It works with non-commercial items, but, as I would expect, it’s not enabled for NC items by default. You need to go to MakerBot account and click the checkbox next to the item that you want to enable the app on.
I’ve just run through it with one of my designs and it seems to work ok for me.
I know this is a couple of months old but I stumbled upon this and needed to make sure something things are clear. When you mark something as non-commercial you are stating that a person may not receive monetary compensation for use of the model (under any circumstances). I completely disagree with thingiverse’s decision to allow you to manually allow it - as it is a violation of the license. I have talked with a lawyer and we both agree - NC means that money cannot change hands. Period.
If someone comes to my hub with a model they got off of thingiverse marked with NC I must refuse to print it - even if it was ordered through thingiverse with the author manually enabling the button. Unless there is something in writing that states “I grant the right for commercial purposes with ordering through 3dhubs button blah blah” - I would be in violation of the license and you could take legal action against my company. That is the core problem with this.
Think about it - it seems you are ok with this process but how would I know (without having something in writing) that is what other 3D modelers are ok with? Maybe they only want small hubs to print out their models? Local hubs? etc The only thing I have to go off of is the license they marked for their model - which was they stated that people may not make money off of it.
The person who posted the model is the one who chooses the license. They are also the one who chooses to enable 3dhubs plugin, which is disabled by default on non-commercial models. Seems pretty clear. Noone else is forcing the modeller to enable printing.
The only part I don’t like is that the process doesn’t include a way to pay/tip the modeller as part of the process.