Looks like Zazzle might turn into a public company soon. Would you buy Zazzle stock? Why or why not?
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Zazzle Inc., an online marketplace for customized items, has hired Citigroup Inc. and Barclays Plc to prepare for an initial public offering this year, according to people familiar with the matter.
The company is seeking to go public as soon as this summer…
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http://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ecommerce-firm-zazzle-is-said-to-tap-citi-barclays-for-ipo-1.1725764
I read that a few weeks ago. I just hope the CP effect doesn’t happen here. IPO was the beginning of the end for them.
Very interesting. I’m considering it.
Yes I’ll buy if the buy stock otion is availble through my z
Yes I’ll buy if the buy stock option is available through my zazzle store.
I would if I saw a well thought out management of new ideas. Not like what we have witnessed with the Attribution project. Not like what we have witnessed with launching the Create Tool with an astounding message “Download it and use whenever you want for free”. Not like what we have witnessed with the “We will charge your inactive account if you don’t create new products” project.
I mean, I love Zazzle and I believe in its bright future, but to invest real money in it I must know there will be no extreme PR failures like what I mentioned above. And for that, I’ll observe for a year or two before deciding.
Interesting. In what way?
I would definitely consider buying. Wonder if ‘creators’ would get a private sale first? It would also depend on the plan for the technical side of the house.
@Windy @jerrylambert. @WittyBetty
The cp ipo/cash out was preplanned by both owners. Mahesh Jain was a serial entrepreneur who cashed out before the ipo announcement, and left cp. The remaining owner, Fred, stayed and a board was put in charge before he left. Cp lowered the artist percentage down so low that I finally left after many years of building my shops successfully. That’s when I made the transition to z, who made promises to us cp defectors,if that’s a fitting word for it. If I remember correctly, the stock dropped drastically something like a day after issue. Working from memory, details fairly accurate.
So, since you asked, no, I would not buy and the actions I just detailed are behind my reasoning.
btw, windy thanks for the heads-up.
Beaver brothers are the owners of Z, google them to learn more about them and add to your knowledge base. They seem to keep a low profile, as opposed to Maheesh at cp who interacted with the artists on a daily basis.
@Windy , Thanks for the heads-up.
I’ll probably dabble for fun but not sink a huge amount of money into it.
While reading various online articles about this, I came across the interesting stats that there are >300 million designs and >900K designers. When I go into the MP and drill up to All Products it <18.5 million. I wonder where the article authors got that 300 million figure from and if it’s true that their servers have 281.5 million hidden products. That seems a lot. Also, 900K designers? That’s some competition I can’t even fathom. But if 281.5 million products are hidden, there are probably many thousands of designers who posted a few hundred things (now hidden) who then let their account go dormant and haven’t logged in to Zazzle since. Just my guess.
Going public increases the public profile of a company. It often feels like having us share designs is the first time people have ever heard of Zazzle. Redbubble is a lot more well known and has been public for a while. It also can bring in money to help growth. But also it stops being the singular vision of its founders and is under more pressure to turn a good profit. I don’t have the business knowledge to predict how this will affect us as designers.
Best case scenario, the larger public profile raises awareness in potential customers about the amazing personalization available at Zazzle. The only other POD that even attempts this is CafePress and they have botched it, in my opinion. The other PODs that don’t offer customization have capitalized on products that don’t benefit from photo or text templates, like curtains and dresses. Perhaps the opportunities for expansion that going public brings will encourage Zazzle to snag some of that market. I mean, they do to a good extent with the Home and Clothing departments but S6 has a monopoly on curtains and Redbubble has a monopoly on dresses and it would be great to see Zazzle take a bite of that.
stock talk just makes my head hurt…
an interesting article and question. it’s definitely food for thought but I can’t really say one way or the other right now.
OH NO!!! Why can’t Zazzle get OUR opinions before doing such a DISASTROUS thing??? ALL the companies that go public get DESTROYED within a few years- they treat their designers/ sellers horribly, the quality goes down, sales tank, and the whole atmosphere changes. Look at Etsy, and CP, and others!
Those will be the LEAST of your worries if Zazzle goes public! I haven’t seen a company YET that was BETTER after an IPO. The investors grab as much money out as fast as they can, at the expense of ruining the longevity and viability of the site, then they bail.
I haven’t seen a company YET that was better off for going public. Look at ETSY. Now it is almost impossible to get any sales there for actual handmade goods. I wasn’t personally on CP, but I haven’t heard anything good about them after they went public.
Buying stocks might be the only way to make money on Zazzle after they go public!
In answer to why people who own very large assets might not ask the opinions of an artist:
FYI…
In case you’re interested, here’s an article “How to participate in the Upcoming Zazzle IPO” with step-by-step instructions.
Here’s a very good article that explains how IPO’s destroy companies. https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/this-is-how-ipos-destroy-great-companies.html
It’s not for US citizens.