Upcoming Changes To Zazzle’s Terms of Use

[Heather]

Hello Creators,

We’re making updates to Zazzle's Terms of Use, including the Creator License Agreement, and introducing our new Ambassador Program Agreement, which replaces our Associates Program Agreement. While the onsite experience will not be updated until April 1st, you can preview the updated Terms of Use here. 

We understand you might have additional questions or feedback. Please use this form to share them directly with us. While we may not be able to respond individually at this stage, we’ll review all submissions and address frequently asked questions after the Terms of Use go into effect.

To keep the conversation organized, all community discussions on this topic will be redirected to this thread.

Thank you for your understanding and for helping us make Zazzle a thriving community for all Creators!

Best,

The Zazzle Team

UPDATE 3/24/25: 

Hi Creators - Thank you all so much for your valuable feedback and for taking the time to submit your questions through our form. We truly appreciate your engagement and insights. Rest assured, we are carefully reviewing each question and will address the most commonly asked ones soon.

Timely Update Regarding Royalty Rates: We understand your concerns about adjusting royalty rates, and to support you through this transition, we will be processing royalty rate changes daily from now through April 15th, allowing creators time to make any necessary adjustments. Please note that updates may take 24–48 hours to appear. After April 15th, we’ll return to our regular schedule, with royalty updates processed on the 20th of each month. 

*To clarify: Setting your royalty to 10% exactly will not trigger the Excess Royalty Fee. Royalties above 10%, will trigger the Excess Royalty Fee when changes go into effect 4/1. 

UPDATE 4/7/25

This forum post is now closed for new replies. Please see our most recent update for information about the Terms of Use Changes and information about the new Ambassador Program. Thank you!

[tiffjamaica]

Glad you said this. I create my own artwork and can’t keep up with others who don’t. And that’s fine. There’s nothing better or worse about making/purchasing/using AI to create products. But what bothers me sometimes is how Z seems to want to brand themselves as supportive of artists. I see artists featured (including myself) on their socials, trending creators, explore page, etc. all the time. But these new terms are not supporting the artists. They will benefit those that can crank out products quickly- and AI is the fastest way to do that. It’s weighing on me. I really want to be proud of my work here and what I’ve built, and changes like these just demotivate me entirely. 😞 

[KLP]

I would so love to have your talent and ability to produce my own artwork organically, naturally and from my own hand - but alas I was at the back of the queue and missed out on your awesome skillset.  I tip my hat to you and am not about knocking you - there is so much to be said for your artwork that AI will never in a 1,000 years be able to meet.

Most of my artwork is AI dependent as it is the only way I can create sellable art, within saying that I also advertise on my work that it is AI created so buyers have the choice at time of purchase, I do think however that there is a place for both - yet they are two totally separate marketplaces.  I would be perfectly happy to draw a consumer in to my shop and have them go to a traditional artist to buy then to go to another platform and but from there and we both miss out.  I don't use automated bots to create my art, and I also have sales that are far and few and well below others on the platform, I also make a point not to use artists names in my creation, instead I will investigate their art style and technique to create whatever tangent I am off on at that time.  I don't think I agree that "those that can crank out products quickly- and AI is the fastest way to do that" may necessarily be correct as I have a "feeling" that the algorithms working in the background can identify an AI created work as opposed to a traditional created work.  I am under this impression rightly or wrongly due to my investigations into blogging where some platforms are now rejecting AI created text passages, and also in SOE there is a field of belief (again I am not an expert) but if you are looking for google ranking then it is suggested that the best course of action if getting AI to generate your text you need to rework into your own words or risk Google dropping your search rank.  With that in mind, it would not surprise me to find that traditional art would outrank AI art hands down with something going on in the background.  AI art leaves a track of where it was created down to the prompt used, which would be easy for the algorithms to pin point.

[Fantabuloustef]

I talked about «  ai generated pictures of low quality » because I think that like hand-made paintings, a good AI generated picture requires time to improve the prompts, and produce exactly what you want and also some post processing. So my reply was not  denigrating ai generated artwork because I know results can be very good and very qualitative, but more about « quickly generated ai pictures » which all look the same and have not much interest.

[PrintablePretty]

I am trying to think on the bright side today more so than I have been. Our self referral rates have gone up to between 35% and 50% depending on the product type. One of my plans is to blog and pin my tooshie off to try earning more of those. If I can get that to pop off at all I think I might be okay. I've been working on learning better Pinterest optimization and using some new tools to help with that.

Self promotion is going to play a huge factor moving forward if we want to keep making money at this. Use namecheap to get a cheap domain, get a WordPress blog started, switch your Pinterest to a business account, claim your domain and manually pin from your domain. it doesn't have to be anything fancy. Throw your Zazzle shop logo on it and just blog. 

I've been learning Pinterest will favor my domain pin vs a pin I've pinned from here. So I am starting to make all of my pins manually in photoshop or with canva and using their preferred 1000px x 1500px ratio. Yes, it is more work on top of everything else we have to do but if I can start getting regular 50% cuts of high volume wedding orders 45% on cornhole boards or other high value products I could end up making more than I did before the TOU change. It would make the extra effort worth it and these changes not so hurtful to my income.

Everyone of us can do this to help drive our sales. If you have the time to spend on it. 

Still not happy about any of this but it is what it is. We can't change it, all we can do is try to find ways to work with the new system, or diversify in other ways. I am gonna sprinkle in some prayers along the way as well cause I'm gonna need all the help I can get with this lol. 

I decided this morning I have worked too hard to just stop. There has to be something I can do and quality blogging and pinning is where i landed with it. 

 

[Cat]

Just a heads up... One thing to understand is that the self-referral percentages in the chart include both your royalty and the referral - at least that's how I'm interpreting it. The column is titled "Self Promotion Link Earnings" ("earnings" not "referral commission") and in the Ambassador Agreement it states: 2.1.2. Your Earnings (i.e., Royalties plus Referral Commission) for a Referral on Your Product will total the percent of Net Referral Sales specified in the Referral Commission Table. "Net Referral Sales" is defined as the amt that Zazzle receives from the customer less taxes and shipping. So I think it's pretty clear that the percentage in the chart includes both royalty and referral.

The best I can figure it, if you have a higher royalty the price will go up - but you will receive the same percentage of the amount paid no matter if your royalty is 5% or 50%. Essentially, they adjust the referral percentage so that the total you earn = the amount in the chart. So, for a t-shirt you'll get 35% total... NOT 35% in addition to your royalty. 

I'm having a hard time figuring out how that compares to the current system. I think for some departments (like clothing) we'll end up getting less than we currently do, and for others (like weddings) we might get more - but it depends on how your royalties are/were set and I don't think I'm good enough at math to run all those numbers. 

I still think that it's a good idea to focus on promotions, but the picture might not be quite as rosy as you're thinking.

p.s. what's the advantage of having a business Pinterest account rather than a personal one?

[PrintablePretty]

Well dang. Silver lining turned to stainless steel lol.

Yeah, self promotion is still the way to go I think to try and navigate this. It is the only solution I can see personally for myself that might make keeping my focus here vs elsewhere worth it.

27.3% kicked in for me this morning. I am getting sales and my Z rank didn't drop as of yet from it so that is promising to me as well. 

Trying like crazy to stay positive today 😂 NOT easy lol. 

[sharonrheafords]

I guess stainless steel is better than rust!

Off to work on my hoiuse.

[PrintablePretty]

😂Indeed. Might all just turn to that once everything kicks in though. Can't say what I am really worried it'll all turn to. 🤣 Lord help us.

[sharonrheafords]

I'm going to ignore it for a few days and just do what I do lalalala lalaland as I do.

I'm wondering how the BIG moneymakers for Zazzle in Gold, Platinum ... 'wondering what their reaction and actions will be.

NOW, I'm off to work on my house to make the big money I've ignored too long to get me out of debt and give me peace of mind before I have a stroke.

[Deb]

Has anyone ever satisfactorily found the answer to exactly what zrank does and how it affects us?  

[KLP]

Yay thank you for sharing

[LMGildersleeve]

@Cat &@printablePretty if you are promoting on Pinterest you have to use a Business account. You cannot use a Personal Pinterest account to sell products on.

[Cat]

Hmmm... I actually didn't know there was such a thing as a business account on Pinterest. I guess I'll go do some research.

[PrintablePretty]

@LMGildersleeve Ty 🙂 I was just listing the steps people should follow, business account, claim domain etc. I know not everyone on here bothers with the promotional aspect of things. It does help a lot though and I feel like going forward it will be even more essential for everyone to try and do. 

[KLP]

as an added thought Hay House ran a boot camp for authors earlier in the year and the web specialist there was promoting use your own name for your web name and if needed use a shop name as a secondary landing page, set up a database and communicate regularly your thing - whether it be what you are working on, maybe hints and tips page, but get a newsletter going so you own the database and can market direct to your followers in a nice way without spamming - probably similar to a blog - talk about something but have a referral to it with something from your shop i.e. you blog about doggies and in the side margin you include a link to your Z collection featuring cute doggie art.

[tiffjamaica]

Yes, this is how I’m understanding it as well. Referral + royalty will equal the numbers on the chart. So for invitations (the largest percentage on the chart), to get our current 35% referral (promoter program) our royalty can only be set at 15%… which will not be covering losses from the 50% marketing fee. 

I’ve been running the numbers for my products and it seems like the only thing not taking a hit is non-referred sales. Of course running the numbers when Zazzle hasn’t told us exactly how this going to work is less than ideal… so I could be completely wrong! 

I'm a silver linings kind of person, but I’m afraid I see no bright-side here as far as earnings go. 

[Cat]

I think that when it comes to self-referrals the marketing fee will basically be moot because if the total we receive equals the percentage in the chart then it sorta doesn't matter how much of it is royalty and how much is referral. I mean, if your royalty is reduced by xyz amount because of the marketing fee, you'll end up getting more in referral until that the total amount equals whatever's in the chart.

So, if you're comparing it to the current system, for an invitation (50% payout) it will basically be like getting a 15% royalty (with no marketing fee) and a 35% referral. at least I THINK that's how it works out (math not being my strong suit.)

[Mariholly]

I totally agree with what you’re saying, and each of us will adjust our new working system, but I also need to mention something: for this to be effective, we need, for example, the pin to take us exactly where it should and not to any other product. In fact, the first thing should be the ability to share it, to make the posting and indexing faster, and to make the sales tables, with such complicated royalties, clearer and more transparent... Just to give an example. Also, it is essential that these tools are well implemented so that we can all work efficiently and without complications. The management process should be as simple and transparent as possible to avoid unnecessary frustrations that demotivate those of us trying to contribute to the platform's success. But if even to find a (I don’t want to be rude, but a curse word would go here, sorry) cancellation, we have to search through our data and guess what was canceled...

[ACR]

Hi, I read your post an a question immediately popped into my mind that I hope you have the answer to. 🙂
In making a manual pin for Pinterest, I have been using the link from the product itself.  I have a website, but so far it is primarily a landing site that comes to my stores.  Were you stating that a manual pin carries more weight when it links back to your website and NOT the URL from the product link??? If so, I will have to figure out how to make that happen as it would be ridiculous to go through all of the steps for a manual pin and lose traction because of the link chosen.   Thank you very much in advance for your answer!

[LMGildersleeve]

If you want to have this answered I'd suggest you use the proper forum topic.

[ACR]

Thank you! 

[KLP]

Brilliant and well done you for thinking outside the box - I agree I think you are on the right track and am in the process myself of doing similar but seems I am well behind you as I am still trying to decide which site to use to host my web page.

[Saints_Aplenty]

aMariholly et al. ...  It is what it is. But, boy, is my face red!  I, for one, didn't notice the line in the announcement until I read your post that says Zazzle will "address frequently asked questions after the Terms of Use go into effect [emphasis mine}."  After?  Really???  Shouldn't we have been paid the courtesy of being given the info we need to make informed decisions before the new TOS goes into effect? Especially since the bombshell was dropped on a Friday afternoon and gave us little more than a week's notice to react.  Here I've been waiting for a moderator to chime in and calm the troubled waters.  I think we're all pretty rattled, and now I'm doubly bummed. And, I don't even have as a big a stake in things that many of you have. Sigh.

[Cat]

I have to agree with you on this point. It's like they're saying, "You agree now, and then we'll explain what you've agreed to later." I mean, we can always take our toys and go home at any point, but the process here does leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

[J32Design]

@Cat @Saints_Aplenty  Zazzle has always released news that they knew wouldn't go over well on a Friday. Things will not change no matter what we say and changes will go through as written. So anyone who has been here as long as I have, this will be all too familiar. Things may have been quiet for a while and we all chugged along, but Zazzle is now back to old habits. Being a designer here is not a collaboration Zazzle. We are here at Zazzle's discretion and whim. Thinking otherwise is fantasy.

[Saints_Aplenty]

@J32Design  Yeah, I know, I know...  I've been through several of these 'ambushes' before...  You'd think I would have learned by now.  Sigh.  Every time it happens, though, it seems like designers rank even lower and lower in the great scheme of things.  I'm afraid you're right: the more things change, the more things stay the same.  Again:  Sigh.

[PopParrot]

In my view, the changes punish designers that generally provide less value to the marketplace, and reward the ones who give more bang for their buck. 

Something that isn't brought up much is that 3rd party promoters will seek out higher priced items so their commission will be higher. And they seek out products they are confident will sell; that are outstanding, attention grabbing and on trend. 

Designers who can reliably crank out stunning work with promotion-ready, scroll-stopping mockups at a royalty rate that generates higher income for promoters (including Zazzle) will be rewarded with more eyes on their products, more sales, and favor by the algorithm gods.

Those of us who don't fall into that category can still strive to compete, and I'm thankful that Z at least makes an effort to maintain an ecosystem that lets us do so. That said, it has never been easy path to tread.

[J32Design]

Your theory would be valid if most of the 3rdparty sales would come through from 3rdparty promoters. The truth is that a lot of what is marked as 3rdparty is actually Zazzle.

[PopParrot]

Zazzle also promotes selectively off-site and on.

[RjFxx-Creations]

Zazzle how much is new Excess Royalty Fee?

[happygiftideas]

I dont understand? My royalty is 11% and I make peanuts already how will this impact me at 11%? 

[Bailamor]

Hi, this is a huge discussion thread and i am not sure if this question had been asked before. But can somebody shortly tell me where and how to change the general roylties (so that i don't have to change every single item)? 

Btw, i am going to increase it, after i have read some of your answers. Also, normally a buyer likes your product or not and they will not always buy the cheapest one. So, i need to earn money and spend time and effort in zazzle,  i cannot dermaßen the prices even more (while everything around me in daily increases the prizes)

[Sara_H]

@Bailamor 

To change your store's default royalty go to your account and it's under "creator account at a glance"

https://www.zazzle.com/my/account/defaultroyalty

Then hit update (you have the option to change all existing products to your new royalty) checkbox -"Also set all your existing products to this Royalty Percentage?"

[tsikona]

After increasing royalty , my z rank went down. I sent the same question to zazzle support if it affects to z rank, still waiting for the answer. 

[CLC]

Yes....I have attached a jpeg with the pages for visual.

First go to your store, click on "settings"

Then on far left, bottom word, click on "My Account"

Next under Account Settings click on "Account Settings"

On next page under Creator Account click on "Default Royalty" a box will appear with "Royalty Percentage" change the percent to what you want

[Deb]

Its been so long since ive messed with site wide royalties.. can this be done per store pr is it limited to full account vs individual changes., 

[Sara_H]

@Debit's per account - so if you have several stores it will be the same royalty for all of them. You can't have different royalties set per store unfortunately

[Deb]

Thank you .. I figured out how to manually set one store.. if you go through on your products page , select all, click edit.. you can change your royalty per page per store.. a bit time consuming if the store is large , but  if you wanted it to be different than the account wide .. just would need to remember to customize new product royalty as you create new products or they will divert to the account wide royalty you set .. 

[Windy]

Thanks, Deb, this is BRILLIANT! I was able to change all the royalties in just one store. Never thought to try it that way. 

[PrintablePretty]

You can change them here https://www.zazzle.com/my/account/defaultroyalty