A 3D printing marketplace is a website where users buy, sell and freely share digital 3D printable files for use on 3D printers.
Industries and sectors benefiting from the technology are aerospace, medical (dental, maxillofacial, craniofacial, cosmetic surgery, medical equipment, orthopedics, bio-printing), automobile, engineering, tools, architecture, construction, jewelry, fashion, design, food, art, entertainment and education.
The marketplaces facilitate the account management, infrastructure, server resources and guarantees safe settlement of payments (e-commerce).
These offer free and commercial exchange of digital 3D printable files for use on 3D printers but do not directly include 3D printing services themselves.
For professional 3D printing needs there are platforms which offer a reverse-bid style auction interface, an integrated escrow payment system and many features specifically tailored for B2B transactions.
In 2024, 3D Sourced, a 3D printing magazine, ranked the 11 best 3D marketplaces, which included Sculpteo, Shapeways, and Xometry in the top 3 of the list.