If a customer searches or browses the Zazzle marketplace and buys a product, it that purchase subject to the new marketing fee? (Say they typed zazzle.com into their browser, did NOT get to the website by following any link)
Also, items promoted/advertised/suggested etc. from the landing page for Zazzle.com, are they subject to the fee? For example the “new on zazzle” or “shop our top gifting ideas”, if a customer clicks on , say “gifts under $50”, orders a product from there, is there a fee?
I see a good many designers commenting that since the changes 3rd party sales have greatly increased so I was wondering…So much info overall about these changes, I’m unsure if these questions have been asked.
Yes (unless they have cookies blocked in their browser) they’ll get a cookie from zazzle and if they buy something of yours and they haven’t come through someone else’s link - the 3rd party referral will be zazzle and you’ll get charged a marketing fee (depending on the department your product is in)
I have seen all the questions being asked. I have not seen Zazzle answer these at all.
It would be nice if Zazzle would spell things out because designers are not understanding what is happening. And affiliators have no idea if there is any point in promoting any products because it’s unclear where the referral fees go. Creators have tested this among themselves and have reported they do not get a referral on sales they have referred to other creators.
I thought that is how it might go. That explains why people say so many more of their sales are now 3rd party. Maybe it’s always been that way but not so painful b/c the clawback was less.
It’s probably coincidence but since back when they asked us to create mockups for products, advertise more, etc. both my views and sales dropped a lot and Since April 1st they are even worse. I really like the selection of product Z has for us to design on and am not “giving up”, will still design some here but in light of this “pay cut” I’m having to rethink how much time I can- literally- afford to spend working on my Z store. I’ll definitely avoid the 50% bracket as much as possible, 35% is bad enough. I hate this, Z had always been my favorite pod.
It is my understanding that they have more ways to track customer activity than just “cookies.” There are other more reliable tracking mechanisms that affiliate program rely on to ensure that affiliates get their commissions. No professional affiliates would participate in a program that used cookies alone.
I’m still unclear on a few things also, so please forgive me if these have already been asked and answered, I would just appreciate clarification. Here are my questions:
1.) Does every purchase made from a clicked link (even if it’s not the product that was promoted) generate a 35-50% marketing fee that’s deducted from the product creator, for up to 45 days? In other words, am I correct that every existing link is a marketing link and there is no way to avoid a marketing fee if the purchaser arrives at Zazzle through a link?
2.) If we email a product link to someone, will that also generate the marketing fee?
3.) If we create a link to a collection rather than to a product, and a customer purchases something from the collection or from a different creator, does that also generate the 35-50% marketing fee to the product creator?
ETA:
4.) What if the link was created by someone who isn’t in the affiliate program, does Zazzle still apply the marketing fee?
@Sara_H That shouldn’t be the case, though. If a customer comes directly to Zazzle without clicking on any marketing link, that should be “None.” Zazzle shouldn’t put their 3rd party cookie (or other tracking mechanisms) on that order when they didn’t do any marketing for it.
(I’m not saying you are incorrect, I’m just saying that it’s wrong on Zazzle’s end.)
Once people are on the Zazzle site, it doesn’t matter what they look at on-site before buying. What matters is how they entered the site and what, if any, “cookie” they picked up doing so. If they somehow got here as a NONE, they’ll stay as a NONE during their session. The whole referral system is built on tracking external links that bring people into Zazzle. I have a lot of questions about NONE but that’s for another day; I would be legit shocked if NONE visitors were somehow picking up Z as 3rd Party from within the site during their session.
So, the answer to all my questions is “yes”—basically, every purchase is charged a marketing fee. All that matters is whether you clicked a link to get to Zazzle. Honestly, I think it goes beyond clicking a link.
Bottom line: I wanted to know how to get a “None” sale instead of a 3rd-party referral. My questions stemmed from the fact that I have a friend who likes to send cards and occasionally orders from me. Prior to April 1st, when she ordered, the sales always came across as “None” since she didn’t click a link but went directly to my store. Since April 1st, the sales have come across as 3rd Party.
The first time it happened, I thought maybe she had clicked on something and picked up a cookie, so I told her to clear her cookies and cache before ordering. It didn’t help. It still came across as a 3rd-party sale, even though she went directly to my store after clearing cookies, put items in her cart, and checked out. So, it seems to me that there is literally no way to ever avoid a marketing fee—even if you go directly to the store.
She even tried blocking cookies for Zazzle, but then it wouldn’t let her sign in. I’m convinced that 99.9% of all sales will always be 3rd-party and charged a marketing fee, no matter what. The mystery remains on how to get a “None” sale because it seems literally impossible.
One of the mods recently made a comment buried inside of a thread. I think she was maybe possibly perhaps saying that the tracking now follows every internet access point you have. It used to be you could just clear cookies on one computer.
I repeatedly read over your specific questions above but was struggling with how to parse and possibly answer.
I, too, have a lot of questions about how something now ends up NONE and have been feeling like it’s going to be a very rare occurrence. But I got a nice sale on 4/14 that somehow came through as NONE with net earnings that made me quite happy. Then on 4/27 I had a sale come through as a Self-Promoted referral one so blow me over! No idea how that happened either.
If we are looking at all this as just the Designer and not also the Referrer/Affiliate who gets some back as referral commission, NONE is the most profitable situation. But it’s very unclear how NONE sales happen and that’s aggravating to say the least.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing that. It seems to confirm that it’s nearly impossible to avoid a marketing fee. If we ever happen to get a “None” sale, it’s almost like winning the lottery—because the odds are nearly about the same.
I’m sorry if my response came across as harsh—that wasn’t my intent at all. I appreciate you trying to figure out how to answer my questions; I know they were very specific and not easy! I was just thinking of different scenarios and what would or wouldn’t generate a marketing fee. This has just become so complicated, it boggles the mind. It’s like a cr*p shoot—you never know what you’re going to get or how you got it.
Now throw in the latest reveal that they’re doing dynamic pricing…that’s another blow. Now, even the royalty we choose doesn’t mean a whole lot when the prices keep changing. The one thing that is clear is that the odds are not in our favor.
Congrats, though, on your Self-Promoted referral—that’s amazing! Another mystery that’s like hitting the lottery! I guess we just have to enjoy those little and very rare wins.
I used to see commercials for Zazzle on TV and noticed views and sales go up. I think they stopped promoting and marketing you got to get your name out there. Zazzle commercials were really done well, and a cool thing made it a popular site to shop. I hope they reconsider their marketing.
I hardly ever come across Zazzle promotions online anymore. These days, I mostly see ads for Temu, VistaPrint, Etsy, and Minted. It makes me question how Zazzle is actually marketing its platform while still charging us the marketing fee—is this a genuine promotional effort, or just an attempt to offset declining sales? If they are only promoting a small faction of designers, then it should be those designers who should be responsible for paying the marketing fee.
I’ll definitely avoid the 50% bracket as much as possible, 35% is bad enough. I hate this, Z had always been my favorite pod.