DISAPPOINTING - Share button

[HolidayCreation]

Shame on me. I thought the Zazzle "share" button to collaborate with a client would result in a referral.

Nope. NO referrals from a purchase via a shared product. Have to create a separate referral link. So what's the point of the "share" button?  I certainly will not use it unless Zazzle links it to my store.  I lost a referral for a $400 order because I didn't realize this.

Please Zazzle, retool this button please.

[PenguinPower]

It's not the share button... In order to get a referral or self referral the cookie that the the customer has entered on must be yours. If the customer previously visited the Zazzle web site through a link that was not yours and that cookie has not yet expired or been cleared, yours will not overwrite it even if the actual purchase is made using your link. 

[Cat]

It all comes down to this: the referral is meant to reward the person or entity who brought the customer to the site in the first place - it's not intended to be used as a method of paying you for your time in creating a custom design. At present, Zazzle doesn't have a system for compensating us for extra time spent doing custom design work.

That being the case, I'm pretty stingy about how much time I'll spend creating custom designs. Unless I can do the work as a template that can go into the marketplace, I generally figure it's not worth my time. I think if you're going to do that sort of work, your best bet is to let the customer know that there will be an extra charge, and then publish it as a private/direct design with a high enough royalty to compensate you for the extra time you put into it. 

[Jadendreamer13]

You can charge customers for custom work by having them pay you via paypal. You email them a non-editable sample with the agreed-on changes, if they like it, they send you the payment, and then you send them a link to a customizable product. Before you take on the work, send them a contract detailing what work you will provide, how many versions you will create, and for what fee. Also include a “kill fee”—that’s a fee that the customer must pay the artist for work done that the customer doesn’t ultimately purchase.

[1234Shine]

@Jadendreamer13  Thank you very much for the info on how to compensate designers.  So, Zazzle is OK for designers to charge and receive additional fees either from customers directly or through 3rd parties like PayPal?  Have you ever had any issues with Z in doing that?