Store Advice

[peanutfarm]

I just started a store a few weeks ago.  Recently, I was given a brief unofficial review of my store which informed me that my niche will not be profitable as it is not in demand, I could get shut down for trademark issues since I generate with AI, and also the mugs I have listed will never sell.  How would you take that advice?  Should I stop where I am and refocus?  No hurt feelings if this is the general consensus.  

[PenguinPower]

Was this unsolicited advice… I’d take it with a grain of salt if I were you. 

I don’t know if the niche is in demand or not, but if you put the work in and promote yourself to your target audience, I’d say you have as good a chance as anyone. FWIW I think your products are cute and I probably wouldn’t have guessed you were using AI had you not said so. And as far as that goes, you should be fine as long as you follow Z’s rules about tagging. 

[peanutfarm]

Thank you for responding.  The advice was sort of solicited but unexpected.  I was trying to decide what type of classes I should sign up for.  Do you know where I can check for trademarks?  I've often heard that the most bizarre phrases have been trademarked or copyrighted (whatever the term is) and I would not want to ever infringe on anything.  

[PenguinPower]

Indeed things you might never think of can end up trademarked- and words you’ve probably used for years without thinking about them, like Little League and Bandaid are actually brands - the easiest place to go is right to the source - https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/search

[Windy]

The other (very annoying) thing about trademarks is that you can legitimately put a phrase on a product and sell it for years. And THEN someone can trademark that phrase and your products using that particular phrase could be removed from the marketplace and deleted. I do not spend a lot of time worrying about whether that might occur.

In your case, you are using some of the same phrases repeatedly. That is definitely a case where it makes sense to take the time to look up the phrase in the trademark database. 

I am trying very hard to think of niches which are not in demand. How would someone be able to tell you yours is not in demand? I guess if you have a store about "lint on a lampshade", that might not be a niche anyone would buy. But generally if you are interested in something, there's a good chance other people are too. Your job is to find those people. That's something a lot of us try to work on!

Keep on keeping on. The only way to learn Zazzling is to try. Try and do.  Just like the rest of us, you will make some mistakes. But if you enjoy the process, keep on going and give it your all.

[Wollastonite]

Just the rambling thoughts of someone unqualified: I don't see why conservation/preservation would not be "in demand," especially as the years continue on. Some people consider weddings/invitations to be the only path to success, so it's possible that's their mindset. Also, I don't see why AI generation specifically would cause trademark issues. There's perhaps a risk of generating a design that already exists, but I don't think it's very high due to how AI works, so I don't think being shut down is a real concern. 

But combining those two things, keep in mind that AI training has an enormous environmental impact (Google "xAI data center Memphis pollution" as one example), so your environment-minded target audience may not be interested in buying AI-generated pieces. Your stuff looks very well done overall, but it still does have that indescribable AI vibe to it.

I'm not sure what they're getting at with the mugs, but you can do some research by flipping through the mug reviews at the bottom of the page to see the type of designs customers have bought and some insights into why they bought them. (Back to AI, the hands in your whale mug have too many AI fingers. It doesn't look too tricky to erase the extra pinky fingers.)

[peanutfarm]

Thank you for telling me about the extra fingers.  These old eyes didn't spot that.  I will delete those products.  I'm also rethinking my item promotion and go at it with a different approach.  Your input is very valulable.  Thank you!

[tiffjamaica]

I totally agree about the contradiction of using AI to create environmental designs. That's a hard sell for a lot of your target audience.  However, your designs are cute and you're off to a good start with your shop - I wouldn't listen to whoever gave you that advice. I would tell you to add personalization templates to your products. Zazzle isn't the first shopping stop for people who want generic designs. They will pay the price for something personalized though.  

[peanutfarm]

I had put personalization on several of the products but they are on the reverse side (like the coffee mugs and tote bags).  Would it be better to incorporate on the front side and leave the back blank?

[tiffjamaica]

I actually don't make a lot of those products, so I'm not sure!  Even if personalization is on the backside, you can still utilize the cover photos to show that off. 

[Windy]

With regard to personalization on one side of the coffee mug, you can make a cover photo which shows both sides and use that cover photo for your marketing at Pinterest or Benable etc. 

[Wollastonite]

You can copy a template onto the backside so it shows up in both places. As long as the "URL Parameter Name" ("text1" by default) matches, it will update the same on both sides when the customer types something in.

[CrazyMermaid]

Whenever you ask for advice in the forums, you really don't have any idea of how successful that person is recently or at that particular task. So it is hard to assess whether or not you should listen to them. Your store name (which is very cute!) is vague enough so that it can be almost anything you want it to be. So I would say start out with conservation. Give it your best go for like six months. If it doesn't heat up, move on to another niche. 

[peanutfarm]

Thank you for the positive thoughts.  I'm giving all the comments received so far a lot of consideration.  Still doing research on perhaps a better angle.