Seller Guidelines

One of the unique aspects of the Sketchfab Store is the ability for buyers to closely explore the quality of sellers' work with our viewer and Model Inspector. With this ability buyers can purchase with confidence, knowing they can review geometry, topology, and textures prior to purchase.

Being a successful seller, therefore, is closely related to selling work of the highest possible quality, appropriately set up for clear end use cases.

You must be at least 18 years old to become seller on the Sketchfab Store.

APPLY FOR A SELLER ACCOUNT

The following guidelines will help set you up for success as a Sketchfab Store seller:

Criteria

Quality work and fair pricing are critical to the success of all our sellers, and of the Sketchfab Store as a whole. We reserve the right to remove items from the store if we feel they do not meet the following criteria:

• All models, textures, and/or animations are the original property of the seller.
• Thumbnails, titles, and descriptions accurately reflect the items for sale.
• Models are accurately UV mapped when UVs are used.
• Clean topology is employed.
• Textures and materials are optimized and efficient.
• Models are appropriately priced.

You can learn more by reading our Terms of Use.

Pricing Guidelines

It's important to choose an appropriate price for your work. You can browse the store for similar models to guide your pricing decision.

• Be careful not to radically undercut the price of similar models on the store. This ultimately hurts all sellers by undermining the store economy.
• Setting prices low also does not always lead to increased sales. Low pricing can be interpreted by buyers as a sign of poor quality.
• Similarly, be aware that asking for significantly more than similar models from other contributors can lead to reduced sales.
• If you set a higher price than similar models from other sellers, use the model description to explain what distinguishes your model and adds to its value. For example, the inclusion of higher resolution textures or multiple file formats would be an added benefit.
• Consider the value your work offers a potential customer. Think less about how much time it took you to make and more about how much time you are saving them when they purchase your work.

Work that is clearly inappropriately priced too high or too low is subject to removal from sale.

General Model Guidelines

Titles & Descriptions

• Clearly title your work.
• Use the model description to clearly state the best use case for your work.
  • For example, "Watertight, suitable for 3D printing." Or, "Rigged for facial animation in game engines."
  • The description is also a great place to provide further information on any additional files you have packaged with your model. Note: We automatically pull some information from your uploaded zip.
• We recognize that many sellers also sell work in other 3D marketplaces but please do not link to other marketplaces from your Sketchfab description.

Categories & Tags

• Accurately categorize your work. Remember that we limit models to a maximum of two categories. Sketchfab reserves the right to move models to different categories to ensure accurate categorization and the best possible browsing experience for buyers.
• Tags play a key role in search. Be sure to add tags that make sense.

• Stay engaged with your audience by answering comments. Responsive sellers make successful sellers.

3D Settings

• Consider adding annotations for additional contextual information that will aid your sale.
• Ensure your model is appropriately scaled and positioned for viewing in VR.
• Simple solid color backgrounds will allow potential buyers to more clearly see your work, particularly when browsing through multiple search results. We recommend light to medium gray.
• Keep HDRIs and/or lighting simple to present your model in its most neutral state. Consider using our "studio" HDRI for great lighting that doesn't impact color.
• The ideal texture format for textures is PNG. Buyers will also appreciate the inclusion of Photoshop, Gimp, or similar editable layered files.
• Limit post-processing filters on work for sale. Effects like SSAO or Sharpness are fine, but avoid overusing effects like Tone Mapping, Bloom, or Color Balance that won't accurately reflect the actual look of the textures.
• Make sure you create clear, compelling thumbnails with our "Save View" feature.

Additional Files

• Leverage our additional files feature to include multiple file formats. The more file formats you include, the more successful you will be. We parse all the contents so that formats will appear in search.
• When including additional files, a ZIP file works best. Be sure to name sub-folders and filenames as clearly and intuitively as possible. And don't include additional ZIPs inside your ZIP or their contents will not be listed.
• Consider using collections to create 'packs' of assets. Add a link to the collection from each contained model.

Preparing Models for Game Engines & Real-time Rendering

• FBX and OBJ are the ideal file formats for game engines and real-time rendering like WebGL, VR and AR.
• Use the description to clearly state whether the model is more appropriate for low-poly or high-poly use cases.
• Quad and/or Tri meshes are both fine for real-time rendering. But optimized topology is always critical.
• Performance in the Sketchfab viewer is a good indicator of game engine performance. Models and textures that load quickly and rigs that animate smoothly will be met more positively by buyers.
• A complete set of PBR textures (Albedo, Metallic, Roughness) and normal maps are desirable to buyers for contemporary game engines.
• Models prepared for use in VR and AR are ideally built at real-world scale.
• Consider leveraging our additional files feature to add lower poly or LOD versions of your file.
• We also automatically transcode your model into glTF format with all PBR material settings preserved.

Preparing Models for Animation

• Clearly label animation states. You can rename animation states in 3D Settings.
• Models with more animation states sell better.
• The success of animated models is often very rig dependent. Be sure to use our additional files feature to include rigged versions in popular software formats.

Preparing Models for Visual Effects & Off-line Rendering

• Models built to real-world scale are most desirable to buyers.
• Leverage our additional files feature to include multiple versions for different rendering/shading engines. Sellers who include multiple formats are more successful than those who do not.
• For best results on Sketchfab, it is common to leverage a lower-subdivision version of your model. If you include higher subdivisions in your additional files, be sure to mention that in either the description or annotations.
• We strongly recommend limiting meshes to quads to allow buyers to leverage subdivision surfaces as assets are used closer or further from the render camera.

Preparing Models for 3D Printing

• Recognize that different 3D printing materials exhibit different tolerances.
• If your work is designed to stand or sit on a flat surface, ensure that weight is distributed so that it remains stable and doesn't topple.
• Remember that most 3D printers have limited print volumes. Scale your model to an appropriate size.
• Ensure your model is water-tight by closing any open edges.
• Ensure your normals are set correctly. Any flipped normals can be interpreted as holes by 3D printers.
• Ensure your model does not include non-manifold geometry.
• Remove any unnecessary internal geometry left behind by boolean operations.
• When appropriate, consider providing a hollow version of your model. Hollow models cut down on printing costs for the buyer.
• Consider leveraging our additional files feature to include versions of your file with multiple interlocking components.
• Subdivide your mesh. Remember that 3D printers don't support smoothing modifiers.
• Include print-friendly file formats such as STL, OBJ, or DAE.
• Make a test print, and include a photograph in the model description. Mention which printer it was made on so buyers can understand if this model is compatible with the technology they own.

Additional tips for Scanned Models

• If you intend your model to be leveraged by real-time rendering, such as game engines, optimizing polycount is critical. We recommend at the very least using MeshLab to simplify the mesh. Better still is to re-topologize a version of the mesh specifically designed for real-time rendering. Instant Meshes is a good starting point, however, this will require any textures to be baked to the lower poly version of the mesh.
• Ideally, scanned textures intended for game engines should be "De-Lighted". We recommend the Unity De-Lighting Tool (currently experimental).
• For scanned models intended for 3D printing please review the above section.

Restricted Content

• All Store content must follow Sketchfab's content policies.
• Due to OFAC and Sanction laws, PayPal does not do business with certain countries: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and the region of Crimea. As soon as any word linked to an embargoed country is detected, payments may be held and transactions cancelled. You should avoid using any word related to these countries in model titles.