Z score fell from 8 to 6!

[Christine]

Hi there! My Z score just fell from 8 to 6. Have had pretty consistent sales and have been right on top of optimizing my products as they come up for review. I'm so dejected. Any insight on why this might have happened? Would love to have a better score by the Holiday rush. Thanks!

[Sara_H]

@Christine 

Join the club

It's really soul destroying when it happens. You jump through all the hoops but at the end of the day, it's down to an algorithm that doesn't care about your feelings and only cares about sales/referrals.

If your store falls fowl of the sales v products ratio - your zRank will decrease.

It's all part of the fun of having a zazzle store (insert sarcasm emoji here)

I wouldn't worry about it, if you are still getting consistent sales, congrats! (rubs your belly for luck)

[Barbara]

Mine just went from 7 to 5, but I'm not sure how much this sort of thing affects our success. It's interesting that, when my score was originally 5, I was doing just fine and continued doing fine. When my score went up to 6 and then to 7, I saw no difference. Maybe we shouldn't give a rap what the score is.

Colorwash's Home

[KeegansCreation]

Going from 8 to 6 without spending some time at 7 is pretty harsh. I went from 7 to 6. They may have tweaked the algorithm. Weighted some things differently here and there. I have long held the theory that it's a bell curve and they weight things so that most designers are at the peak of the bell at 4, 5 and 6. This makes it easy to climb from the depths but also easy to fall from the heights. This is just my theory.

[Jadendreamer13]

I fell from an 8 to a 7. I did just add a ton of Christmas products, so lots of new items in my shop with no views yet.

[Jadendreamer13]

….and my Z-Rank just fell again today. I’m now at 6. Bummer. Maybe due to me working exclusively on optimizing products over the last few days (and deleting products that I’ve optimized several times with no improvement in views or sales).

[KeegansCreation]

You would think that optimizing would make you hold steady. Who even knows.

[SovereignSue]

What do you mean by optimizing?

[KeegansCreation]

That's when you review products that haven't been viewed for over a year and change those things that can be changed such as tags or description or adding a cover photo or sharing it to social media.

[Mariholly]

I'm honestly not sure about anything anymore when it comes to how Z works, and I think someone must be laughing a lot reading our speculations and comments, saying to themselves... Cold, cold (just kidding). Seriously, I don't know when my stores dropped to 6. I think I remember that during the pandemic, one of my stores with masks reached 8 or 9, but it didn’t have any sales (?). I have a couple of products that sold with just a few views, without a cover photo, not even part of collections, and they were also new. What works or doesn’t is increasingly a mystery to me (Now I can totally imagine the algorithm laughing at this comment hahaha!).

[AtypicalPuzzles]

If I had known about the Z score system before I joined Zazzle i probably wouldn't have even joined. Its one thing to have a system that encourages a certain "standard" but when it seems to be volatile and also penalizes people that just want to be able to focus on a simple niche then it really sucks the enthusiasm right out of me.

I'm on a Z score of 2 I doubt I'll ever get past that because my intention was never to go all-out building my store and it seems that's what's needed to get anywhere on Zazzle.

[Jadendreamer13]

Being a Level 2 just means that you haven’t completed all of your store settings yet. Go back and make sure that you’ve filled out all the required settings.

[AtypicalPuzzles]

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@Jadendreamer13 wrote:

Being a Level 2 just means that you haven’t completed all of your store settings yet. Go back and make sure that you’ve filled out all the required settings.

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That's the whole problem though, I just want to sell a simple collection of posters as my main focus. I have 7 collections, 6 for different posters and 1 for miscellaneous products. To increase my score further i need to:

Create 10 store collections (+20%)
Share 10 store collections (+10%)
Upload 10 media items (+5%)

Sure, I can do those but they are just arbitrary hurdles. And even if I was to do those I have no idea what the next set of requirements might be or when they might change.

[Jadendreamer13]

You only need to create three more collections. You can share your collections on pinterest in a few minutes. Use the artwork from your existing products, or download the in-situ pics of your products that Zazzle provides and post those. The whole process will take less than an hour. It’s worth it for your future sales success. Don’t give up before you get started.

[ColsCreations]

x

[ColsCreations]

I'm on a Z score of 2 I doubt I'll ever get past that because my intention was never to go all-out building my store and it seems that's what's needed to get anywhere on Zazzle.

To increase my score further i need to:

Create 10 store collections (+20%)
Share 10 store collections (+10%)
Upload 10 media items (+5%)

That's  the same level of imcompletion my second little store is at:

But as you can see that store is currently at a zRank 4, it had been at 5 for a while previously. This is not by any means a brag, just to show you that you CAN get past 2 even without doing those steps, and this store had its first sale while at zRank2 and not due to any of my own promoting, just a random organic sale.

You've got a pretty good niche design theme going on. A search for 'word search puzzle poster' yields only 135 results and if one ignores all the tag-spammed designs that don't belong, YOUR products dominate the first page.  So I agree with you that completing these tasks to increase your zRank isn't all that important here. Because you are not facing insane competition where a higher zRank might help get your products higher in search results, people are going to find your products regardless of your zRank assuming you have good tags. I looked at some of yours and you could improve there, you're not using very many and it's your tags that are going to get you found so take advantage of being able to have ten, each up to 40 characters. Even with a niche design, tags are key to organic sales if not doing your own promoting.

Anyways, Zazzle doesn't penalize you for having a lower zRank. You don't have to 'go all out building your store to get anywhere on Zazzle' - you just need patience and a couple sales to sort of jump-start your store and renew your enthusiasm. And good tags so people can find you. 😉

[AtypicalPuzzles]

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@ColsCreations wrote:

But as you can see that store is currently at a zRank 4, it had been at 5 for a while previously. This is not by any means a brag, just to show you that you CAN get past 2 even without doing those steps, and this store had its first sale while at zRank2 and not due to any of my own promoting, just a random organic sale.

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Thanks. I guess that does tend to vindicate my stance.

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assuming you have good tags. I looked at some of yours and you could improve there, you're not using very many and it's your tags that are going to get you found so take advantage of being able to have ten, each up to 40 characters. Even with a niche design, tags are key to organic sales if not doing your own promoting.

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Yeah I know my tags need work and eventually I'll get around to putting more thought into them.

[shoshannahscrib]

Mine dropped too. The algorithm must have changed. I recall reading that one thing that can lower the score is the number of products vs number of sales. So if you have a ton of products (I do) that score will never get over 8. At least that is my experience as well. 

Personally I would rather have a ton of products as I feel that my old designs (that I hate) randomly sell and I also make multiple colorways and the ones I don't like often sell more than the ones I do like! haha. So I deal with the low rank. 

[Christine]

I hustle hustle hustled the last day or so and something between that and my sales volume I’m back at 7. I so appreciate all of your tips and stories. One step forward, two steps back is still one step forward! 

[Barbara]

@AtypicalPuzzles 

I went looking through Zazzle's "Help" and didn't find anything about store completion, probably because I ran out of patience, but what struck me about your list of requirements for store completion was "Share 10 store collections." When I started here back in 2014, the requirement was to share 10 products--we didn't have collections back then as best I can remember--but I'm wondering why they now want it to be collections. Anyway, I shared with family, warning them beforehand. As you continue creating, you're likely to end up with at least 10 collections, which you can then share with anyone you please--your mother, your neighbor, your dog--so that's an easy one. Uploading media items is also easy. Simply choose some images from your computer that relate to your store, and upload them.

Don't get frustrated with this stuff. Eventually, you'll have enough collections. They're the only important thing in the list. The rest of it, as far as I can tell, doesn't do much in the way of making a store successful. It's just fluff.

Colorwash's Home

[AtypicalPuzzles]

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@Barbara wrote:

but what struck me about your list of requirements for store completion was "Share 10 store collections."

An example of them moving the goal posts.

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Don't get frustrated with this stuff. Eventually, you'll have enough collections.

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I could get 10 collections now by simply splitting of my miscellaneous into more categories, the issue I have is that its just such and arbitrary requirement. Zazzle seems to not want simple stores with just a simple niche/collection of products. I shouldn't be getting penalized if that what I want for my store.

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Uploading media items is also easy. Simply choose some images from your computer that relate to your store, and upload them.

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I don't feel that my store/posters necessarily need any media, it is a very simple store after all, and I shouldn't be required to add media.

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It's just fluff.

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Not when they say the Z score will become important. I can't remember what exactly I read or where, but I think it was something about Zazzle not promoting stores in future that have a Z score below 3 or 4 or something like that.

Clearly I'm not Zazzles target demographic when it comes to a creator.

[Barbara]

I sympathize with your feelings about this because I had them too as have many others. I'm not the sort of designer Zazzle looks for either, but if you look around, you'll find you're in good company. Lots of us don't do events, which is Zazzle's thing, and yet we sell.

Zazzle looks for a zRank of 4 and above for promotions, but you know what? Even when I had a rank of 7, they didn't promote me and probably never will because my stuff isn't truly "promotable." I've sold 398 of a particular clock, but they've never promoted it because, well, it isn't an event or gift sort of thing.

Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do so we can do the things we do want to do. At least they aren't insisting we become belly dancers. 🙂

Colorwash's Home

[Christine]

I really dig your attitude Barbara 🙂

[AtypicalPuzzles]

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@Barbara wrote:
I'm not the sort of designer Zazzle looks for either,

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I beg to differ. You've created over 3,000 products over 10 years and are no doubt still constantly/frequently creating products. You many not be an 'ideal' designer in Zazzles eyes but no doubt are a designer that they still look for.

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Zazzle looks for a zRank of 4 and above for promotions, but you know what? Even when I had a rank of 7, they didn't promote me and probably never will because my stuff isn't truly "promotable." I've sold 398 of a particular clock, but they've never promoted it because, well, it isn't an event or gift sort of thing.

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All that says to me is that I am correct in my logic that there is no point in me perusing zRank. If they haven't promoted your store after 10 years, I dare say it's a safe bet that my store which, will always be tiny, will never get promoted unless its some sort of fluke.

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Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do so we can do the things we do want to do.

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And sometimes we have to recognize that there is no point flogging a dead horse.

I do appreciate your encouragement though @Barbara . Thanks.

[Barbara]

It is, of course, up to you whether or not you complete your store.

Good luck.

Colorwash's Home

[Jadendreamer13]

This is a defeatist attitude, and it’s common when frustration sets in. (We all get it.)  A positive mindset will help you push through the frustration. Google mindset training, and you’ll find a lot of help, from YouTube videos, to books on the subject, to online Zazzle training classes that can help you push through. Don’t give up before the magic happens.

[AtypicalPuzzles]

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@Jadendreamer13 wrote:

This is a defeatist attitude

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No, its pragmatic.

[Connie]

I just pinned them on Pinterest to fulfill the Share requirement.

[Sara_H]

@AtypicalPuzzles 

You could easily create 3 more collections out of your miscellaneous collection

It would take 5 minutes.

Go into your store back end -

Selected Home & Living department, then kitchen & dining - then drinkware

Select all of them using the bulk actions

then press edit details on one of them - add to collection.

At the bottom there's an 'add to new collection' button

Fill in all the details - Chose an event - gift theme then add title/description/eg Drinkware Gifts for Puzzle Lovers

And there's a new collection. Repeat this with another couple of departments and boom - 3 new collections

Products can be in more than one collection and you only need I think 6 products in a collection for it to seen (I fell fowl of this many times - keep forgetting lol)

I normally do a couple of collections for the product - one for product type i.e similar style (if I have 6 the same ish/ or different styles) and one for an occasion - eg would make a fun birthday gift

You could quickly get your zRank score up a point at least and it's easy to share a collection pressing the share button and grabbing the link. Takes no time at all.

Cheering you on! 🎉

[AtypicalPuzzles]

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@Sara_H wrote:

You could easily create 3 more collections out of your miscellaneous collection

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As I've said, I know I can do that, but as I don't see any practical value in the Z score system for my store, so I see no point in doing that.

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Products can be in more than one collection and you only need I think 6 products in a collection for it to seen (I fell fowl of this many times - keep forgetting lol)

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A good example of all the little nuances that is takes to manage stores. I wonder how many designers are aware of that little 'trap', I know I certainly wasn't.

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You could quickly get your zRank score up a point at least

And seriously what would that achieve? Is it going open the door to my products getting promoted?

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and it's easy to share a collection pressing the share button and grabbing the link.

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Unlike the rest of you, I actually don't have any social media, not pinterest, facebook, twitter, tiktok, nothing. I'm fairly sure I can copy the links and not actually do anything with them because I doubt Zazzle does ( or even can) verify if I've actually shared, but no point given that I don't (currently) have any intention to expand my collections to 10.

[ZAZ-TD]

Well guess what?? You have just turned my frown upside down by all this information which I am defiantly going to be putting into practice this week. Sometime when you feel stuck in a dark corner about to give up, all you need is a bit of lifting up. Thanks to this group of amazing people... I am once again smiling. Never mind the fact that I still have to get Pinterest sorted 😂

[Barbara]

@ZAZ-TD 

The problem with Pinterest is that you have to keep it fresh, but to do so seems to take too much time out of the day, so I avoid it, telling myself I'll do it tomorrow. When I keep it fresh, I get the occasional self-referred sale, and you'd think this would inspire me, but it bores me. Laundry seemed more important yesterday as did baking cookies, figuring out an Excel formula, and downloading library books to my Kindle. It's now a new day, so Pinterest has a tiny chance of peeking through.

I'd rather clean the toilets.

Colorwash's Home

[Wesha]

Hi @ZAZ-TD you just wrote what I was thinking in mind, I had almost given up on my newest store with Z rank 3 and 65% completion level. Very few views for the new creations, no hope for sale ...it felt like impossible to rise to rank 4, which is the min requirement to appear in Marketplace.

But after reading all these helpful and postive tips am feeling motivated again, sometimes simplifying the tasks and the ideas how to do it does helps a lot to atleast give some try again!

Thanks a lot to this wonderful community !

[ColsCreations]

...it felt like impossible to rise to rank 4, which is the min requirement to appear in Marketplace.

Just a heads-up that that's not true, it's just a myth that won't die.

[Wesha]

🙂

[Barbara]

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@ColsCreations wrote:

...it felt like impossible to rise to rank 4, which is the min requirement to appear in Marketplace.

Just a heads-up that that's not true, it's just a myth that won't die.

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What you're saying has jogged my memory of it being initially connected to SEO and perhaps Zazzle highlighting a store, say, on their landing page. Also, they said it was a way for designers to gauge how well setup their store is and perhaps self-promoting. And yes, a person's products will still show up in the marketplace regardless. (Otherwise, we'd all be chasing our tails.)

Colorwash's Home

[jamies]

I used to be a consistent 8-9 mostly and now I am at a 6, whatever I was doing before doesn't fly now. My sales are now consistently down. 

[jamies]

**update** what wasn't flying was my lack of attention to old collections. Paying more attention to my collections has helped.

[Christine]

ooh great observation! Noted! Titles, tags and what not or adding new products?