I think Turbosquid is more of a buyer's site than a seller's. Last I checked, they take 60%. You can work your way up to earning 80% on your sales only if you agree to be exclusive, have diamond status (sold over $10,000 worth of merchandise) and are apart of the affiliate program (direct traffic to TS). If you're exclusive, the affiliate rate is 20%, if not it's 15%. However, it doesn't matter how well you sell, if you're not exclusive with them, you will never get a royalty rate above 40%.


For established merchants this might not be such a big deal, but for the merchants that are trying sell enough to get to diamond level, it will be hard since buyers can filter out products based on merchant level. Then there is the extra time and effort needed to jump through the checkmate system hoops. Even if they go exclusive, a lot of sellers will be stuck for longer periods of time handing over 60% to Turbosquid. Some artists hike up their prices but that causes other issues.