You know that doohickey you’ve wanted to make for the last decade, but you’ve never had the right materials or equipment? The one that’s going to make you rich? Your time for glory has arrived.
Ponoko, which launched at TechCrunch40, has introduced a revamped site that will bring e-commerce functionality to their marketplace, allowing users to buy, sell, and give away the designs they’ve created. The site allows designers to sell their products and have Ponoko ship them directly to customers, enabling them to create a virtual storefront with few (if any) upfront costs.
Sellers need only pay a small fee to the site in addition to the cost of materials, without having to worry about establishing distribution channels or inventory. And buyers are guaranteed that products are unique – they can even buy and modify design files if they want to tweak something.
Ponoko has also added a factory and moved its headquarters to San Francisco, explaining that over half of their U.S. visitors live in California. According to Ponoko, the move, combined with the direct designer-to-consumer retail model, will help reduce carbon emmisions. Ponoko’s desire to go green is given further credibility by the addition of Graham Hill, founder of TreeHugger, to their board.
10% of Europeans were conceived on an IKEA bed.
The other 90% were conceived on the floor because they couldn’t put the bed together. – Jay Leno
It’s time for a furniture revival…
Wow! This is a DIY’ers wet dream!!! These folks are going to blow it out.
A DIY site with a marketplace. Interesting!!
Unleash the designer in you…
The question is, will Ponoko deliver to my home in the Poconos?
I just happen to be looking for this for one of my sites WoodMarvels.com… I am checking these guys out seriously!
Jon
http://woodmarvels.com – Create Unique Memories
Nice that they opened a new office. Shipping from new zealand before made this site worthless to US customers.
Brilliant concept but the products are a little unattractive in my opinion.
I wonder if offering better and more attractive product templates or offering a simple way to customize the products will have value?
I have to agree with RonL. I know that the print your own furniture concept causes a lot of limitations as to the appearance and style, but these are just way too boxy, clunky affairs. It sort of reminds me of early video game graphics. They need more polygons!
Aren’t they worried that China will steal there designs, like they do everything else?
Sounds interesting… How is the quality??? I saw that it was being compared to Cafe Press (who’s quality I find to be kind of shotty)
Just to be clear, you aren’t limited to only furniture with these guys. I just thought IKEA was a good example of a ‘cookie-cutter’ retailer.
Ponoko has a very cool business model that has them positioned for a big future. You might be interested in reading our in depth interview with Steven Kempton of Ponoko at http://www.fabb...-exclusive.html
Just did a little profile of Ponoko ourselves over at Tropophilia (inspired by your post, Jason, and gave you props). I wonder – could this platform-based approach be applied to other ventures besides design? I mean, this is a big break from CafePress and all those print-to-order publishers. Is there something more accessible to everyday people who aren’t designers, but creates unique objects, that could work off Ponoko’s strategy?
Food seems to be an area where this could happen. An example: candy. Create a company where candy-lovers (i.e. everyone) can send in specifications for how much chocolate, caramel, marshmallow, peanut butter, etc. to include, and how to build the bar or what have you, and then allow you to sell. Soda, too? I guess this might meet some regulatory hurdles from FDA, but still…
Other industries or markets?
Jarred
http://tropophilia.com
Hi Jarred (#13), they already do this for protein shakes (if you are a bodybuilder) at proteinfactory.com and I am sure the “candy” option, including other verticals already either exist or in the process of being created. It does make a lot of sense but these fields are still highly specialized and cost more (in general) to the alternative mass-produced stuff.
Jon
http://woodmarvels.com – Create Unique Memories
dis suck kiss my ass