I’m just trying to learn here:
I ordered one of my own art images as a poster board print
I just don’t understand why I have to pay a 45% marketing fee on my own art that I added to the artboard… a product that has never been marketed or even displayed for sale since I have this product hidden. I just ordered this tonight and had uploaded the art just tonight
Here is my breakdown.. thankful Z is now doing the right thing in showing us the various fees associated with our sales
Just to be clear: I am not complaining about the marketing fee. I’m just trying to learn why I am paying a marketing for a product that is / has not been marketed in any way with my own graphic on a product I purchased as wall decor for my own place
I would like to know why we are paying a marketing fee for items we design and purchase ourselves. I have recently designed and purchased invitations with the digital download, napkins, and paper plates and sure enough there was a marketing fee of 50% applied to all of it. I custom designed these for an event and posted them for direct only. It doesn’t make sense that there would be a marketing fee involved.
There should be exceptions to this marketing fee, clearly. I’m not protesting the marketing fee in any way, just saying it should not be applied globally and these are two prime examples above, IMHO
I’m sorry if I did not do a good job of expressing myself here today. This was my own piece of art I uploaded and place a small 5 % royalty on it since I was knowingly uploading to purchase it for myself / my home decor use.
Again I’m not here to complain about the marketing fees… they aren’t going anywhere any time soon. And it’s not about the amount I earned… didn’t expect make much on 5 % royalty on my product purchase. But charging me a marketing fee for my own purchase of my own product uploaded 10 minutes before purchase just makes no sense to me. This is not even a product put to market… it’s intentionally hidden
You can, you know, just design something from a Zazzle blank and simply buy it without ever posting it for sale… Then you wouldn’t be paying the extra royalty to yourself and having Z take anything out of it… but then you wouldn’t be getting the 35% self referral fee (discount) either…
I did in fact create this from a blank with my own art without posting it for sale since it’s hidden
got zero referral and still paid 45% marketing fee.
Even if they are hidden, anything that appears in your store is technically posted for sale - you had to hit the “sell it” button to get it there, didn’t you? You can buy something without ever doing that - you simply hit the “add to cart” button, instead of publishing it. It will go into your cart at the price that is shown for the blank and will not appear in any store - only in your “my products” tab. You will not receive a receive a royalty (or be eligible for a referral), but you won’t pay one either and therefore not lose a few cents to Zazzle in the process.
Was just coming to make an identical post! I bought two products that I just designed last night to ensure they print OK. I was never clear how all that worked with royalties on my own product but seeing “3rd party” on my own purchase of my own product was infuriating! I click my own links all the time. At some point did I enter the site through someone else’s and now after 14 days or 45 days or whatever I have to remember to click my link to reset the cookie?
I’m completely on the same page as you @igiftcenter about not complaining about the fee in general but just for our own product someone else gets to benefit off that sale and that’s pretty ridiculous - especially given that I’m out here sharing my links like a mad woman trying to work within this new system we have.
You would think my being on this site since the earlier days I would know better how I should be ordering my own products. I feel like a rookie again. Think I’m going to hold back posting in the forums for a while as I think I’ve been over participating. Thank you for sharing your experience here and I wish you continued success.
It *just* occurred to me what could’ve happened. Because I was pretty certain I only enter the site through my own link to my store. But I got an email that I had a message. And I clicked the link in that email. So I’m guessing Zazzle is the third party (which I’d assumed anyway) because of that email. Which now feels like a trap. I’m realizing that I’ve clicked other emails from team.designer - and so it would seem that if the timing is just right, I am not operating as my own referrer.
Just adding that purchases made from our own stores should be exempt from the marketing fees and 3rd party referals. They should be classified as “none” with no marketing fee applied.
That’s just it… With the Ambassador program, Zazzle has mobilized its large designer community (rephrasing @Lea here) to share links like mad women and men “trying to work within this new system we have.” But how often has Zazzle actually had to pay out to real people (designers) and not itself referral monies for crossover- and self-referrals? Anecdotal info seems to imply not often. Yes, I’ve received 1 “None” and 2 or 3 “Self” entries in my earnings report since April 1st, but they don’t make up for the royalties that were slashed by the marketing fees. I think we’re chasing rainbows. But, of course, I could be wrong and YMMV.
Well, I’m complaining about this marketing fee. I just payed a 50% marketing fee over a SELF-referral. Someone got to Zazzle and bought MY product through MY effort of publishing it on MY Linktree and Zazzle thinks they deserve 50% of my royalties. That’s insane.
For a Self-Promo referral (meaning they came in on a “clean” link without your RF in it), your total earnings (royalty + referral) if it’s a wedding product will be 50% of the total the customer paid, less an Excess Royalty Fee if applicable. If you’re successful in getting a Self-Promo referral, a 50/50 split is pretty good. For these type sales you have to look at total earnings (royalty + referral) because how they are itemized on your reports as either royalty or referral doesn’t really matter nor does the fee breakdown. Despite it looking like they are deducting 50% of your royalties as a MRF, they really aren’t; you’re getting 50% of the total sale regardless. For this type of sale we have to drop the old way of thinking (analyzing the royalty and referral separately) because that system doesn’t exist anymore, instead we have to look at royalty & referral earned together as one total.
