Paid Advertisements on Zazzle vs. Marketing Fees

[Jadendreamer13]

Instead of charging marketing fees that are deducted from Zazzle designers’ royalties, Zazzle could offer paid advertisements — like Etsy does — that designers pay for by setting a specific budget that is used on a pay-for-click basis.

This way, Zazzle could generate the extra income they want from paid ads instead of reducing designers’ royalties.

The paid ads would be placed on top of search results with a “Sponsored” notation, and the top-selling products would be displayed under the paid ads.

In this case, it would be a win-win situation — not a win-lose situation, which best describes designers’ current situation.

[CLC]

...you would probably lose money with paid ads.  If there was a pay for advertising available, just like on Etsy the algorhythm  would favor the top sellers and push those products to the front, sellers products that have not sold would never receive any impressions and you would be charged by clicks if someone did click on your ad. You could get 10 clicks at a cost of .70 each and own $7.00 without selling a product....

[Jadendreamer13]

Not every Zazzler would need to purchase paid adds; it would be optional….

[CrazyMermaid]

If a few purchase ads and get top rankings, it stops being optional for people who want to be competitive. The market place would belong to the rich. I also think it looks spammy to have sponsored ads at the top of the market place. It certainly doesn't increase the trust factor.

[Jadendreamer13]

As with anything designers do on Zazzle — like designing, researching, and marketing — running an ad campaign needs to be done strategically and thoughtfully in order to be successful. Setting an ad budget of $20.00 is affordable for most — and again, it’s optional.

[CLC]

If you want to pay to advertise your products there are several options available that would actually get you more exposure than this marketplace and earn you a referral as well, it would also be a good way to test if paid marketing was a viable option for you. I don't think Zazzle would drop the current advertising fee, but just add this option.

[Jadendreamer13]

I think that if we — designers and Zazzle don’t work together to find and establish a win-win solution, then nothing will change.

[Connie]

For sure pay-to-play is NOT a win-win situation! Not all change is good, and being forced to pay to show up in the search results is NOT a good change!

[CrazyMermaid]

The etsy sellers I know, don't think of it as optional and they pay a lot more than $20. They feel they have to do it to be competitive. So choice is only if you don't want to make a living from it. 

[Jadendreamer13]

If sellers have established — in their minds — that they have to pay for advertising, then that’s what they will feel compelled do.

Paying for advertising is optional.

This is all about mindset.

“Whether you think you can - or you think you can’t, either way, you’re right.”

[CLC]

...advertising is absolutely essential on marketplaces such as this, it's the only way to get products in front of buyers. Without our artwork showing on products on major search engines we would literally have no views or sales, in house advertising would not be enough, but advertising cost should be configured in the final cost of the product being sold by the maker, not deducted from commissions on artwork by artisans

[tamirazdesigns]

Agree!

[Connie]

If you have a "mandatory-ad-spending" mindset, good for you. There are plenty of places online to pay for advertising, places where your advertising dollars will go a lot further than competing with nearly a million other sellers for the top spots on Zazzle searches. Most of us DON'T want Zazzle to become a pay-to-play fiasco like Etsy!

[Fiona]

I will pass this on.

Thank you!

[Connie]

This is a TERRIBLE idea! It favors the top sellers who can afford to spend more on ads, and it's not just a matter of setting a budget and sticking to it.  As demand increases, ads become more and more expensive, and it becomes mandatory to spend more and more to try to get placed favorably in the marketplace.

The current system is much more fair- the more sales we make, the more we spend on the marketing fees, but not until AFTER we have made the sales. And there is the incentive to do more outside marketing to get self-referrals.

Etsy is no longer a trustworthy handmade marketplace, but a free-for-all for all the junk that people can afford to spend ad money on. As a buyer, when I search on there, it takes me forever to find what I need, because I have to wade through row after row of garbage that are tagged with the keywords I'm searching for, relevant or not.