCommerce-Based Digital Marketplaces
Tijarah is a digital marketplace theme for WooCommerce. It can be used to sell products such as templates, software, music, stock photography and videos. It can support multi-vendor selling using Dokan.
You have the freedom to create your own storefront pages thanks to Elementor.
Key Capabilities:Â
- WooCommerce integration
- Dokan Multi-Vendor support
- Elementor Page Builder
- Several home page and shop designs
- Responsive design
- Product Category Pages and Store Pages
This is great for entrepreneurs looking to sell products with a multi-vendor approach. This could be a good starter theme if you are looking to sell 3D resources. However, you may wish to alter the product pages to show specifications.
5. Eidmart – Best for Selling Downloadable Digital Assets
Eidmart is a theme for Easy Digital Downloads which has been designed to support single and multi-vendor stores. It’s ideal if you’re creating a store to sell any kind of downloadable product.
The theme includes specific product templates for different product types such as photography, video, audio and graphics.
Key Capabilities:
- Easy Digital Downloads compatibility
- Multi-vendor support using Front End Submissions
- Elementor page builder compatible
- Filterable products & fully customisable archive templates
- User and Vendor dashboards
- Subscription selling capability using a free EDD extension
Eidmart is especially useful for sellers who want to offer 3D assets along with other digital downloads. The theme has layouts that make it easy to organize a growing collection of products. Extra marketplace extensions help add more multi-vendor features as your store expands.
What Can You Sell in a 3D Model Marketplace?
Your 3D asset store can also be a great place for multiple types of creative professionals. You can provide multiple categories to help attract your buyers.
Categories such as:
- Game Development Assets – Character Models, Weapon Models, Environments, Animations, Prop Models.
- Architecture – Building Models, Interior Floorplans, Furniture, Landscape Assets.
- 3D Printing Assets – STL Files, 3D Printable Assets, Product Prototypes.
- Digital Assets – Textures, Shaders, Materials.
- Engineering Assets – CAD Files, Mechanical Assets, Technical Models.
This will help you sort your assets into easy-to-use categories. This will help your customers find exactly what they are looking for. Your listings should also contain information on the format of the files, what software they work with, preview images and licensing information where applicable.
How Does a Multi-Creator 3D Marketplace Make Money?
A marketplace gives you several ways to earn, beyond selling your own product
- Sales Commissions – earn from a percentage of sales made on your site by creators.
- Listing Fees – receive payment from sellers for posting (or publishing) products on your site. This will help offset costs that come with running your site.
- Subscription – offer recurring access to certain assets/ advanced features of your marketplace. Customer attraction can be encouraged with subscriptions.
- Feature Spotlights – charge creators for highlighting their products on your site. This can increase visibility for you and creators on your site.
- Bundle Packs – allow creators to put their related model into groups. You will sell these bundles at an increased price to increase the value of their order.
This doesn’t mean you need to do all forms of monetisation from the start. Choose which is most appropriate for your audience and introduce further as your marketplace grows.
Why Choose Heilz for a Multi-Vendor 3D Asset Marketplace?
Choose a theme that offers marketplace tools to give you a whole range of designers offering their work.
Heilz provides a marketplace solution using WooCommerce to manage your products. This includes seller tools, so sellers can manage their items via dashboards. The owner can easily create their own commission structures, download packages, submission packages and promotion methods.
You can easily create a marketplace for certain categories. For example: game design items, architecture, downloadable 3D assets. Custom fields can be created to allow buyers to easily search for what they require.
Rather than managing each designer’s products you can build a marketplace for independent creators to provide their work. Allowing you to oversee your business and revenue model.
Wrapping UpÂ
Selling 3D models online can turn into a business for independent designers and entrepreneurs. The best WordPress theme depends on your plan: selling your own creations, offering subscription downloads or bringing lots of designers together in a marketplace.
Check out selling tools, product presentation, vendor management and how you can make money before you make a choice. If you are looking for a multi-vendor platform for downloadable 3D assets, Heilz offers a marketplace foundation that is worth taking a look at.
