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I need advice guys. So I have an individual who has recently submitted an enquiry. He wants something designed and printed for his Ipad. Anyway, he gives me his personal contact info and he sends pictures of what it is Im designing for and he wants to meet up. Which I dont have a problem with. But then he further adds the I would have to sign an agreement. Which to me sounds…fishy. Also the other problem I am concerned with, is that if I were to do business with him. I am almost for certain he would not leave a review because he didnt go through proper channels via this site. Which I did mentioned to him. His response was "If Im hiring you and Im cutting you a check then Id like to meet. I would hate to turn down business. But this isnt helping my hub if I cant use it the way its meant to.

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So what I am asking…is what should I do in this situation.

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Do you want to make money or get a nice review ?

When somebody wants to do business outside of 3DHubs it’s at least 70% up front, or go via 3DHubs,

I am not out to get great reviews, I just want to be 100% sure I get paid for my work :slight_smile:

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I would like to get both lol. But I’d just figure it would help me generate more business if I had more reviews. Ive already completed one outside sale. I feel as though things are just safer for both parties if the site was used instead of meeting strangers to conduct business.

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Hey @Arealious2016, thanks for starting a thread on this topic. I can understand your predicament: you want to provide the best possible service to your customer while trying to fulfill orders as the customer wishes. First of all, I want to advise you to never do anything you don’t feel comfortable with. If your customer wants you to sign a document which you don’t feel comfortable with, then you shouldn’t, and feel free to decline the order.

Secondly, I really appreciate the fact that you mentioned the customer doesn’t seem to want to go through the “proper” channels on 3D Hubs. We do see this every now and then where either the customer or Hub would prefer to work outside of 3D Hubs. Please allow me to quickly explain our stance on this topic: 3D Hubs was designed to be a partnership between 3D Hubs and the 3D printing service providers (the Hubs). Here at 3D Hubs, we are continuously working to bring in more customers to the website by creating valuable content. In return, we do charge a service fee on every order; this is our business model.

If we notice that Hubs are guiding their customers outside of the platform, this partnership doesn’t work anymore and we sometimes deign to remove these Hubs from the platform to guide future orders to Hubs that understand this working relationship. I hope this makes sense.

From your thread I understand that you have every intention of guiding your customers through the proper channels, also in order to be able to have the customer write a review at the end of your order which improves your Hub ranking on the 3D printing search page. Feel free to communicate this to your customer, and if he/she is still not interested in placing the order through 3D Hubs, I would suggest you end the conversation there.

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Hi @Arealious2016 personally I’d ask the customer to use 3D Hubs and if they refuse, decline the order. Something designed for an iPad doesn’t sound like a large order and you’ve obviously got your own concerns, already expressed in your first post. Sounds to me like you’ve already made up your mind you’d rather go through 3DHubs, so I’d stick with that feeling and let the customer know.

As @Asad3D said, if it makes you uncomfortable, don’t do it, a policy I’ve followed in all my business dealings over the years.

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Thanks guys for your advice. I texted the gentlement and expressed my concerns. He said that he understands and also that he he is a total novice to 3D hubs. So I directed him to the faq page to help him get him up to speed. So hopefully we can try this again the right way.

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Sounds like this is a win for everyone. It really highlights the need for good and thorough communication with the customer because it seems in your example he just didn’t know and was uneasy with the process. Very understandable.

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I am familiar with this situation.

First, inventors may as you sign a non-disclosure agreement. This is not fishy, in fact, I have recommended folks to do so before showing me the parts.

STLs are digital files, and can find their way into the public domain, and with 3d printers can be easily duplicated. If the customer is looking to do an invention, he is smart to ask you to do an NDA. This is common for prototyping businesses.

Now, I have also had folks that have asked me to do business outside of 3dhubs. I respectfully decline, and here is why:

1. I am not interested in NOT paying the sales fee. That is, 3dhubs gets the sales commission.

2. Buyer protection is important to the customer. If the customer is unhappy, 3dhubs will jump in and make a decision, as a third party, as to whether I have failed the customer, of if the customer has failed me. This has never happened to me, but it is a good reason to do business through 3dhubs.

3. 3dhubs collects the fee up front, key in me getting paid. I also do work outside of 3dhubs, obviously. But if 3dhubs brings the customer, I will not work with them outside of the process. In fact, the only one time that I did not get paid for a job, was a direct customer who artfully manipulated me, and I did not get paid. 3dhubs has this protection built in.

4. I do good work. Thus, the review is important to me!

5. I do meet with customers. However, I have had two situations in three years where I simply did not feel comfortable. If that is the case, DO NOT DO IT. In both cases, I met at the local restaurant near my house.

6. 3dhubs brings me good solid business, and the fee they get helps us all. They are great at support, investigation, payment, content, and advertising. They also developed the software we all use, and maintain that software.

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I always ask new customers how they found me. If it was through a google search, then I will proceed to do business with them directly. If it was through 3d hubs then I will insist on doing business through 3d hubs. That’s only fair. Most of my business comes through 3d hubs.

But when I do work with a customer directly, I send them a PayPal invoice and don’t do any work until it’s paid. If it’s a large order, I may let them pay only 50% up front, the rest before I will hand over any prints. So far, this has always worked out.