Printlooper FAQs by role

Frequently asked questions

How do I get started as a designer?

Create your account, verify your email and connect Stripe Connect for payouts. Then upload your first STL or 3MF from Create > 3D Model. It goes live on the marketplace as soon as it passes validation. To add photos, tags and print notes first, choose private in the upload form.

What file formats and size limits do you support?

STL and 3MF, up to 500 MB per file. Upload the printable file itself. There is no packaging into a generic asset bundle first.

What validation checks happen when I upload?

A model is rejected when its smallest side is under 2 mm, its longest side is over 500 mm, over 10% of its edges are open and it encloses no volume, or over half its edges are non-manifold. Smaller problems, such as a mesh that is not perfectly watertight or manifold, are noted on the file but do not block it. There is no automatic repair, so fix the mesh and upload again. Every file is also measured for bounding box, volume and estimated weight.

How many designs can I upload on each plan?

50 files on Free, 100 on Basic and 300 on Pro. Every design that is not archived counts, private ones included.

How do royalties work?

Your rate depends on your plan: 6% on Free, 9% on Basic, 12% on Pro. The rate is stored on the file when you upload it, and that stored rate pays out on every sale.

When do I get paid?

Through Stripe Connect. Free pays every 2 weeks, Basic weekly and Pro within 48 hours, once shipped orders clear the normal review window.

Can buyers or sellers download my raw files?

Buyers never receive your file. They see product pages and renders only. Sellers load a public design into a 3D preview while they build a listing, through a signed link that expires within an hour. The print farm on an order gets an order-scoped signed link that expires after 7 days. No new link is issued from 24 hours after the order ships, or once it is cancelled or refunded, and a link already issued works until it expires.

Can I keep a design private until it is ready?

Yes. Choose private in the upload form. Otherwise a design goes live on the marketplace as soon as it passes validation. You can also take a live design off the marketplace later from My Designs.

How do I update or replace a design file?

Edit listing details any time, and upload a new file version when the geometry changes. Existing orders stay on the version they were placed with. New orders use the latest.

What makes a design more likely to get listed?

Clean printable geometry and practical listing detail: watertight files, realistic tolerances, material and orientation notes, strong titles and tags, and good renders or photos. Make seller setup easy and you get listed faster.

How do I list a product with an existing design?

Pick a compatible print farm, choose the material and variants, add colors and photos, then set your price. Publish to your Printlooper storefront, Shopify or both.

How is my cost calculated on each order?

Print and ship cost, plus the designer royalty if the file is from the marketplace, plus your plan's platform fee and transaction fee. Your profit is the retail price minus those four. Tax is shown separately in the live calculator.

What platform fees do sellers pay by plan?

5% plus $0.79 per order on Basic, 4% with no transaction fee on Pro. The subscription covers software access only. Print cost and royalties are still charged per order.

Do sellers need a paid plan?

Yes. Seller accounts run on Basic or Pro, and both start with a 30-day free trial. You add a card at the start and nothing is charged until the trial ends. Cancel before then and you pay nothing. Without an active plan your listings are paused, never deleted, and orders you already have keep moving.

How does the margin calculator work?

Before you publish, the listing flow shows a live calculator. Change the price, the print farm or the royalty and it updates print cost, royalty, fees, tax estimate and your remaining profit.

What exactly syncs with Shopify?

Title, description, variants, images, pricing and COGS on publish. Shopify orders flow into Printlooper for routing. When the print farm ships, carrier and tracking sync back to Shopify.

What happens after a customer orders?

The paid order goes to the print farm you picked for that product. If they decline or mark themselves at capacity, it reroutes to another eligible farm. Up to three farms get the job in total, counting the first. You watch it move from accepted to shipped in Manage > Track Orders.

What if a supplier declines the order?

The next eligible print farm is tried automatically. Up to three farms get the job in total, counting the first. If none accepts, the order is cancelled and the buyer refunded. The product is marked out of stock and its Shopify listing is archived, so pick a new farm and relist.

How is shipping handled?

Print farms create labels through Shippo inside the job. The label and tracking number attach to the order and sync to Shopify when applicable. Shipping is a pass-through label cost, not a markup.

How do I compare materials, pricing and lead times?

Supplier selection is per product. You see supported materials, colors, ratings, average lead time and pricing side by side. Shops that cannot make the product are filtered out.

When do print farms and designers get paid on my orders?

After the order ships, each payee follows the payout schedule of their own plan. Designers: Free pays every 2 weeks, Basic weekly and Pro within 48 hours. Print farms: Free pays every 2 weeks, Basic weekly and Pro within 48 hours. The hold leaves time for quality checks, refunds or disputes.

Can I get paid for viral posts about Printlooper?

Yes. A public post that tags @printlooper and reaches 1,000 likes earns $25. Include your share link, keep the post public and follow FTC disclosure rules (#ad). Send the post link and your account email to support@printlooper.com or share it in our Discord. Up to 5 posts a month, paid through Stripe Connect.

How do I onboard as a supplier?

Suppliers must be based in the United States. Set up your business profile, shipping address, default lead time, printer fleet and Stripe Connect payouts. Then configure materials, pricing, storefront products and capacity. Print on demand jobs need admin approval first, so apply from your dashboard. Selling goods you already make needs no approval.

How do I price print-on-demand jobs?

You set the price per gram for each material family, an optional minimum job price, a failure rate buffer, a setup fee, a post-processing fee and a default lead time. Tiny parts clear the floor price. Big jobs scale with weight.

How are orders routed to me?

Orders go first to the print farm the seller picked. On a decline, we score other eligible farms on rating, SLA, acceptance rate, completion rate and lead time fit. Sellers only ever see farms that match the material, build volume and capacity.

How do I set capacity limits?

Set a daily order cap by hand, or take the suggestion based on your printers and bed sizes. At your cap you drop out of the farm list for new listings and print orders. Orders for listings that already use you still arrive. Mark yourself at capacity to reroute your pending and accepted orders to other farms. It does not pause new assignments.

What do I receive for each order?

The 3D file, material and color, seller notes, shipping details and any insert requirements. The download is a signed link that expires after 7 days. No new link is issued from 24 hours after you mark the order shipped, or once the order is cancelled or refunded.

When do I get paid?

Through Stripe Connect after the order is marked shipped. Free pays every 2 weeks, Basic weekly and Pro within 48 hours. Holds can apply during a dispute or refund review.

What happens if I decline an order?

Pick a reason: at full capacity, material not available, equipment under maintenance, cannot meet timeline, technical limitations, pricing issue, quality concerns or other. The last four ask for details. The order goes straight to another eligible farm. If no farm takes it, the order is cancelled and the buyer refunded.

Can I decline without being penalized?

Yes. Declines are part of the workflow and do not count against your SLA score or your rating. Your SLA record counts jobs that ship late or sit past their deadline while they are with you. The clock starts when a job reaches you. Decline as early as you can, so the buyer still gets their order on time.

How are supplier ratings calculated?

A Bayesian customer rating blended with an SLA component, with breaches weighted by severity. One bad review does not sink you. Consistent fulfillment lifts you.

How do shipping labels and tracking work?

Labels come from Shippo inside the job. Origin is your address, destination is the customer, parcel weight comes from the file metadata. Tracking is stored on the order and synced to the seller's Shopify store.