Experience with reducing royalty rates

[HeatherM]

I currently have my royalty rate set at 14.9%. I am contemplating reducing the rate to be more competitively priced.

I am curious what others experiences have been when reducing the royalty rate? Did your earnings go up or go down?

Thank you in advance for any insight.

[Deweycat]

I raised my general royalty rate - a lot - and my sales went up! Of course, I also started adding a lot more product, and working to make listing look better, have better tags, etc. If you were actually competing against someone with exactly the same product, then yes, lowering royalty rate would probably drive sales. But since our products are supposed to be unique to each artist, I don't necessarily think that royalty rate is the biggest decision maker for customers. They want what they want, and a lot of them will purchase it, no matter the price point.

[HeatherM]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience.  I kept going back to the idea that people want what they want and a 5 or 10 percent difference in price is not enough to sway a purchase. 

I was just looking at Christmas greeting cards and a 10% rate seems pretty popular.  I just cannot imagine reducing the price by 5% would motivate enough people to buy to offset the 33% reduction in royalties.

[Deweycat]

When I first started on here 10+ years ago (it's probably closer to 15 by now), I kept my royalty rate relatively low. There were a lot fewer artists and product, and I mostly sold invitations. Over the years, that kind of sale has almost disappeared, and what I sell now is almost all "stuff" instead of invitations. I do sell the odd invitation order, but not like before. I raised my royalty rate way high and get charged a penalty from Zazzle for doing so, but I'm still bringing in so much more per month in sales that it is worth it. I may be selling fewer items, but my take home pay is higher. Don't be afraid to raise your royalty rates - you have to pay you for your work, after all.

[LJ]

I also had my royalty rate at 14.9%. I reduced it to 5%, because I assumed it will bring more sales. It turned out to be a huge mistake, my income instantly decreased by about 30%. I set it back to 14.9% a month later, and earnings went back to normal.

[HeatherM]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience.  This is my first Q4 on Zazzle and since the rate selected now will be the earnings rate for the Christmas shopping,  I have been nervous to change anything, but also nervous to not change things. Lol

[Fizzy]

Keep in mind that Zazzle runs a lot of sales nowadays. If you decrease your royalty, so will your earnings! I would leave them as they are. If you see a decline in sales on products that have sold before, then maybe check your description and tags or add a different cover image to the product.

[WBartworks]

I think people who buy from Zazzle are not looking for a bargain, they are looking for a nice gift. They will buy what appeals to them, unless it's way overpriced.  I have most of my royalty set at 14.9% but many items in my store also sell at the 25% royalty.

[HeatherM]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I agree that Zazzle shoppers are not looking for a bargain - - - they want something special! I haven't tried anything over the 14.9% mark, but your response really has me thinking. 🙂