Anyone make any referral sales worth talking about?

[kashmier]

Anyone make any referral sales worth talking about? I haven't and it would be nice to hear someone is having luck. I still have four network sites I share products to daily - five if you count Bluesky ( don't do much in the way of posting there)  Also I run ads on FB besides having three stores there.  I also surf Traffic Exchanges. Any ideas what to do? Oh I forgot my website  
--- Visit Leatherwood Design  ---

[SORS]

I am still getting self- referrals, but I am perplexed as to why some of them are 43% referrals and some of them are 5%.   The last one I had was for wedding invitations with a royalty set at 14.9% and the referral came in at 43%.  That's 57.9%.  None of this makes any sense. 

[kashmier]

That's great where are you posting to?  

[SORS]

I post to IG, FB, PINTEREST, and I also have a website. I haven't been able to figure out where most of my self referrals are coming from though. 

[kashmier]

What is IG ?  Way back when we were able to add code to include where the post came from. It got to be too much work for the few referrals made. 

[SORS]

IG is Instagram 🙂

[ColsCreations]

Wedding invites would be the 50% bracket. Add the dollar amount shown on the Referral report + dollar amount shown on Royalty report + dollar amount that was deducted as transaction fee - that dollar amount total should equal approximately 50% of the total shown on Royalty report for what the customer paid.

[ColsCreations]

Here's an image I pulled from a prior post in April that might help it make sense. 

If you just add the percents shown together (28 & 30) you get 58% which is meaningless.
That's because the set royalty, in this case 28%, is before deductions. The $0.81 netted after fees works out to just 14%.
The referral portion is calculated as X. 

$0.81 (net royalty) + $0.08 (ERF) + X (referral) = $2.59 --> 45% of $5.76 (total paid)

There is no set % for X, the referral amount. It's a variable that will be whatever it needs to be to make your total net earnings + ERF equal the 35, 40, 45, or 50% bracket rate. 

[kashmier]

I am so confused.  If I just refer other creators things will I make the same chunk that I would now get for my own referral? I know I would not get the actual sale but it seems like getting any referral is better than just making your own stuff. Is that the case?  

[Windy]

Someone followed a link I posted on Pinterest and I got $1.52. That was back in June of 2023. Nothing since then. 

[Connie]

Yes, even though I thought I was getting less self-referral sales since the changes, May was actually my best month for  referral earnings in a long time. I never get a lot of referral sales anyway, so maybe it's not saying much, but at least I know the system is working.

[SORS]

Glad to hear you are getting self referrals.   Are your percentages of earnings for the referrals all over the place? 

[kashmier]

I know what you mean. I never got referral sales much either but at least what I was selling was paying me more than the 10% I am getting. Most of my stuff is marked 20.8% and higher but I am only getting a couple cents over 10% or less. I can not figure this out. Do you know, just an example. If I marked something up 50% will that make more of a % or will it still be the same 10% only of a higher amount? Plus the over the 10% referral fee - it seems like they get you coming and going. I am not sure about the system working I wish I knew where I am not listing. I don't have a cell phone maybe I am missing out on something there? I wouldn't have the time for more.  Oh well, good luck to all with this.

[SORS]

Your guess is as good as mine. I wish Zazzle would let us mark up higher than 50%.  It's too bad they put a cap on it. 

[kashmier]

I wouldn't feel right charging others that high of a percentage. I used to think that the higher I marked things the more things would get shared but that doesn't seem to matter when your not making any of it. 

[igiftcenter]

Great to hear that you have increased referrals but.... what matters to me is what is the sales total for the month referrals or no referrals. For me I'd much rather have an increase in overall sales than an increase in referrals but a decrease in total sales when combined.  In other words: to me it's how much I get to put in the bank that matters not how I got there 🙂

[Sea-Change]

I make about 2 or 3 referrals per year, although in early 2022, I was making them almost monthly. I haven't analyzed the source in detail, but the sales usually follow a pin for that item being saved.

I mainly post to Pinterest, although I have a few posted to my website that's very much a work-in-progress. I used to post to Twitter, but I am no longer on that site. I plan to check out Benable soon.

[kashmier]

I used to be on Twitter also but I think I got booted for posting too much. As for Benable I am on there and it is like starting Pinterest from scratch. I am trying to set it up for easy access if shoppers come by. I am not sure if the invite code is needed anymore but here is mine if you decide to start.  Benable is a tool to create shareable lists of things you recommend! You can skip the waitlist and create your own shareable lists by signing up using my invite link: https://benable.com/i/6TBR7

Just a thought, take it slow until you get comfortable and have it set up like you want it. Also they have an automatic link so you can add items straight from Zazzle. It is like the Pinterest button but stays in your bookmark area top of pages. 

[Sea-Change]

Thanks for your insights on Benable!

[BKMuir]

I was shocked to see that I made a referral today!

The last referral was in 2023. the one before that was in 2019. I gave up promoting anything pretty much in 2024, only posted 3 things this May. The item I earned a referral on was not promoted by me in the last 5 years!

So something is working ????

[Barbara]

Along with the precipitous drop in sales starting in April, I haven't had a single referral and not even a single "None."

Colorwash's Home    Colorwash on Benable   Benable invite link

[whimsywhim]

I understand that on Instagram, one cannot clink on a link.  So how does one earn a referral?  

[kidGooGoo]

If you utilize a link in bio tool you can create links for each of your posts.

[kidGooGoo]

Between when I began on Zazzle in 2022 through until March 31, 2025, I had only ever received 19 referrals. Between April 1, 2025 and today's date (past 72 days), I have received 106 referrals. I've done nothing different besides utilizing Pinterest sporadically, so it is a happy accident in my humble opinion.

[ColsCreations]

That is such a breath of fresh air! So heartening to hear that. And I admit, since I didn't recognize your name I looked at your Profile; you have been wildly successful in your three years. Congratulations, you're obviously doing something right. 😉 👍

[kidGooGoo]

Thanks so much, ColsCreations! The recent changes have definitely affected my shop pretty dramatically (40-50%), but I'm going to accept this as a challenge to improve and somehow beat the system. We'll see how that pans out...

The recipe to my 'success' with referrals is to simply share the link to my Pinterest (I think I have 4 followers lol) for certain products and collections after publishing. I've not done any other form of advertising and I try to be very intentional with my tags.