I totally agree.
I closed my hub some weeks ago, and this news isn’t changing my decision at all.
At first 3dhubs was a place were people could experiment with 3d printing.
Customers were happy if you could help them with their projects.
Nowadays everything has changed. It feels more and more like an enormous pressure for a very small price.
It is not worth it anymore if you ask me.
Thank you for posting this! I just noticed the same, and it’s a bit sad. Sure I can usually fit a customer job in and get it done even for same-day pick-up, but I’d rather play it safe and surprise them with an early completion than promise 1-day and have to let them down because I had another print that took all night, or something.
Please stop linking to this page of what makes a hub a “best match”.
1. The criteria is weak. What makes a hub a “best match” has far more factors than are listed on this page. If this is all the criteria used in “best match”, then the algorithm is very weak. Additional factors, such as material offered, colors offered, prints completed, and a host of many other factors are not reflected on that page.
2. I have spent an inordinate amount of time ranking pages by available information, based on what you show on that page. Based on the limited factors shown on that page, I have ran multiple scenarios on hubs. Almost always, based on just those factors, 3dhubs recommendation for “best match” comes back differently with my simulations than what shows as “best match”. Now, I know 3dhubs algorithms are “secret”, but that does not make them more accurate for “best match”.
As you know, I hate the “best match” terminology, and will continue to push for this important change in terminology.
Yup. I have a hub near me that lists as best match in the town where my hub is located.
It shows up first in my home town, where I live.
It has:
Lower response time
Less reviews
Less completed prints
More expensive pricing
Less colors
Less materials
Less services.
I also happen to know that the prints are much worse than mine.
I have over 100 prints, with PERFECT reviews.
I have had customers who printed there, and came back to me. But that hub shows up as best match in my hometown, even though it is farther away. (in fact, not even in my hometown)
Nothing is more insulting than seeing that hub listed as “best match”. What is amazing here, is that I am not complaining about it being listed first above me. Its the terminology. I have no problem being listed second on a list of “best matches”, but saying that hub is the “best match” is aggravating as hell.
Does the amount of business I have brought to my hub, not count for anything!!!
I do student work, put posters up in the local colleges, do print seminars at the library, and folks who go to 3dhubs see this other hub as “best match”.
Infuriating, and demotivating. What does a person have to do to be the “best match” at their own address?
Hubs is going to define “Best Match” as whatever they want, regardless of whether or not you like it. It’s a subjective definition and really should not be used at all on a site like this. How can anyone possibly know who a best match will be for a customer when a lot of factors (speed, cost, services, etc.) are entirely left out of the equation? The existing filters take care of things like materials and the services, but frankly, they are not that intuitive for a customer to use (outside of the material selection, that is nicely done).
Where you get ranked by the default sorting wouldn’t be as critical as it is now if the customer could actually sort through the results in a logical way. Really, the only true sorting anyone can do of Hubs they get matched with is by distance, which is really only useful for customers who are picking up. It would, in my mind, make far more sense to do away with the “Best Match” option and make the sorting able to be by cost (lowest to highest), by number of reviews/completed jobs (the Hub with the most reviews goes first), by quality of reviews (a Hub with more 5 stars ranks above one with more 4 star reviews), and by potential delivery time (incl. shipping and printing, Hubs will have to define some kind of cutoff time for this). All of this being in addition to existing filters.
“Hubs is going to define “Best Match” as whatever they want, regardless of whether or not you like it.”– Actually, I think 3dhubs does respond often to suggestions, and are open to hearing things we do not like. I would not categorize them as doing “whatever they want”. They have shown that user feedback does help them in determining changes to the way they do things. In fact, they are far more responsive than almost any other venue I can think of!
Other than that, I agree with everything you said here.
Again, my primary dislike is for the term “best match”.
I also think the results that get displayed do not match what they claim in the how to hub ranking page. I run the statistics, and they do not match.
I repeat, I am agreeing with you- I think they need to take more into account besides what is linked on their how to hub ranking page.
Isn’t it maybe a good idea to just set filters? Than you can speak about a best match. People can choose a color, a max distance, a resolution, a materiaal,… Then you can talk about a best match. A hub that can deliver what the customer set in the filters. How can you determine a best match for a customer when you only have a file? You don’t even know what the customer wants…
Hey, I meant no harm, nor was I being sarcastic. I thought the person might like to know.
Also, please note that I added several lengthy responses to this conversation. Now whether you will find them of substance, I don’t know.
You had a rather quick and terse response where none was needed, as I meant no harm.
Whatever has happened to the sorting system, I’m not complaining about it at all! I’ve had my hub up for for months, with no orders at all. Then in the last few days I’ve had 5 orders. So it’s not all doom and gloom, at least not for me. I’m not sure how my hub (current ranking 13.7) is attractive to users in my area, but for whatever reason, suddenly people are sending orders my way.
Congrats on the orders! If I may make a suggestion, add more pictures! You have some nice machines and a good variety of filament, so showcase what you can do. Pictures always help drive orders up, people like seeing what you can do before they buy from you.
