Why Do the “Unexpected” Products Sell While Others Don’t? 🤔

[mahmoud3]

Hey everyone, I’ve been on Zazzle for about 2 months now. I’m really happy that I’ve made some sales already and feel like I’ve improved a lot — I even started making mockups and organizing my collections better.

But here’s something I find really surprising: All of the products that sold were actually the ones I didn’t expect to sell at all (no mockups, no promotion, just simple uploads). Meanwhile, the products I spent the most time on — with lots of effort — are still sitting there with zero views 😅.

Has anyone else experienced this? Why do you think this happens?

Would love to hear your thoughts! 🙏

[itsMolly]

Oh yes, definitely. I was designing a Halloween yard sign in 2022, after returning to Zazzle. I told my husband "No one is going to buy this." After about 250 projects and no organized collections, it was my first sale. I made two more in different shapes. They are actually my best sellers as far as quantity. Last year I started selling them in March.

Yes, this happens to me here and there with other products also. 

My opinion: I think one of the reasons it happens to me is, people have different tastes than I do. We tend to create, design and work longer on products we like or would buy ourselves. The customer doesn't know anything about the time taken for a project, etc. so that's moot. 

Every sale is a blessing and may lead to one of those you spent so much time on. Congrats on your early success. 😁

@itsMolly 

[mahmoud3]

You’re absolutely right, sometimes we design based on what we would personally buy, but the customer’s taste can be totally different. That perspective really helps me worry less about “which product should sell” and just keep creating consistently.

[Cat]

Ha! I have some products that I thought were sooo ugly that I nearly deleted them. One of them got an Editor's pick and is one of my best sellers! It's a mystery to me. I'm sure @itsMolly is right that tastes vary tremendously, but I also think that a lot of it is simply the luck of the draw.