new rates and Zazzle problems

[RjFxx-Creations]

Hi everyone,

I have a reasonable intelligence but I am very confused by these extremely long winded explanation of Ambassador

program and the other program, it's just like the huge explanation of Cover Photo's which I'm still confused by and not yet working correctly for me. Also I'm not getting replies to my questions from Zazzle, I'm waiting 5 days now for an answer, when is my 2024 tax form coming? Also does anyone else have continuous tech problems? My sales over the last year have gone down by 75% each month and I don't know why or how to fix the problem. Before my sales were steadily increasing each month since I started on Zazzle! What happen??? I'm beside myself with worry as this income is required. All the best to my fellow creators!

[tiffjamaica]

The Ambassador program is basically this:  
If you promote your own products, you can use a clean link (one with no referral code) and earn a higher percentage referral on your sale. This used to be the Promoter Program and we earned a flat 35%.  Now, there are % brackets found here. These are the max you can make on the sale and it includes your royalty and referral amounts.  If someone purchases YOUR product on this link, you'll get the self referral. If they purchase a product from another seller, you get nothing. 

If you promote other people's products, you'll want to add your referral ID to the links. When someone clicks through and purchases anything, you'll get 15%. 

I don't know about your tax form, but if you get paid through PayPal,  you may be able to find it in your account there. 

As for sales decreasing, you're not alone. The economy is not great right now and there's a lot of uncertainty about the future. I don't expect this to get much better for a while. 😞 

[RjFxx-Creations]

Thank you tiffjamaica for the helpful info BUT I still don't know how to find the different  ID: links, even where to look

[Connie]

From what I understand, they get added automatically when you share someone else-s product. When you share your own, it's just the clean link with nothing added.

[Anne]

@Connie  I don't know about that. I am not in the "ambassador" program and the RF (is that what is discussed here, or am I misunderstanding?) is not added. Neither for my own products and also not for other's products.

[tiffjamaica]

I think what you're asking is maybe where to find your referral ID?  Go to MY ACCOUNT, then there are three tabs (My Account, Ambassadors, Earnings) - click on Ambassadors and you'll find your unique Ambassador ID. It explains how to add that as a referral code. 

Does that help? 

[AlyssaErnst]

I've always just used the link that pops up when I click on the pinterest share button. Do I need to do anything different? All of my old links will have the "ambassador ID" because they were automatically inserted into the share links...but now I'm reading that these links won't earn as much as links without this ID number, so does this mean all my old links need to be edited? This part of Zazzle's wording is super confusing because their instructions to use the social links still adds my ID to the link, just not the "?rf="

"IMPORTANT
If you share URLs with Your Ambassador ID (i.e. ?rf=238792458563858824) in the Link, it will be counted as a Cross-Promotion Link and you'll only be eligible for a 15% Referral Commission on the sale."

[tiffjamaica]

Yes, if any of your links contain your rf ID, you will only ever get 15%. That's for your products or others' products. 

To get higher % earnings on your own products (ONLY YOUR OWN), you can use a clean link with no rf ID.  The catch is: If someone buys another seller's product you get zero $.  

It's a gamble. 

SO, if your old links (that contain rf ID) are to other sellers' products = leave them alone.
If your old links (that contain rf ID) are to YOUR products, you can choose if you want to gamble the higher % on YOUR product vs. them buying from another seller. 

[AlyssaErnst]

Last week, I got two self referrals from what I'm assuming are old pinterest links from years ago that haven't been altered. This is rare for me to get self referrals, but I was happy to see that they earned around a 40% rate. Maybe this means I don't need to mess with my old links? According to a Zazzle email "Your existing Links will continue working without any action needed." Going forward I just need to continue using the pinterest share button on each product, correct? It looks like it creates a new ID number for each product, none of which contain my associate/ambassador ID. I'm not sure how this is tracked back to me, but I don't fully understand how this all works. 

[tiffjamaica]

Zazzle is right that existing links will keep working. If you got a self referral, it's because your link had NO rf ID.  The rf ID is different from the product numbers. Your rf ID will be the same every time. Look in your Account - under the Ambassador tab - you will see your rf ID and it's unique to you. At the end of your links (beyond the product number) it will look like ?rf={your number}.  That will give you 15% on any sale, while a clean link will only give you % on YOUR OWN products.  
I do not promote other products, so I don't know if the share to pinterest button adds your rf automatically or not.  Others have said it does, but you'd have to test it out to be sure. 

[AlyssaErnst]

That's why I'm so confused, because the rf ID used to show up and I could see it in the link, but now each link has a different/unique number. I went back to pinterest to check the link url and it's just a random number. Anyway, thanks for your help. I guess time will tell!

[tiffjamaica]

I just tested out sharing another designer's item to my pinterest and it did copy my rf ID automatically into the link.  When I clicked through my Pinterest pin, the link was super long with lots of extra stuff that I don't know enough about, but my rf ID was buried there towards the middle. Hope that helps!

[Barbara]

Even though I got my 1099-MISC, I checked my PayPal account and found that there were no 1099's there. However, you can do your taxes anyway. Just add up the amounts you were paid each month from Jan. 2024 through Dec. 2024 to find out what should have been on your 1099 had you received it.

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[RjFxx-Creations]

Hi Barbara,

Thanks so much for the very helpful information regarding the "taxes" I hope you're right and it's OK to do it this way. Your help is greatly appreciated! Wishing you all the very best RjFxx Creatons

[Barbara]

I've had to do it myself, and it passed through the IRS just fine. I don't know if it's for W-2's alone or if it's also for 1099's, but I've seen a spot where you can report that the company (or whatever) didn't send you the paperwork. Apparently, it's common enough that it's in there.

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[Digitalbcon]

Unless you are not an international creator, this is NOT okay!

[Digitalbcon]

That’s not good enough for foreign entities!

[Barbara]

Have you used this link: https://www.zazzle.com/about/ask ?  According to Scott, it's the place to ask for help, not regular customer service.

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[Digitalbcon]

Yeah, I’m from Canada and I haven’t received my tax form either.  This is the first time ever in all my 17 years here that my tax form has not arrived!  Can someone from Admin please answer this?