Opportunities Ahead: New Ambassador Program & Important Terms of Use Changes

[Heather]

Hi Creators,

First and foremost, we want to express our sincere gratitude for your valuable feedback and insights. We truly appreciate the time you’ve taken to submit your questions and feedback through our form regarding the updates to our Terms of Use, which are effective today, April 1st. We’ve carefully reviewed each of your questions and, based on your feedback, have put together a comprehensive Creator FAQ and Ambassador FAQ to help clarify the changes and provide more detail. 

As we all know, the world around us is constantly evolving. Marketing costs are rising, and competition for Customer attention is higher than ever. In order to keep up with these changes and continue thriving together, we too must adapt and grow. We understand that change can be challenging, but it's essential for us to stay dynamic and align with the ever-evolving landscape.

For almost 20 years, we’ve been proud to be a marketplace where Creators from all walks of life can sell their Content, and many have even built a sustainable income doing what they love. Creators are the heart and soul of our platform, and we truly appreciate the partnership we’ve built with all of you. 

With the launch of our new Ambassador Program, we want to ensure that Creators who actively promote their Products and drive traffic are properly rewarded. The new program simplifies the Earnings model, ensures a fairer fee distribution, and aligns financial incentives with Creators’ success. Whether you’re actively promoting your Content or allowing us to handle it, we’re here to support your growth. 

We’re hopeful about the new opportunities this opens up for you as a Creator. This update means you’ll have the chance to earn what we would pay those “other guys”—and we hope you see it as a way to grow your Earnings in meaningful ways. 

To keep the discussion and questions for us organized, please reply below and we ask you to continue to submit your questions to the form. We also opened an “Ambassador Program” board for Creators to discuss specific topics together. 

Once again, thank you for your continued contributions to our community. We can’t wait to see what the future holds as we continue to evolve together in our marketplace.

Warmly,

The Zazzle Team

UPDATE - 4/2/25

Hi Creators,

We’ve heard some common questions that we’d like to address and clarify. We've added these questions to our FAQ and will be addressing more questions soon. 

1. Why does it seem like the Excess Royalty is taken out twice for the Self-Promotion?
2. Why am I being charged a Marketing Royalty Fee for Self-Promotion Sales?
3. Why in some cases did I make more money in the Promoter 2.0 Program? 

Q: Why does it seem like the Excess Royalty is taken out twice for the Self-Promotion example below? 

Example 1: Self-Promotion Link (own Product) in Clothing & Shoes with Your Royalty Rate set at 12% 

• Product Price (= Net Referral Sales for this example): $100
• Your Royalty Rate: 12% → $12 Gross Royalty
• Excess Royalty Fee: → 5% of $12 = $0.60
  (applies because Your Royalty Rate is above 10%. The fee is 5% of your Gross Royalty) 
• Marketing Royalty Fee: → 35% of $12 = $4.20
  (applies to all Referred Sales. For Clothing & Shoes, it's 35% of your Gross Royalty) 
• Royalty: → $7.20
  (after deduction of Royalty Fees)
• Referral Commission for a Referred Sale via a Self-Promotion Link
• Department Rate: → 35% of Net Referral Sales
  (Clothing & Shoes)
• Self-Promotion Earnings Goal: → 35% of $100 is a $35 Goal.
  (from this $35 goal, you’ve already earned $7.20 in Net Royalties and the $0.60 Excess Royalty Fee applies)
• Referral Commission from Self-Promotion Link: → $35 - $7.20 - $0.60 = $27.20
• Your Earnings = $34.40
  ($7.20 paid via Royalty, $27.20 paid via Referral Commission).
• Note: Because Your Royalty Rate was above 10%, the Excess Royalty Fee slightly reduced the total Earnings you could have received from the Referred Sale via a Self-Promotion Link.

A: If you look at Example 1, the Self-Promotion Earnings Goal is $35, and the Excess Royalty Fee is $0.60. Your Earnings are $34.40 ($35 - $0.60). So while we need to deduct the Excess Royalty Fee from the Gross Royalties to help calculate the Royalty - which we then use to calculate the Referral Commission by deducting it from the Self-Promotion Earnings Goal - it is more to do the math to figure out the amounts you’ve earned rather than actually being taken out twice.

Q: Why am I being charged a Marketing Royalty Fee for Self-Promotion Sales?

A: The Marketing Royalty Fee applies whenever a sale is referred, whether by you, another Ambassador, or Zazzle. This structure helps our systems run smoothly across all types of Referrals.  So in order to make sure your Earnings hit the Self-Promotion Earnings Goal (which is based on the Department Rate), we calculate your Referral Commission to make up the difference between the Self-Promotion Earnings Goal and your Royalty.  The math can be a little bit complicated, but the end result is the same - your Earnings for that sale do not change.

Q: Why in some cases did I make more money in the Promoter 2.0 Program? 

A: Promoter 2.0 was originally a "beta" program, and we're now expanding it to all Creators. The Ambassador Program is designed to serve a wider population of Creators, while reflecting current marketing costs, so while there were situations where former Promoters benefitted more, this new program is designed to benefit the whole Ambassador community more overall.

[InkgoeswildAK]

I called Zazzle and emailed them, Lea, asking if by unenrolling in the Ambassador Program I’d be able to go back to the Promoter 2.0 program.  The person I spoke to on the phone didn’t know.  The person who answered my email also didn’t know but said he’d pass my question along and someone would get back to me.  That was probably two weeks ago, and so far - crickets.

[Malissa]

The new ambassador program currently replaces the old promoter and associates programs.  There is no going back unless they change something in the future.

[Heather]

Hi @InkgoeswildAK - Thank you for reaching out here, and I’m sorry you haven’t received a reply yet. I know that’s frustrating.
I can confirm the answer to your question: the Promoter 2.0 program was a limited beta that has now closed. The Ambassador Program is the current, fully supported referral program moving forward. If you choose to participate in referrals, the Ambassador Program is the option available. Thanks for your patience and for being part of the community!

[InkgoeswildAK]

Hi Heather,

Thanks for getting back to me.  Before I unenrolled in the Ambassador Program I placed an order, using my associate link, and did not receive my referral fees.  So the Ambassador Program did not earn me any referral fees.  That also means that all of my current business cards, which I purchased through Zazzle, are null and void since they all have my associate link QR code on them.  Can I get refunded for my last order of business cards which are no longer any good? 

There's no point in me taking time away from my home based business, and the time it takes to maintain my own artist website, to continue to promote my Zazzle shop if I'm barely going to earn any money from it.  That being said, I don't want to close it.  I've put too much time and effort into it in the decade I've had it, and I really love the quality of the merchandise.   I want to still be able purchase my own Zazzle merchandise once in awhile.

All the best,

Corinne Danzl

Ink Goes Wild Alaska.

[VivianD117]

I have just submitted this question the form and should have asked before -- by what sales route does someone get paid based on "none"?  It seems to make considerable positive difference in the actual royalty payments.

[tiffjamaica]

If your product is not referred (none), then the marketing fee is not applied to your earnings. 

[VivianD117]

I still can’t envision what that means — if it is not referred — then how do they find it without it becoming “third party”?  Unless, they come in on a link directly to me but that link has been abbreviated — that is the only condition I can think of.   Do they just open zazzle — put in a search — find my product and buy it — having never been on the site before?  What are the odds of that happening? 

[Cat]

I have the same thought. I'm thinking maybe it means that they came in from someone else's self-promoter link and chose your product instead. That almost makes me feel guilty about getting them!

[tiffjamaica]

That's something I hadn't considered. I always figured it was the people who use browsers that block all cookies/trackers. 

[Badeesie]

It could be someone who had used Zazzle several months or years ago and, when they needed something similar, came from a bookmark or from typing the url directly into the address bar after any cookies they'd picked up previously had expired.