My Purchase from Store Management was labeled 3rd party Referred?*

[MissPaperFarm]

I purchased one of my products while I was logged into my designer account, clicking on the product from my store management page. When I looked at my royalty history, it said my purchase was 3rd party under Referred. It also took out a 45% percent marketing fee. Shouldn't my purchase have been labeled as "self" under Referred?

When I contacted support about this, they did not address my issue. They sent me the following: 

"There are a number of limitations that can prevent a referral from being successful. There is no way on our end to tell exactly why the referral was not obtained. 

It is also important to note that the referral program is a reward system for Creators who have brought new Customers to Zazzle and not a benefit for helping those who have already discovered Zazzle. 

The most common limitations are as follows:

1.    The customer has an ad blocker installed on their browser.

2.    The customer changes their browser in the time between clicking the link and completing the purchase.

3.    The customer changes their device, i.e. clicking the link on mobile but placing the order on desktop.

4.    Changing domains, i.e. going from zazzle.com to zazzle.ca.

5.    The referral cookie has expired between being clicked on initially and the order being placed (cookies register to the user’s browser for up to 7 days).

6.    The Customer contacted the Creator but have already been on the Zazzle site. Examples of this are customers reaching out via chat, but this can also happen if a customer reaches out via another contact channel

Unfortunately our Community Team does not have the means to investigate these inquiries as there are too many variables and we cannot retroactively apply a referral.

If you have any follow up questions, please reply and we will be happy to help."

I want to reiterate I, myself, was the customer and I am informing Zazzle my purchase came through my store management page. My question is: Why was my purchase through my store management, while I was logged into my designer account, labeled as a third party taking away a marketing fee? Thank you for your explanation in advance. 

[SimplyDesigned]

My guess is you already had someone's cookie prior to ordering. Or if you edit the product then purchase i've read others not getting their self-referral. You didn't say if you clicked and bought or, clicked edited then bought so that can't be ruled out.

[MissPaperFarm]

It was a new product, a calendar that I had just finished creating from scratch to offer for sale. I was buying a copy for myself. Once I finished the listing and the product was posted, I then returned to my products page from the store management and then clicked through to the product to buy. 

[Wollastonite]

Referrals are linked to the account, not to the specific product. So whether the item was brand new or super old, the referral goes to whoever's cookie your computer picked up.

[Jadendreamer13]

That happened to me once, and I posted about it. I made me so mad! One response I received said to save a version of my design (with my template changes already made) as a direct-only product.

Then, without making any changes to the personalization, send yourself a link. Then immediately after buying the item, check to see if it is labeled as a “none” sale or a “third-party” sale. If it’s showing as a third-party sale, cancel your order and try again.

This may not be a full-proof fix, but it has worked for me in the past.

[MissPaperFarm]

I will have to try that next time. The reason it confused me is because I always purchase my own products this way and only this time did it say it was third party. I had just purchased some of my own products in May in the same manner and they were labeled as self. 

 I wanted to bring it to Zazzle's attention because it seemed like a technically bug to me. One that affects designer's revenue. 

[Mariholly]

Here’s how I see it: Z will never give you a self-reference if you are buying your own product. Nor if a customer comes back again and again to buy the same product, because this new system is based on bringing in new customers. Well, it’s the current policy, we may or may not agree with it, but that’s how it is. At least it shouldn’t be third parties with their corresponding marketing fee, it should be none. It’s just how I feel, I don’t know if it’s the right thing.