Please explain how royalties work with Digital Downloads now

[nikkileigh]

Why am I making less money when it is SELF referred instead of NONE? 

When I sell a digital download with no referral I make $10.55

When I sell a digital download with 3rd party referral I make $5.00

When I sell a digital download with SELF referral I make $5.00 and then $.42 so $5.42 total.

This is a mistake correct? 

can someone from Zazzle please answer this?

[Cat]

Oy Vay! Well, if you do the math under the new Ambassador Program self referrals are paid a TOTAL (royalty plus referral) of between 35%-50% of the net purchase price. According to the agreement, you get the same royalty as you would if the referral was 3rd party plus enough referral to make your total earnings equal 35%-50% of the net price paid. For physical products it ends up being comparable to what the Promoter 2.0 program paid before on self-referrals, but for downloads it means we take a huge hit. I don't know if this is a feature or a bug, but it seems pretty unfair to penalize us for promoting our own products! 

[mylittleeden]

Agree the digital sales are not even close the the money we were getting as the artist when selling digital you risk the misuse of your original artwork too, that is on us no one else. At close to $10 that is a risk worth it at under $4 and less than 50% that isn't. (see example) I am deciding if still worth it? Could we have the option to turn off 3rd party on certain items?
My husband has been doing digital downloads he has been creating (mods for flight sim).
So I know I could set then up to sell them directly via my own website for cheap cost, it is an option and quite easy to do. I would rather sell on here though as some in collections for example, but not be forced in this low ball price situation. I would prefer we set the price we want for digital and then Zazzle calculates the retail price based around that instead. If the customer really wants it they will still get it I am quite sure of that. Seems unfair about the digital side I do think. I am not overall happy as it seems clear now designers at least initially will be taking most of the hit, if promoters and your own efforts in promoting work out of course we could turn things around but it is a lot of if and buts and the moment that is for sure.

[Cat]

I'm still hopeful that this is a bug... well not a "bug" in the sense of a programming error because it's calculating it exactly the way the agreement says it should. But I'm hoping that they didn't think through this scenario and that they'll come up with a remedy. 

[lena77678]

I really hope this gets addressed soon—it's incredibly frustrating that the "self-referral" rate is actually lower than having no referral at all. That just doesn’t make sense. I’ve already reached out to Zazzle through their Google questionnaire with feedback similar to what’s been shared here. Hopefully, if more of us speak up, they’ll take action and make the necessary changes.

When it comes to instant downloads, I feel Zazzle is falling behind platforms like Etsy. Instead of cutting into designer earnings, they should have taken steps to make digital products more competitive—like introducing digital bundles. The current pricing for digital products is already higher than what competitors offer, and with this recent change impacting earnings, it's becoming harder to grow. I truly want to keep building on Zazzle, but I hope they listen to their community and start making changes that support creators.

[mylittleeden]

I am not happy but I understand from Zazzle's view they are trying to get more artists to promote their own work and or promoters doing it. I am feeling a pivot point coming on for us already getting hit at all angles us designers, we have to learn to market ourselves better! Bundles are a  great idea they don't even offer sticker downloads either on here. But at this low rate now, yes I am upping mine. Rather not sell them than risk the copying problems. Interestingly I made a self referral yesterday (hasn't happened in over 6 months!) and I got 3 times the amount for the referral than I did the sale! So third parties must be doing a happy dance right now... We just need to figure out how to improve self promotion by the looks of it and quickly! 

[Cat]

Yeah, I think we're all gonna have to adjust our strategies. It seems clear that Zazzle values referrals way more than it values designs. Not sure what that means - maybe they are just so oversaturated with designs that they figure they don't really need to reward creators, just "ambassadors"? 

[Connie]

WOW, I didn't realize that the 35%-50% applied to DIGITAL sales too! That's insane! Before, the Promoter 2.0 excluded Digital downloads, so we just got our regular royalty percentage. Now we are taking a huge cut just for bringing customers to Zazzle for free!

[ColsCreations]

You are exactly right. There is now effectively a cap on total earnings from a promoter referral since net royalty + referral commission combined is set to equal 35,40,45, or 50% of the total sale. (I don't think it's possible for a DD to fall into one of the categories at the lesser amounts, so they'd always be 50%.) The cap is on all products, but because DD's have such an unusually high royalty percent - I think the suggested default was around 92% - the effect of this new cap is much more drastic as the royalty is already way higher than the cap even before trying to account for the referral so there's no where for the net to go but down. If you had something before at 10%, plus the 35% promoter referral, you were still only at 45%, under the cap. So this new system would net you a little more. It's all a numbers game. This is why they excluded DD's from the 35% in the former program, because that plus the high royalty exceeded the cost the customer actually paid to Zazzle. 

I doubt it's a bug or oversight. I'd take it as another sign from Z that DD's didn't end up being a profitable venture for them so they're not exactly encouraging them or making them obvious on the product pages anymore.

[LauraLee]

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@ColsCreations wrote:

"I think the suggested default was around 92%"  I didn't know this, mine seems to be set higher, and I still get them.

"I doubt it's a bug or oversight. I'd take it as another sign from Z that DD's didn't end up being a profitable venture for them so they're not exactly encouraging them or making them obvious on the product pages anymore."  I guess I should be promoting them more now in affiliate marketing - because of my own profitability.  Because I ❤️ getting a big chunk of profit if I can! 😃

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[LauraLee]

Yeah, I just wanted to jump in here and agree with this specifically on Digital Downloads.  As I started to post a product for sale, the Instant Download calculations don't quite add up for me either.  So, referred or not, the section on Instant Downloads, when posting for sale, says it's adjusting if your ROYALTY rate is greater than 10%...not that it  isn't tied to the royalty rate, but the math doesn't add up. 

For instance, even if I set my Royalty rate at 10%, the INSTANT Download keeps a big portion of the Instant Download.  I do not recall anything changing as far as this, because it's a NON-product - to which nothing is printed nor shipped causing an increase [that I see].  And, the thing that I presumed was, I never even considered affiliate marketing for instant downloads.  Has anyone else??  It seemed to be the customer's choice while on the website.  

Am I thinking about this correctly??  Can someone explain why the Instant download rate is involved, or what I should read on the site that explains, preferably in a chart that clearly explains how the Instant Download rate is involved.  When I read the insert image on the Instant Download section, my brain, in a less than average math-ability doesn't compute it.  I need help, please.

[jophb]

I agree this is SO MESSED UP! Digital downloads were part of what was keeping me afloat.  And now they have been halved! There should be no marketing fee on digital downloads since they aren't even something that is marketed or promoted, no one is promoting a digital item specifically, it's just a 'digital add-on' of a product.  I too just got a self-referral one that was $5 + $.42 which is so unfair.  

[ColsCreations]

 no one is promoting a digital item specifically, it's just a 'digital add-on' of a product.

Shhhhhh. Don't give them the idea to treat them as User Option at 5%.   😉

[BN_Stationery]

I am just realizing that we make almost half on digital downloads when it's self referred as opposed to "none". (and more when customers search on zazzle) why is this the case?  (and also more when its 3rd party)

[BN_Stationery]

i'm ready to turn off digital downloads for everything, only earning $5 for driving traffic to the product and giving away my file is not worth it

[Lea]

Just like there was an exception for the Promoter program for digital referrals (15% instead of 35%), there needs to be consideration and a carve out for digital referrals now when it comes to Zazzle's take. It absolutely should not be treated the same as the printed product.

[ElkeClarke]

Dear Zazzle. As many Etsy sellers have come to Zazzle (and many of them we have coached so we have first hand experience) to not only use the digital download option (because it is easier on Zazzle) but also because they can use the DD to cross-sell multiple products (because many customers also buy the poster or foam core board or stationery as well as the digital), but also other physical goods that Zazzle offers which they can not do so in one listing on Etsy. Please consider that this change in the payout structure for DD does not only affect the lower payout you provide to sellers. There is more at play.

[KiniArt]

Just curious… Does everyone know that referral earnings are shown in a separate Referral report in the Earning reports area?  I was wondering if that would maybe resolve some of the confusion surrounding the lower $ when self-promoting - because the $ from referrals is not reflected in the royalty report(?)

[Lea]

Yes - but I believe the crux of the issue is that we are able to set our royalty to 99% but getting a referral on a design means our total take - the referral commission plus the royalty - is capped at 50%. So unlike with other products like stationery where it works out better for us to get a self referral, with a digital stationery purchase it actually means we get a pay cut.

[ElkeClarke]

The original point was and still is the point I made. 

@KiniArt NO. That is why I requested that the earnings for the entire sale per customer - royalty and referral are logged together in ONE PLACE in our earnings reports since they are now so closely tied together. It would show  TRANSPARENCY from Zazzle and avoid all of this chatter in the forum. 

[nikkileigh]

I am fully aware of how to read the referrals, we are making less money on self referred digital downloads. 

[Cat]

@KiniArt & @ElkeClarke Maybe I'm not understanding what you guys are saying, but if you look at the Earnings History (the link directly under the Summary) it shows both referrals and royalties. Each is on a separate line, but you can easily sort out which goes with which that way. You have to mouse over the link to see what the product was, but the info is there (when you mouse over it, the full path with product name shows up in the bottom left hand corner of your screen). I always look at that report first to see if there are any referrals, and if not I go to the royalty history because it's easier to read.

It's probably a moot point since the reports are about to change (well, in theory anyhow) but I just thought I'd point that out for anyone who doesn't know. 

[SORS]

Hi Cat, I'm just wondering why you don't just go to the referral history, if you want to see referrals?  Am I missing something? 🙂 

[Cat]

I do that too, but the earnings history report is my first "go to" because it shows everything. Honestly, I get so few referrals that I usually see them on the earnings history report and only go to the referral history report if I know one is there and feel like I need/want more info.