Reprap.org's current mininum website value is $3,136,875

I found this interesting statistics in 3ders.org.

Reprap.org:
Google pagerank: 6
Unique vistors per day: 25,095
Website value: $3,136,875

Reprap.org was created in march 2005, now it is No.6 in Top 100 websites 2011 in 3D printing Industry.

Check out the top 100 websites and their current value. It is amazing how fast can the companies in 3d printing industry grow.

Thanks for linking to this, that is an interesting list and quite surprising how some of the big names in the industry are quite far down, and also how quickly the unique visitors drop off - many blogs and forums get many times the visitors than some of the bigger names commercial websites!

We have good SEO and lost of referring domains probably due to the fact we are very active and very focused.

When you do a backlink history on majesticSEO it shows the most active period for reprap.org is in October and November of each year and the highest, most intensive period was in November 2010, double what it is at the moment.

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[richrap.blogspot.com]

If this is true, we need to seriously look at simply hopping to another domain name, and selling this one with the requirement that a small note always be present on the new page saying "looking for the reprap project? click here".

Seriously. Who would pay 3 mill though? I doubt anyone would. But 3 mil would be a massive boost to this project and be well worth it to hop domains..

HI

You would be suprized who would pay that much money.. One place that springs to mind "Google" and then they would fill it with ads..
Hmm, maybe the owner could and put the money back into reprap..

Auzze - being silly now

... but who's the owner

Is it Adrian? ... ist it the core team? ... or the complete reprap-community?

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

GreenAtol Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If this is true, we need to seriously look at
> simply hopping to another domain name, and selling
> this one with the requirement that a small note
> always be present on the new page saying "looking
> for the reprap project? click here".


I don't think that it even can be sold. If it were, then once everyone updated their bookmarks, reprap.org would quickly drop in popularity, and the new reprap2.org would become the $3 million domain name.

The value is intrinsically tied to the reprap project, because that's what people are coming to the website for.

No, by definition the market value of something is what someone else is willing to pay for it. Now it may be that this site is inaccurate though. But by definition, if that is the worth of the domain, that amount of money can be obtained by selling it.

It is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it!

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Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse

... so how are the 'clicking-counts' transferred into $'s?

Maybe there is a simple math behind that correlates the daily visitors and their locations to known values of other sites with their specific behaviour?

But even then - the worth of 'reprap.org' is hardly comparable to comercial sites, that generate real money

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Viktor
--------
Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

that's what I said. if they are doing things accurately, then the 3 mill number is what someone is willing to pay for domain alone- in isolation.

This needs further investigation: someone should ask around/test the waters at afternic or godaddy or other domain name reselling places. We should put it "up for sale" and see what bids we get (of course we don't have to accept them, just to find accurate info). seriously, this needs to be checked.

I personally own reprap.org.

I have no intention of selling it. It could rise to $1Billion, and I would remain unmoved. That's not what interests me, because I am very stupid.

The £3M figure is extraordinary, but - as has been pointed out - the value resides in its remaining as it is.

Best wishes

Adrian

I expect that value was if the reprap project itself was for sale (I can't see how it could be sold) so if all you are buying is the website domain name then it's not worth very much at all in reality.

99% of the people that come here are looking for the Reprap project, so if someone else bought it, even if they were another commercial 3D printer supplier the 1% of people that may be interested would not justify a $3M sale price, I doubt it would justify $3k as the hits would drop off very quickly as soon as people realised it had changed.

Then our new domain RepRap2.org (which is available and you can buy for $5) - would just climb up the google charts and be top again, quite quickly.

So we should be proud of this achievement and very grateful to Adrian and the team (and all of us also) that in the eyes on the 3D printing industry 'we' have made a $multi-million$ movement, that has been recognised with this figure as being highly significant in many ways.

And of course it follows that had it been a closed source 'company' we would not be where we are today...

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[richrap.blogspot.com]

... so let's stay focussed to our individual interests and ignore the fuzz about ratings (beside of sheer amusement maybe)

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Viktor
--------
Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Well said.

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[richrap.blogspot.com]

Cough, sputter. Adrian, we are talking about the domain name, and as I said you can put it in the sale contract that a link forwarding to the reprap project remain on the page, so the sale of the name does not damage the project's public accessibility significantly.

If you would turn down the benefits to humankind that $1 billion, when used for the right things, as it would be if given to this project, would bring, just because you are uninterested in considering that benefit because "I got mine already", then I'm sorry but that is an extremely selfish and in fact immoral position.

Also, as is explained in economics 101, as I said that the market value of the DOMAIN NAME what someone is willing to pay for the DOMAIN NAME. Not the rest of the project. Sheesh. I'm not going to bang my head against the wall anymore - go ahead and implement my suggestion or let this opportunity swirl down the crapper due to your own stupidity and selfishness, thereby hurting all those people it would have helped, many of whom desperately need it. I'm not going to do it since you are obviously not significantly interested in my help.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2011 09:32AM by GreenAtol.

@GreenAtol: What are you 12 years old?

1. The calculated value has nothing to do with reality. It is based on the number of visits which is high. Adrian could earn some advertising $$$ (but then he is already doing that).
2. No one will buy this domain because the site hits will drop to zero almost immediately.
3. If the domain name was ibm.com then IBM might be willing to pay money for it, but unless there is a big company named RepRap or where this is an abbreviation of their name then this just ain't gonna happen!
4. There are many people that are not interested in getting rich.

Calling Adrian Bowyer "stupid" (he is allowed to as a joke) and "selfish" is not going to earn you any supporters on this site!

There is a good book entitled "How to Win Friends and Influence People", read it and you might learn something. In any case, you would be less abusive.

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Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse

Guys, please calm down, this was never my intention to lead the discussion to this stage. GreenAtol, it is just a discussion and no harsh words please. This is Adrian Bowyer's site and it is totally up to him if he wants to sell or not. This is his site and we should all think ourselves as a visitor to somebody's home.

I just wanted to clarify, according to my bit knowledge about internet and website, if somebody or company is going to buy a website, it is not just about the domain name. It should state clearly in the contract that all the content, the structure, and also the visitors should remain in the website. That means the seller of the website is not allowed to make the same website with same content in a certainly period and in certain area/country. Otherwise who on the earth would be the buyer if you can say to everyone that they should move to another new site like reprap2.org??? In that case I am for sure you can understand why Adrian Bowyer doesn't want to sell it.

The value is still on the paper. It is only useful when there is a buyer. Certainly when the site grows there will be buyers. And this is not a joke. Maybe it sounds fun. But I would rather hope reprap.org take it as an inspiration. Makerbot, for example, with no better technology, but more visitors, 36,120 visitors per day comparing to 25,095 from Reprap.org. Probably they have done better marketing, or probably they have used other ways to get connected to people. All up to Reprap.org to investigate and think what you can do better. This is not about how much more value you can reach, it is about how much people you can reach and inspire, how much positive impact you can give to the society, especially in this period that economy worldwide is going through a tough time. When a community become so big with 25,095 visitors a day, you also carry certain social responsibilities. The responsilities to lead, help, or looking for solution together when changes in the world come. I don't know Adrian Bowyer, but I assume he probably wants to same.

Guys, think big please. Maybe it is more valuable to discuss here how reprap.org can do as good as makerbot, or in which way reprap.org can create more impact to the society?

Sorry, if my english is bit poor.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2011 04:23PM by Ayanna.

... this 'reprap against makerbot'-thing is interesting

Makerbot is sort of an offspring of the reprap-project - Zach Hoeken, co-founder of Makerbot is the main designer of the Gen3-electronics ... was a core-team menber of reprap ... and there are some more connections between them

It's more the separation in 'comercial interests' and ideologic basics, what's separating them.

I think you can't value Makerbot without reprap ...

---

Viktor
--------
Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

mmm, businesswise I see only two independent business entities, unless Reprap.org hold shares in Makerbot, otherwise there is not much connections in it. Maybe you have some cooperation in sharing knowledges, but you have to admit it is also competition in taking the market. At least Makerbot is doing so, especially when Makerbot got $10million in funding. If one day founders of Makerbot sell the company, is Reprap.org entitled to get % of money because it is sort of an offspring of the reprap?...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2011 06:18PM by Ayanna.

I suspect makerbot will be short lived unless it has long term plans as more of a service based company for 3d printing. There will be a point that I think the RepRap community will accelerate far too fast for any company to really keep up, especially since at one point they will be printing themselves. Unlike open source software alone, an open source 3d printer has much more of a reason to end up in everybodies hands; resulting in an astonishing amount of contributors. I think the investors (of makerbot and similar companies) were thinking this would be like the computer explosion, but I believe the very nature of the RepRap brings forth a new kind of economic model. How can you sell something that can replicate itself? It doesn't make sense to me. Either the investors were philanthropists, or not realizing it threatens their very existence (as an investor in a monetary based system). I wonder what kind of pay out they will even pull off from makerbot if the RepRap is able to fully replicate within the next 5 years.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2011 07:06PM by kyleeamonahern.

... for me the reprap-movement is only the start of a dramatic revolution in fabrication and the viewpoint to material things in general.

With the common reprap and other 3D-printers fabbing with plastic you are limited to plastic and the possible accuracies.

Some sidepaths are developing around fabbing with beamers and light-curing resins ... but this is also limited to plastic ...

I'm experimenting with laser-sintering and powdered materials like plastics, ceramics, lignin (organic thermoplast, extracted from wood), sand and metal.

With relative cheap high-power IR-diodelasers (9Watts below 300€) you can DIY-build a laser-sintering toolhead fitting on the reprap.

So this 8and other) sorts of enhancement could provoke much more radical changes in the movement than 'simple' optimization of the basic reprap to print faster and finer, but only in plastic...

---

Viktor
--------
Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

@Ayanna: BTW, your English is excellent.

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Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse

kyleeamonahern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There will be a point
> that I think the RepRap community will accelerate
> far too fast for any company to really keep up,

I think we already are in many respects, especially that we are doing it at a level of cost 100 x lower than the big players and many or the smaller ones.

Maybe what we could do with is a list of targets (goals) to all work towards, after all self replication is an somewhat achieved goal (can always be refined).
I know we already do this in our wonderful adhocracy - but it's hard to focus effort if it's not defined.
Look at the Vertical X axis project by Brianandaimee - A perfect example of coordination to achieve a goal with just enough constraints to make sure everyone is compatible.

Standards are boring, but they achieve results.

We could have dual extruders (and the firmware to go with them)
Full colour printing.
Higher resolution than anyone else.
Lower layer slices.
The perfect tool-chain
The most material s tested.
Fastest print speed.
Quickest machine assembly
Stand-alone operation. (Electronics / Firmware)
Totally printable printer...

Sorry, this is getting off-topic.

Rich.

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[richrap.blogspot.com]

In a very indirect way this forum inspired me to start this one. Maybe my first posting (in the other thread) was far too long and involved, but my intent was along the lines of what richrap is saying here, and I explain that in my second posting (in the other thread) much more concisely.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2011 12:20PM by kyleeamonahern.

There used (long before most of you lot were born) to be an actor famous for - as far as I can remember - his ability to raise one eyebrow a prodigious amount. He was called Leonard Nimoy. I did that eyebrow when I read that I was being called selfish for _not_ realizing an asset :-)

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As is, I think, widely known: I was one of the start-up funders of Makerbot, and I own part of it. Having said I'm not very interested in money*, maybe I can tell you one of the things that does interest me: the Darwinian race between conventional manufacture (Makerbot) and unconventional (RepRap). I am truly fascinated to watch that playing out.

I hope people will forgive me for taking but an intermittent part in these discussions. The reason is entirely to do with time: I find that, if I get involved, I then have little time to do any actual work...

Best wishes

Adrian

*Actually, I rather like money. Indeed, I would nominate it as humanity's greatest single invention (all the evidence being that language evolved, so we can't actually take credit for that...). But who knows? Money's days may be numbered. See this nonsense here: [adrianbowyer.blogspot.com]

Ha, I wondered if you may have had a part in makerbot to hit open source 3d printing from every angle. Like I have said before, makerbot has done a great job of raising public awareness of 3d printers period, not just even open source ones. I know I would not have found myself here had it not been for makerbot.

Adrian, would you take a look at the thread about internet censorship and tell us what you think about the issues being posed. Perhaps you could aid in the assembly of better communication between us.

Adrian Bowyer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------.
> I did that eyebrow when I read that I was being
> called selfish for _not_ realizing an asset :-)

I was picturing your eyebrow moment as I also read that part. Maybe the RepRap slogan should actually be 'live long and prosper', seems quite fitting.

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[richrap.blogspot.com]

Money should represent valor. Central bank regulates 20% minimal reserves then the bank taking 100$ in can lend 500$, each with interest. Possible because the owners are not going to use them in cash form at the exact same time. Its called banking money multiplication system. Unlike any other economic entity, they can "make money out of nothing" effortless - which destroys the notion of valor originally attached. And then lending 500$ with say 10% interest rate means a profit of 50%. That is roughly half the original amount which was deposited initially. If we follow the nature analogy with bees and such, then banks are ... kind of ... parasites? And when parasites develop too much in a system, can end up like a virus: multiplies out of control, take too many resources in a non-sustainable manner, and then system dies, and all viruses die because they no longer have a system to eat from.

To me its more likely the scenario in which the monetary system might end.
Humankind is not too far from this either.

Wikipedia is probably worth billions of dollars by those measures yet they're constantly asking for donations and no one would ever pay for the domain.

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Chris Sketch
Ann Arbor, MI
blog.chrissketch.com

We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?
—Steve Jobs