Printlooper FAQs by role

Frequently asked questions

How do I get started as a designer?

Create your account, verify your email, connect Stripe Connect for payouts, and upload your first STL or 3MF from Designer > Files. You can keep the file in draft while you add renders, tags, and pricing notes before publishing it to the marketplace.

What file formats and size limits do you support?

Printlooper currently accepts STL and 3MF uploads up to 500 MB per file. That support is built into the upload flow so you can publish printable marketplace files without converting them into a generic asset package first.

What validation checks happen when I upload?

After upload, the platform checks that the mesh is watertight, manifold, and at least 2 mm in all dimensions. It also calculates the bounding box, volume, and estimated weight so invalid geometry gets caught before a seller ever tries to list it.

How many designs can I upload on each plan?

Designer upload limits are 50 files on Free, 100 on Basic, and 300 on Pro. Those limits apply to your library, not just published files, so you can keep drafts and published designs in the same account.

How do royalties work?

Your royalty rate depends on plan: 6% on Free, 9% on Basic, and 12% on Pro. The rate is snapshotted with the product version when a seller publishes, so older orders keep the original terms.

When do I get paid?

Designer payouts go through Stripe Connect. Free plan payouts run every 2 weeks, Basic runs weekly, and Pro pays within 48 hours after shipped orders clear the normal review window.

Can buyers or sellers download my raw design files?

No. Sellers can list your design but never download the STL or 3MF. Buyers only see product pages and renders. Suppliers get temporary, order-scoped access through a signed link that expires after 14 days and is revoked once the order ships, so the raw file is never openly distributed.

Can I keep a design private until it is ready?

Yes. Uploads can stay in draft while you tune the title, description, tags, and images. A file is not visible in the marketplace until you explicitly publish it, so you can prep everything before exposing it to sellers.

How do I update or replace a design file?

You can edit listing metadata at any time, and you can upload a new file version when the geometry changes. Existing orders stay tied to the prior snapshot while new orders use the latest published version, which keeps fulfillment stable and avoids surprise file swaps mid-order.

What makes a design more likely to get approved and used?

The best-performing listings combine clean printable geometry with practical listing detail: watertight files, realistic tolerances, clear material and orientation notes, strong titles and tags, and marketplace-ready renders or photos. Designers who make seller setup easy usually get listed faster.

How do I list a product with an existing design?

The seller flow walks you through supplier selection, material choice, colors and photos, then pricing. You pick a compatible supplier, choose the material family and variant setup, and publish the finished listing to your Printlooper storefront, Shopify, or both.

How is my cost calculated on each order?

Your per-order cost is built from fulfillment cost plus any designer royalty, then your seller platform fee and transaction fee are added on top. The key formula is the same one used throughout the billing tools: profit = retail price - fulfillment cost - royalty - platform fee - transaction fee, with tax shown separately in the live calculator.

What platform fees do sellers pay by plan?

Seller plans currently use 6% + $1.29/order on Free, 5% + $0.79/order on Basic, and 4% with the transaction fee fully waived on Pro. Subscription pricing covers software access only; fulfillment and royalties are still charged per order.

How does the margin calculator work?

The product creation flow shows a live margin calculator before you publish. As you adjust price, supplier choice, or whether a designer royalty applies, the calculator updates fulfillment cost, royalty, platform fee, transaction fee, tax estimate, total charges, and your remaining profit so you can price from real economics instead of guessing.

What exactly syncs with Shopify?

Shopify sync covers product title, description, variants, images, pricing, and COGS on publish. Orders placed in Shopify flow back into Printlooper for supplier routing, and when the supplier ships, tracking number and carrier details sync back to Shopify automatically.

How does fulfillment work after a customer places an order?

Once an order is paid, Printlooper routes it to the best-fit supplier based on compatibility and operating constraints. The supplier handles production, status updates, and shipping, while you see the order move through accepted, processing, printing, printed, shipped, delivered, and fulfilled states from the Seller > Orders dashboard.

What happens if a supplier declines the order?

If the assigned supplier declines, the system automatically tries the next eligible supplier. Printlooper makes up to 3 auto-reroute attempts before the order is flagged for manual reroute, so most operational issues get resolved without you rebuilding the listing from scratch.

How is shipping handled?

Suppliers generate labels through Shippo from inside the fulfillment workflow. The label PDF and tracking number are attached to the order, and tracking syncs back to your Shopify store when applicable. Shipping is treated as a pass-through label cost rather than a mystery markup.

How do I compare supplier materials, pricing, and lead times?

Supplier selection is product-specific. The flow shows supported materials, color options, ratings, average lead time, and pricing so you can compare suppliers before publishing. Incompatible shops are filtered out so you do not accidentally list a product against a supplier that cannot make it.

When do suppliers and designers get paid on my orders?

After an order ships, each payee follows the payout schedule tied to their own subscription tier: Every 2 weeks, Weekly, Within 48 hours. That hold window gives the platform time to handle quality checks, refunds, or disputes before funds are released.

Can I get paid for viral social posts about Printlooper?

Yes. Public posts that tag @printlooper and reach 1,000 or more likes can earn a $25 reward. Email the post link plus the email address your Printlooper account uses (so we can look you up) to support@printlooper.com, or share it in our Discord (https://discord.gg/r4Z6vjtvdk). Posts must include your share link, stay public at submission, and follow FTC disclosure rules (#ad). Each post is paid once. Monthly cap is 5 posts (up to $125 per month), paid out through Stripe Connect.

How do I onboard as a supplier?

Supplier onboarding starts with your business profile, shipping address, default lead time, printer fleet, and Stripe Connect payout setup. Once those basics are in place, you can configure materials, pricing, storefront products, and capacity before accepting live jobs.

How do I price print-on-demand jobs?

You set the material family pricing that drives fulfillment: price per gram, optional minimum job price, failure rate buffer, setup fee, post-processing fee, and default lead time. That means tiny parts can still clear a floor price while larger jobs scale naturally with weight and finishing work.

How are orders routed to me?

Printlooper matches orders using material compatibility, printer build volume, available capacity, geographic proximity, SLA score, and overall supplier rating. The goal is not just cheapest fulfillment; it is the best fit for the job and the service level promised to the seller.

How do I set capacity limits?

You can set a manual daily order cap, and the platform also suggests a capacity based on your printer fleet, printer count, and bed dimensions. If you are overloaded, you can mark yourself at capacity to stop new assignments and reroute pending work to the next eligible supplier.

What files and specs do I receive for each order?

Assigned jobs include the 3D file, selected material and color, seller notes, shipping details, and any insert requirements. The model download is delivered through a signed URL that expires after 14 days and is revoked once the order is marked shipped.

When do I get paid?

Supplier payouts run through Stripe Connect after orders are marked shipped. Free pays every 2 weeks, Basic pays weekly, and Pro pays within 48 hours. Holds can still apply if an order is under dispute or refund review.

What happens if I decline an order?

Declines require a reason code such as no capacity, material unavailable, equipment issue, or cannot meet deadline. After you decline, Printlooper automatically tries to reroute the order to the next eligible supplier. Up to 3 auto-reroute attempts are made before it becomes a manual reroute case.

Can I decline orders without getting penalized?

Yes, operational declines are part of the workflow, especially if your capacity or materials changed. The important part is using the right reason and declining quickly. Repeated late declines or a persistently high decline rate can still hurt your SLA performance and make the routing engine favor other suppliers.

How are supplier ratings calculated?

Supplier ranking blends customer feedback with operational reliability. The docs describe a blended score built from a Bayesian customer rating plus an SLA component, with SLA breaches weighted by severity. That keeps one-off reviews from dominating the routing logic while still rewarding consistent fulfillment.

How do shipping labels and tracking work?

Shipping labels are created through Shippo from inside the supplier job flow. Printlooper uses the supplier address as origin, the customer's address as destination, and estimated parcel weight from the file metadata. When you ship, tracking is stored on the order and synced back to the seller's Shopify store when needed.