Covers last straw. Probably.

[Mecpublications]

I've been on Zazzle since 2009. I made some pretty bad designs way back then as a newbie but slowly started getting better at it. In that time I've learned how to make great products easily and put them up for sale. I've also experienced a lot of really big changes in Zazzle from loss of volume bonuses, design tool overhauls, number and ignored tags,  products being migrated, the concept of hidden products, attributions and now cover photos. 

I tried to keep up. But  I'm just one person who by the way doesn't use any social media anymore. It's a time sucker and derived no benefit for me. Zazzle wasn't a full time venture but it was much more than a hobby. Long ago I tried all the ads and blogs and sending emails of my products to people who probably tossed them in the trash. Sales reliably trickled in daily or sometimes a few days at a time, (and boy those volume bonuses really added up over Christmas) sometimes a postcard, sometimes a pillow. That was enough to keep me going. It was fun to see people liking my products.  Even my hot potato lady. 😛

But seriously, cover photos for all my products or I'm tossed to the end of the line?  Here's the thing. If I have a postcard that's sold over a hundred times, will it be pitched to the bottom if I don't make some ridiculous cover that makes the product even smaller and harder to see? Postcards look better as just a postcard surround by a nice white background. It's what I'd like to see in a store.  I have over 11,000 products of which I've sold thousands (many 3rd party...thanks)   I worked tirelessly to improve them and after finally getting some popularity, it's all washed down the drain because of a yet another new insanely daunting change?

I'm just not feeling good about Zazzle today and I'm definitely not making cover photos for my hundreds of postcards that bring in cents not dollars. Not for any products for that matter.  I really feel like closing the store but my products are like my children. I hate to let them go. Maybe I'll just step away and see what happens.  Zazzle won't miss me. It's really quite depressing.  ( not in a serious way--I'm very happy with other endeavors in my life so no calling a suicide hotline or anything. 😛 ) It's been fun. But life is just too short to sit at a computer 18 hours a day.  🙂 I'd rather go to the beach.

Is it bad that all I do is whine and complain in this forum? Don't answer. I'm sorry. But I think there are many who feel the same way.

[orientcourt]

No you are not alone with these thoughts Mecpublications! It is a long time to have been with Zazzle! It becomes similar to mourning a friend who you have been with every day, then all of a sudden things change and you are losing touch with them.If you depend on that income it is a big loss indeed! We have to adapt to changes and quite frankly I cannot keep up with what is required to achieve this anymore. Zazzle has been a great outlet for creativity, extra income and most importantly stimulating the brain!  And hey you are not whining😊 Jillian

[Mecpublications]

Yes it has been a long time. I swore I'd never use this new forum. The old one was nice and more of a family. Kinda feels that way now. Thanks for your reply.

[Jadendreamer13]

I do not create cover designs. It doubles the amount of work I have to do, and quite frankly, the cover designs that I’m seeing in the marketplace often distract from the products being advertised.

In addition, Zazzle should give top-selling products top billing—with or without a cover design.

[Mecpublications]

Yes. Top sellers are their bread and butter and if they're not careful the chickens will come home to roost as they say.

I only have a few products that for some reason took off. But why bother trying if it means nothing. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks covers are useless. Thanks for your reply. 

[ZBug]

I've noticed that too! It is a distraction! Me, I just want to see the product and the design.

[InsideOut]

Yeah I feel the same way. I've watched my sales progressively nosedive to the point where I can't see investing too much of my time here anymore. I used to sell car mats on a daily basis and now they're down to maybe once a month if I'm lucky. I made some cover photos for a few of them but nothing's changed. Zazzle keeps moving the goalposts and it's tiresome trying to keep up and especially demotivating to do so when bestsellers stop selling and sales overall are dropping like a stone. 

[Mecpublications]

Car mats. Really? That's interesting. Didn't know Zazzle made those. Another thing I can't keep up with. All the new products. As someone who spent years on the road that is interesting. One of the few things that can make a car homey.

The economy is crap now. But there are lots of people with money. Good luck. Is there a way to see your store? I used to be able to click on a name and visit people's stores. Not anymore. Maybe a privacy thing. I used to use old fashioned word of mouth and suggest Zazzle products when the opportunity came up. I talk a lot.

Well I better not start another novel and try to stay on topic. Covers bad.  Thanks for your reply. 

[NigelSutherland]

You can view his store. Click on his name. A small box opens up. Click on "view profile", then click on "his name on Zazzle".

[Mecpublications]

I'm on browser on phone. It doesn't do anything. I tried getting app but it wouldn't go through. Thanks for the info. I'll try it on my laptop tomorrow. Ugh. It's already well into tomorrow. Thanks again.

[Jeff_Foliage]

Well I clicked and I get an empty box so I copied your name to the zazzle search on the main site and I saw happy cat products... no shop to follow at that point so I clicked on the mug and I went to the bottom of the page and still it was hard to determine what the shop was to follow. But! I did finally figure it out... WAAAAY to much work for a customer to try and figure out how to follow a shop... They (Zazz) needs to do customer focus groups to see how they actually would go about following a shop. Right now it seems to me they do not want customers to follow a shop at all. because it is seriously tough...

[Scott]

Go to a Product Page. Then click on the name of the store (top right section of the page) then a pop-up will appear. Click on the Follow button.

 

[RafiMetzDesign]

The question was not 'how to follow a creator' the question was 'how to see their store.'

[Barbara]

Scott's explanation didn't include mentioning that, included in the drop-down, there's a link to the actual store, but it's there. It's certainly not as noticable as "Follow" and "Message," which are large. Maybe the link to the actual store could be given a little more love.

Colorwash's Home

[RafiMetzDesign]

You got that right. It really seems like they don't want people to find the store of the product they're looking at. Sure, there's a way to find it, but it's really difficult.

[orientcourt]

Hi Mecpublications , I felt your anguish in your first post !  However your lastest comments cement the fact that you do not engage with Zazzle that much at all  !    

[Mecpublications]

Sigh. There's one in every crowd. 

[orientcourt]

Mecpublication  It is obvious that you are not inclined to search Zazzle's lastest products to customize! Otherwise you would have found the Car Mats in a flash!    

[Mecpublications]

Nope! I dont waste the time! I have all I need! 

[InsideOut]

Yeah, and one of my best selling car mats that used to be on page one is now sitting on page five, having been replaced on page one by someone who used an almost identical design and is now an Editor's Pick. Oh, but it has a cover image... 😠

[Mecpublications]

Oh no. That just isn't right. I'm so sorry. There are some real jerks out there. Editors pick? Crap.

[SimplyDesigned]

I myself have created very few new designs and have honestly just kept up with new product launches like the newish water bottles this whole year. I refuse to spend any amount of time creating cover photos. You are not alone.

[Mecpublications]

Yay.  I feel so much better. So it's probably not as much of a problem as I thought. I guess I'll stick around and keep designing old school. 

Where's the whine fairy when we need her? Does anyone even remember the whine fairy? 

I am grateful to you and everyone who replied or will.. I'm off to zzzzz.  And tomorrow I'll wake up knowing I won't have to make covers. Maybe I'll try some socks. Night all.

[Barbara]

I remember the whine fairy, and I think she needs to be called back into action. She was very understanding and sometimes even sprinkled folks with fairy dust that resulted in a sale.

Colorwash's Home

[Mecpublications]

❤️ Yes. 

[OrchardBerry]

I’ve been on Zazzle as long as you and yes, we have seen a LOT of changes here haven’t we!

[Mecpublications]

Ah yes, we have. And we're still here. I have many happy memories of those days. And many fueds similar to this one. I remember when everyone was upset about products being prioritized if royalty was 10 percent. I just remembered that. Must be the caffeine. Maybe I'm already at the bottom of search. Well then just fine. I can hardly fall any further. 

Great to hear from someone who remembers. 

[TShirtfort]

Agree. This shouldn't be our job. Zazzle should highlight the designs that are clearly made by a person and took time and are not 4000 similar-ish template style designs with small changes like a word or a slightly different style of shirt. The problem is not because the item doesn't have a background, the problem is the customer cannot find what they are looking for when they type in funny cat shirt and they see so many proud owner of a calico cat, proud owner of a St. Bernard, proud owner of a miniature horse, proud owner of a guina pig...shirts. I don't mean to disparage people who do this but why can't it be 1 highlighted with see 12,000 more similar designs menu below it.

[Mecpublications]

This happened to another site we fled from way back. A person would have to go through a dozen pages before the creative and unique products started showing up. I don't know if it's Zazzle fault. They too have to play the seo game. Ugh. 

[ZBug]

You are not alone. I too have been through all those changes (here since 2008), some have been devastating to sales, but I have stuck with it and rebuilt sales EVERY TIME, but I too am not making covers, time waster for pennies.

I hadn't heard we'd be thrown to the bottom of the line. That is another break. 25k, no. And I won't make them for new designs either or I won't be able to keep up with removing/revamping older things and adding new designs to keep things "fresh" -- which is a much better use of time, and frankly, better for advertising.

Welp, this just sucks. 

[ZBug]

And... a rank. What's the point of that if cover photos will supersede that?

[Mecpublications]

I remember you from old forum.  😁 I vowed to not use this forum ever. But I just hit a screaming point and had to rant.

I'm feeling the time crunch just responding to all the wonderful people here. I enjoy it so much. Good to hear from you. You think like a lot of people here.  I better stop responding or it'll turn into FB 2008 all over again. (Speaking of time suckers) Have a good day. And may the whine fairy send you sales.

[ZBug]

🤣And to you too!

[ElizabethR]

Since we are staying up all night to see if a direct deposit that we need comes in like the PayPal rep said it would, I thought I would share what we did. We are glad that others made you feel okay about your decision on cover images and that you are not leaving.

Zazzle is promoting cover images so that the variety of images improves the Google ranking for the whole site.

We made it as simple as possible for ourselves. We decided a brick wall was a good background for our sunflower products. We chose a coordinated wallpaper pinstripe for our floral products. For some designs, we reduced the opacity of the design and used it as a background. This allowed us to actually increase the size of the product image. We placed many products on the diagonal because it creates more room and adds energy and movement.

[ElizabethR]

Mother's Day Gifts
by Elizabeth's Creative Pursuits

MarBeth Sunflower Collection
by Elizabeth's Creative Pursuits

1960's Retro Flower Power Kitchenware
by MarBethEclectica