An Open Letter to Zazzle's Decision Makers re Editors Picks and Covers taking priority

[CreativeLeahG]

Dear Zazzle,

As a dedicated seller in the Zazzle community, I wanted to bring to your attention my concerns regarding the recent changes in the visibility of the editor's picks and best-selling products on the top pages of major niches.

I understand that changes are a natural part of any business, but it's also important to acknowledge the significant role that sellers have played in contributing to Zazzle's growth and success. The best-selling items that have now been pushed out of sight by Editors Picks and Covers, are not just a result of creative ideas, but also the result of the sellers' own marketing efforts and introductions of new and innovative niches to the platform.

Sellers have put in countless hours and resources into promoting their products, thereby expanding the reach of Zazzle to new audiences and driving growth. It's disheartening to see their efforts and achievements ignored, and it feels like a lack of recognition and loyalty to those who have contributed so much to the platform.

I strongly believe that the efforts of all sellers should be acknowledged and appreciated, and I hope that this change can be reconsidered or that other measures can be put in place to ensure that everyone's contributions are recognized.

I personally feel deflated and discouraged, and while I have always loyal to Zazzle am left wondering where my future now lies.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to continuing to be a part of this community.

With best regards

Leah

[CreativeLeahG]

To illustrate, I myself bring several hundred customers to Zazzle every day, demonstrated by the link over history. I do not generate 600-1000 sales a day, but it is quite possible Zazzle does. The same I am sure is the case for other leading sellers. 

Note: I am in the promoter program so most links do not have the affiliate codes so customers can be buying anything shown on my product pages or elsewhere on Zazzle. Products appearing below our own products on our own pages was another change that made promoting another blow.

[VivianD117]

Hi -- where do you get that data?

Thanks.

Vivian

[CreativeLeahG]

In your account setting, go to associates and it is the link over history tab

[PacifierCity]

@CreativeLeahG 

I can certainly empathize with you Leah.  The change that seemingly occurred overnight, has really shocked me.    Over all the time I've been here, I've received ... 4 EP's that I am aware of.  I have seen many many stores that have 10 - 20 and sometimes more... in a few it was the same design over several products...  IDK... Good for those stores.  No menace directed their way.  But I have spent years designing here and have some pretty good products, if I do say so myself... but any advances I've gained through sales are now... what... worthless???  Really, is that the case???

It is such an amazing change to the way things were working... it's hard to swallow... It feels like I should start over in the way I approach Z and I'm not sure I'm up for that...  I can't imagine how anyone with page 1, 2 or 3 listings for common searches feels.  Now their products are pushed way back in search...  It seems counterintuitive as those products earned there placement through sales mostly... Why would a company take its best selling products and push them back in search?  It seems like a huge risk financially.

I get Z wanting cover images, especially after looking at my insights and seeing how much advertising Z does off platform.  Cover images make a better promotional image, as long as they are done well.  And I'm sure Z is making the decision to push for them because they are seeing positive results in their advertising efforts.  I'm just not sure that the same applies for product listings on the platform.  Many have reported feeling overwhelmed when doing a Z search and finding a full page of cover images to look at.

I also wonder what will happen when every search on Z results in every product shown having a cover image?  And is Z moving to only showing EP's and ZS's?  If so, there needs to be a better way for people to be selected for either.

My fingers are crossed for some sort of ... remixing ... of the current situation.  Z does not often totally backpedal, but some adjustments and fine-tuning seem to be in order... 

In wait and see mode....

PC

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[CreativeLeahG]

You are one of few who is an innovator on this platform, with a clearly defined niche and for whom you do deserve EDP. Unique items that offer more bang for the buck and can't be obtained anywhere else? And you most certainly should not be pushed into obscurity. 

Zazzle does rethink strategies so I hope this is one of them, perhaps when the sales don't mirror their expectations or incoming links drop as we that drive the traffic cease to do so because we have to focus our attention elsewhere.

[PacifierCity]

Thanks for your kind words.  Maybe someone at Z will stumble into my card store and choose a few EP's from it. 

You should see the store that I have been creating in private.  I was so very excited about publishing it in the next month or two... but now I am scratching my head, thinking I need to create cover images for the next month or two for products in my other stores that already sell, never mind having to go back and make cover images for all the products I've created in private...  very discouraging... months worth of work have been added to my plate... if I choose to take it on... that is....

PC

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[CreativeLeahG]

I am taking another direction after almost killing myself with 18 days for the past couple of weeks. Do you have a FB for your cards if not ... Share them here! I have allowed for others to add their content. I will make this known in another thread. https://www.facebook.com/100xGifts, add a title to your post with sales info, short description and hashtags and I will let you know via insights how the posts perform as to whether it is worth continuing.

[PacifierCity]

Very kind of you to offer, but I don't even have a FB account and your link wants me to log in... so that's a no go for me.  Perhaps I can whip something up and send it to you another way...  I'll chat you in the next few days about it.  Again, thank you.

PC

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[CreativeLeahG]

The problem with the 'other way' is it involves time and work on my behalf and I don't have barely an inch to spare now especially as I want to help a few others also. I'd advise a little rethink re social media, it could be a game changer for you x

[idraw]

@CreativeLeahG
Your post is well thought out (as always) and expressed most of my own feelings,I am also wondering about  my future at Z.
About Covers, wanted to speak up about several things that have not been mentioned and discussed on the forum that I have seen. (been thinking about for quite awhile, finally frustrated enough to post about it)---
Covers/mockups have been here for 2 years(?) and the beta testers seem to have had an extreme head start in placement and sales and covers already done, pushing down all the non cover products that have gained placement over time. Also, thinking further, chosen beta testers may also have been affiliates, so that could skew the results further. Were affiliate sales numbers (those who were chosen to beta test)  included in the statistical beta test results decision,with Z claiming that it has been an "extreme success", paraphrased, too frustrated/worn down to go find the exact quote.
Also, are/were  Zazzle employees able to participate in the beta? If so, that skews the results, because of statistical bias,as sellers they would want the/their mockups to succeed, what if they are also affiliates? (at CP, I had to push for months to find out for sure if CP employees were affiliates,finally got a confirmation, yes, they were. I felt that paid employees who had access to privileged stats and info should not also have had the benefit of being affiliates and using that info to cherrypick high performing sellers to affiliate against/for/with.)
One Zazzle related example, customer has problems with order, calls Customer Service to fix the problem,csr cancels order instead of just fixing the problem, has customer reorder, results in new order number,  goes 3rd party to Zazzle. Had it happen to me in the past and to friends who ordered. This affects the shop and lowers/changes their payment amount. Hence my question here.
It's a complex set of questions, hope that anyone reading  can follow what I have written, and why I have raised these questions.
Putting on flak jacket now, just in case....
Addendum--- nothing against affiliates in general, just have a problem with the variables that often result.

[Cat]

Not sure I agree about the unfair "head start" that the beta testers had. I mean, the folks who participated in the beta did so with no guarantee of any reward. Zazzle could have determined that the whole thing was a bust and discontinued it altogether - meaning that all of their work would have been for naught. Personally, I think they deserve a bit of a reward for taking a flier on the program and investing time and energy into something that might have been a total flop.

[idraw]

@Cat 
I understand what you are saying, that's one way of looking at the issue. From my perspective regarding this situation, I don't believe that z would remove 2 years worth of  beta's covers on the site and from searches including z and google and other search engines) from beta testers just because z determined that the project wasn't as successful as they wanted it to be.
So the betas would have gotten "reward" one way or another whether the project ended or continued, as I see it.
In any regard, the beta's covers were seemingly advancing for approx 2 yrs give or take, before the non betas were given the go ahead to start creating covers, and, yes, I understand the way beta testing works. It would be pretty difficult to beta something without involving some type of A/B testing with customer groups.
Consider that the non covers are now being pushed to the side, re the creators who have been here for many years and had products placed well, those products are pushed down, some reporting theirs going mia.
Creators who have thousands of placed products can't possibly download images or z mockups, create covers, upload them, file the covers on their hard drives,and are being pushed beyond their limits, financially and I am reading about them becoming depressed and discouraged. 
Even "picking and choosing covers to create" is extremely time consuming, being pressed for time to speedily create covers,thus falling behind in creating products, optimizing products, updating tags and descriptions.....
Not to mention trying to figure out whether it's server errors, server down issues or the creators own computer, browser,internet connection, cover image not available, it's crazy-making.
And oh yes, the lost time in having to read and post in the forum to let the mods know about all the issues coming from uploading covers, missing covers, and asking them to help.
Hopefully Z mods will enter this long thread and comment further.

[CreativeLeahG]

You're right about the impact this is all having on some of our mental health. I'm worn out as many are and I can't keep up with it now. Hence I'm probably a bit reactional for which I apologise to members and Zazzle if that's been the case. Im going to step away and get some rest.

I hope you get some rest too. 💜 

[idraw]

@CreativeLeahG 
I am deeply appreciative of your starting this thread. What you wrote needed to be expressed.
So, instead of being depressed,how about this, take it that proactive action beats down depression, psychologically. Here's a cookie that another person who posted gave me, it's not fresh, it's a day old, but still....🍪
You opened the door for others to express their views and thoughts,so thank you.

[PenguinPower]

No... it's not been 2 years. There was an old program that was discontinued that seemingly only had a few participants. I believe that it was done only with real product and was not really a beta, as far as I know it was only a handful of designers that were invited and It was discontinued quickly. 

The beta for the cover photo program as it exists now started last April -so around 9 months ago, or at very least that's when I made my first one, and it was opened to everyone in July, so those of us who had early access only had it for 3 months or so.. and the mockup/artwork download that is available now and makes it all much easier, wasn't available until around the time that the program was released to everyone... 

[idraw]

@PenguinPower 

Read this post:
https://community.zazzle.com/t5/creator-news/our-new-cover-photo-landing-page-is-live/ba-p/63145
James Moderator 02-03-2023 09:46 AM
Hi Creators, 
Many of you have been utilizing Cover Photo for the past two years. As we’ve learned and grown this feature, it has become an amazing sales driver that sets you apart from the rest of the marketplace

[PenguinPower]

Maybe they are counting that original test, that happened a while ago... but I'd say it's stretching it for him to say "many".. most of us didn't get any access to it until 2022, when this document was put out. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1l5ewyw9d9k-rq9KPgd0raAXR1Yonxs8wrZieJccZ4UY/edit#slide=id.gd...

In the original version, if I am recalling correctly, you could only use actual product, not digitally made mockups and product wasn't provided, so unless you were willing and able to buy a copy of each of your things to do it, it wasn't happening... even if it had been open to all, I cannot imagine there'd have been a whole ton of participation. 

There were a few different iterations that I don't think made it.. I'm having a hard time remembering.. There was a gallery thing tied into Instagram for personal in situ images for a little while, but that didn't stick. I think it pretty much went away when they decided to just let us put the images in as a cover photo. It wasn't until I didn't have to buy physical product and the covers went directly onto the products that I started to participate and that was April 2022. 

[Cat]

I'm not really sure if I was in the beta or not. My first covers were designed last April and in general I found them to be a HUGE amount of work - there were no download options, you just had to take a screenshot and try to massage the image to get something presentable.

I certainly had no idea that products with covers would be given any priority in terms of search results - and I don't think that was the case until the recent announcement. As a result, I did a couple dozen and then decided it wasn't worth the work. But apparently, the results Zazzle saw across the entire site said that it actually was worth the work and that products with covers did better even though they didn't receive preferential marketplace placement. So in order to encourage people not to wimp out like I did, they're offering a carrot - better marketplace visibility.

So yeah - the designers who jumped in with both feet now have an advantage - but deservedly so, IMHO. It was their work that enabled Zazzle to determine that it did lead to more sales - and they did it at the expense of designing new products and with many fewer tools than are now available.

[Cat]

Just gotta say that I have very mixed feelings about this whole situation. You make some very valid points, and I share your frustration with the loss of placement on tried and true sellers as well as the mammoth task of trying to create covers for existing products.

On the other hand, I think there are bigger picture issues here that Zazzle needs to consider. It's been clear to me for a while that Zazzle's algorithm was a bit flawed in how it heavily favored items with a lot of previous sales. I notice it within my own sales - someone will buy an old design, and I'll think to myself, "Ug! Why did you buy that ugly old thing when I have so many newer and nicer designs to choose from?" Of course, chances are they never saw the newer better version because of how the algorithm works. 

Multiply that across the entire Zazzle platform, and you run the risk of stagnation. I have often found myself frustrated when browsing the marketplace to see the same old stale designs presented over, and over, and over again. If customers are simply presented with the same stuff for years and years, they're not going to be very eager to come back, and it means that the site can't really compete when it comes to keeping up with design trends in the market at large.

So I dunno. I mean I'm not wild about the prospect of having to devote months of time to creating covers for all of my old stuff, but I'm also excited about having a tool to give my newer and better designs a bit of a leg up, and I think that mixing up the search results is probably a good thing for the site in general. Whether this method is the best way to do that or not remains to be seen - I'm sure the search algorithm will continue to evolve as they see what does and doesn't work.

I know it's frustrating when you thought you were doing everything "right" and suddenly Zazzle changes the rules. It does feel a bit like aiming for a moving target. But in general, I have found Zazzle to be INFINATELY more transparent and responsive in this regard than other companies I have worked with in the past. Trust me, there are a LOT worse things they could be doing.

Just my 2 cents...

[CreativeLeahG]

You are absolutely right! I never considered it but yes I am also aghast at what of mine sells and how the newer fresher better designs I did get ignored. So yes... some balance is needed. Thank you for bringing that into play.

It is a very valid point in favor of ' moving 'some'  and not all,

top sellers away from front page'. 

Good grief I never thought I'd be saying that!

[PacifierCity]

I have been viewing "Insights" a lot over the last few days and, at least for me, if I were to create an overall picture of where my traffic comes from, Zazzle site searches would be on the bottom of the list, with Z SEO at the top followed by my own efforts (and promoter efforts). 

I see that as a very interesting observation.  And I don't know how much weight it deserves because I am just 1 designer here.  It makes me wonder how important my marketplace placement actually is...

If only 10% of my views and potentially sales come via Z MP searches, how upset should I be about the changes I see in the MP?

I still don't feel great about what I see happening... but I am trying to keep my business perspective on these developments...  Although I can say that sales have gone a bit wonky and are less than I would have expected since the beginning of 2023... but I have been putting a lot of time and effort into a private store, creating private products for a release later in the year... and not so much into creating public products and promoting...

I guess I'll stay in wait and see mode.  With downloadable products and cover images all coming back to back, things have been shaken up quite a bit.   With me with it...lol.

It will be interesting to see how things go.  I do look forward to any insights the mods might share with us about all the recent changes...

PC

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[MarilynR]

I have been scanning the cover photo threads and I think somebody said that the idea of cover photos was to help Zazzle in Google search and get more people to the MP. So they have to put cover photos first. I am sure that Zazzle would love to have cover photos on best sellers so that once customers come to the MP, they see guaranteed sellers. 

My advice is not to become obsessed with having cover photos on everything. Give yourself a goal of having as many as you can done for the holiday shoppers.  Pace yourself.  Look at Zazzle's examples. They showed one where they just changed the background to a solid color instead of white. They also said to not use the background on too many products. They didn't say you have to have a new background for each product.

Everybody made it sound hard. I have done one what was hard for me was getting back to using graphic design apps after almost seven years.  I went into my images got one that I had used as background, not a photograph or scene, and made a poster. It turned out to be 40" x 40". I went to the product page, used the cover photo command, and saved it to Photo Editor. Then, I did the same with one of Elizabeth's t-shirts without a model. In Photo Editor, I used the magic wand tool to remove the white background. I had trouble getting it to save to my gallery, but I fumbled around and did it. Then,  I had trouble trying to get the two images combined. So, I moved to PicsArt. I had to erase a white shadow edge on the t-shirt and combined the images. The t-shirt is on an angle and looks hip to me. I am going to use the same background on the rest of that series of designs for products that don't have good in situ views. 

[chefcateringbiz]

This individual-cover thing might've "proven" to be advantageous because it was rare. With everyone doing it, I see utter chaos on the horizon. I'm trying to keep the backgrounds of my covers pretty plain; I don't want to confuse people visually with a lot of noise. I actually like that I can do this for business cards because Zazzle took away the one layout I did like, which was one image of the full front and full back. Might try to do an apron one so I can get a close-up of the top part of the apron. Not gonna do this for all the products or all the designs, that would be impossible. I happened to have some extra free time because I work p/t retail, and this time of year they always cut people's hours for a few months.

[Cat]

Good points, I fear I tend to err on the side of busy, so I'm trying to tone it down. In terms of the advantageous thing, I think it depends on what metrics they're using. If they were just looking at performance within the Zazzle marketplace, then you're absolutely right, but if they're seeing that products with covers did better in terms of Google searches or bringing in traffic when promoted on sites like Pinterest or FB or whatever, then that's a whole different story. I've only just dipped my toes into this world, but one of the covers that I posted on Pinterest has already sold twice - both times I got referrals on it so I'm guessing those sales came from Pinterest. No way to be sure, but if that's what happened, it makes a strong case for doing them.

[chefcateringbiz]

I tend to look at things from a "I am the shopper" perspective. If I'm looking for something myself at Zazzle, it's easy to find the stand-out designs if everyone's using the same, plain background. My biggest sellers are non-art posters; if I want to do a situational cover for those, then the actual product I'm supposed to sell will have to become much smaller, therefore less visible and stand out less, so I'm definitely not messing with those. Just look at Amazon, the most successful seller on the planet - all plain backgrounds, no matter what I look for. Oh well, I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I'm definitely of the opinion that if everything stands out, nothing stands out.

[igiftcenter]

First I want to commend those who have created great looking mockup images.  I first started here in 2009 and had to learn the ropes (like many of you)  before I could even start to see income worth living off of. I'm all for everyone getting exposure where deserved but... if the system is going to be designed to promote nicely showcased mockup image products over designs that are using Zazzles' own display images and are proven sellers that are a revenue stream for both us and Zazzle it could be a little discouraging to think there's a chance that designs we worked hard to create, promote, and that Z advertises for sale out on the search engine world can now have the possibility of losing their marketplace placement or advertising consideration because a nicely designed mockup image has become the priority.  I'm proud of the fact that I've become an integral part of this platform and consider Zazzle a partner in the challenge of generating sales and this is by far the most amazing opportunity for creatives who want to turn their talents into an income stream but why push out a strong seller in place of a shiny new graphic?

If you want to have a feature mockup moment / day for nice looking mocked up products do it on a specialized basis not full time. Have a day where you are showcasing all the nice mockups on the home page in your ads / promotions for the Zazzle community.  The mockup feature should have been rolled out slowly just as other features have IMO.

Regarding Editors Picks: I have several editors picks and can tell you it's not always an advantage as several of mine are not big sellers.

[CreativeLeahG]

edit, unduly hasty, hence comment removed.