"optimization" or recipe for failure?

[pichick712]

So I have THOUSANDS of products that ZAZZLE has decided need "optimization". ZAZZLE has made this decision which has resulted in those THOUSANDS of products NOT EVER SELLING because ZAZZLE has decided to make them hidden. HOW IS THIS HELPING ANYONE? THE CREATOR WON'TMAKE ANY MONEY, ZAZZLE WON'T MAKE ANY MONEY EITHER. 

In order to UNDO what ZAZZLE has done, YOU HAVE TO MANUALLY MAKE THE PRODUCT PUBLIC ONE AT A TIME!!!! You can't even do it in BULK. I now have to waste hours and hours UNDOING what ZAZZLE has done and in the mean time NOTHING is getting sold. 

We ALL need to raise our voices to make ZAZZLE stop this process that hurts all of us. It should be up to US, the CREATORS, to decide what products WE want to adjust and what products we want to leave. I cannot believe all the things that ZAZZLE is now doing to make it harder for all of us to sell anything. it's like they WANT to lose creators, business, and their website. THEY ARE SABOTAGING THEMSELVES and hurting us in the process. 

We have all spent thousands of hours creating products that we are proud of. What right does ZAZZLE have to decide they are not good enough to be public? Am I the only one here who is outraged???????? Do YOU like someone else hiding YOUR products? Are YOU OK with this? I am barely making sales at all and to have them do this is OUTRAGEOUS! 

[Lais]

Hi, @pichick712. There is an option to make all the products public again.
Go to your store >> products

Then, as in the image below, click to show 204 products, select the "optimization needed" in the "product visibility", then go to Bulk Actions: select all non-discontinued products and Actions: make public.

This will make all of those products on that page become public again. Then go through the pages and do the same.

I hope it helps.

[pichick712]

Well, according to an email I received this morning, it CANNOT be done in bulk. it has to be done one at a time. I emailed support because i was trying to do it in bulk and the number of products was not decreasing by 204 and so I emailed support to find out why it was not happening in real time. their response was that this process has to be done one at a time. 

[Lais]

I don't know... doesn't it take a while for these numbers to update? I mean, those 24 hours. I wouldn't mind about it, but I get your frustration.
If it has to be done one at a time for it to be effective, then I agree this should be changed.

[pichick712]

The update should be in real time. We should not have to wait 24 or more hours to see the results. We have to wait 24 or more hours for way too many things with Zazzle. Maybe if they stopped messing things up, they could focus on their website being a bit more responsive to the creators. 

[Lais]

Computer processing takes time, you know. It takes 24 hours for changes to appear everywhere. The website has thousands of customers every day and from different regions. I know it may feel frustrating sometimes... but we gotta understand it. 

[pichick712]

i think they are spending too much time making things harder for creators. Every other software program I work with has results in real time. Maybe they should work on "optimizing" that. 

[pichick712]

I have 20,000 products to "optimize" 20,000!!!! AND when I can only do 204 at a time and cannot see the results in REAL TIME, there is a problem with ZAZZLE! 

[Connie]

It does take a while for the list to reset. But I think if you do it in bulk and don't actually view each product, they will go right back to being hidden, since they still don't have views in 15 months or longer.

[ColsCreations]

This does work. I had maybe a dozen products needing optimization and select all --> make public took care of them. Immediately after, I still saw them as Opt needed, but by next day the list was empty and they were all public.

Sometimes customer service reps don't know the correct answers as they don't know all the specific ins & outs from the Creators side. This is why these forums are so valuable, and why I am really big about testing things out yourself if you can.

Anyway, probably shouldn't be saying this, but being able to "Optimize" in bulk probably shouldn't be an option. The whole point of hiding for Optimization Needed is to get Creators to review their non-performing products and either improve or remove them. Being able to make them all public again without any review or tweaking kind of defeats that goal.

[pichick712]

I spent hours trying on my stores and nothing happened. the numbers never went down. 

per their email this morning - "

I have heard back from our Creator Community and can confirm that at the moment, you will have to manually publish each of your products. " 

This is just insanity that we have to do it in the first place. We the creators should decide what products we want to show and which ones we want to replace. 

[pichick712]

would you like to "optimize" all my 16,000 products? 

[ColsCreations]

would you like to "optimize" all my 16,000 products?

Well, I have a total of only 502 public products in my store and given all I've learned in recent months, I'll be purging duds after the new year. I'm not a talented artist nor do I spend much if any time promoting; at this point in my life Zazzle is a enjoyable hobby that pays off in real dollars and I still get a major thrill from every sale. Even so, I am picky about what I publish, I don't just throw everything against the wall hoping it'll stick. If you have 16,000 products that haven't even been viewed in the last 15 months, maybe it's time to re-think your strategy?

[pichick712]

PLEASE take a look at all my stores and you tell me what products u would delete. This is over 10 years in the making. https://www.zazzle.com/mbr/238128302605251981/stores

[KeegansCreation]

I took a quick stroll and they look fine. But here's the thing- I can see them. The ones that I can see are not hidden so I'm seeing the best of what you have. I view the 15 months as a test and what fails the test gets deleted.

[pichick712]

the best according to who? zazzle? or the person who created them? why does zazzle need any of us then, just let THEM create all the products. I see lots of products I would NEVER create or buy but that is just what I am drawn to. Everyone likes different things and that's ok. it should be up to US to decide what to delete, NOT ZAZZLE. 

[KeegansCreation]

The best according to customers. It's what they view and buy that decides what stays unhidden.

[pichick712]

but what one person may like another may not. so the person who does NOT like something dictates what is public and what is hidden? 

[KeegansCreation]

Heck no! 16K is way too many. It is probably time for some deleting. That's what I do if something has gone that long without being viewed. If it's something easily fixable like changing a discontinued phone case/t shirt to one that's in stock then I do that. But for many products I figure that if they have gone that long without being viewed, let alone bought, then there just isn't customer interest.

[pichick712]

do u know how much time I spent creating those 16,000 products?I have been a creator for over 10 years.  why should I delete them because zazzle decided to make them hidden? Funny how I am spending an unreasonable amount of time UNDOING what zazzle did and I AM seeing more sales so IF u think zazzle is helping us, they don't seem to be heling me. here are my stores. you tell me what I should delete (at least those products zazzle hasn't hidden). https://www.zazzle.com/mbr/238128302605251981/stores

[Connie]

@LaisBut won't they just go right back to being hidden, since they still haven't been viewed in 15 months or more?

[Lais]

I don't know... my understanding is that when you make them public again it resets the time.

[Connie]

@LaisThat's a change, then, because it used to be they'd go right back to hidden if they weren't actually viewed. On the other hand, I have a bunch of products that I viewed/ optimized, and set back to public, but the "Last Viewed Date" didn't change!

@ColsCreationsdid confirm that you can do it in bulk without actually viewing each product. So that's good to know.

[pichick712]

I received a message that said it cannot be done in bulk. now either the person WORKING AT ZAZZLE has no clue or that is how it is. 

[ColsCreations]

Just checked my Optimization Needed list and the handful of products I optimized and re-set to Public back at the beginning of Nov are still Public.

ETA:

 But I think if you do it in bulk and don't actually view each product, they will go right back to being hidden, since they still don't have views in 15 months or longer.

Since it wasn't many I didn't do it as a bulk action so did view each of them.

[pichick712]

well do you want to go thru over 16,000 products and UNDO what zazzle chose to do for no good reason? 

[Lais]

If you do it as I suggested it will take approximately 20 seconds per page of 204 products, so in a minute you'll have done 612 products, and in less than half an hour you'll have done the 16k. If you just want to unhide them, that's it. 

[pichick712]

will i? really? I don't see the number going down when I "DO AS U SUGGESTED". I don't see the number going down by 204 products at all. MAYBE, once a day it goes down by some, but not 204. 

[Lais]

That number doesn't update immediately, but the products will be public again. Just wait one or two days and that number will be updated.

[pichick712]

and how long will that take when there are over 16,000? maybe the update should be seen in real time? 

[CarlaRolfe]

I went through mine today. There were lots, as I've been ignoring them for quite a while.  Just over 300, all set to hidden, none that had ever sold.  I nuked them all. 

[pichick712]

don't you wonder that IF zazzle had not hidden them, they MIGHT have sold? why r u letting zazzle decide what you should be selling? 

[CarlaRolfe]

I used to wonder that, but haven't in a long time.  By the time zazzle sets a product to hidden due to lack of sales/views, it's a reasonable amount of time for it to have sold if it was going to.  Sometimes it's due to lack of catchy titles, poor description or tags, but that's usually not the case. In fact it's pretty rare for a hidden product to then sell, after I've tweaked those things, so for the most part, I don't waste time with that anymore.  I design something, I like it, hope the public likes and then publish it.  Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong.  Sometimes the public just isn't into whatever it was I designed, so I toss it.  

I'm not letting zazzle decide, I'm letting the public, who searches for specific things, decide. 

[pichick712]

but u never know because that NEXT PERSON might be looking for exactly what u have. 

[CarlaRolfe]

Well then they were 15 months and 1 day late, lol.  😂

For me, there's no reason at all to keep designs that aren't selling. 

[pichick712]

but that should be YOUR decision, NOT zazzles. 

[CarlaRolfe]

It's a platform zazzle offers for zero charge to the designer.  If my designs don't sell in 15 months, I'd say that's a more than fair trade for zazzle to set them to hidden.

Their site = their rules (that we all agreed to when we signed up). 

[pichick712]

so u r ok with someone else deciding what products THAT U CREATED are worthy of selling? so be it, but I AM NOT. 

[CarlaRolfe]

Yes, I'm 100% fine with it. Have an awesome day. 😁

[ColsCreations]

Wait, nevermind the ETA. I DID use bulk action on them. I had done a few manually not long before this thread and then after reading the comments here, did the remaining as a bulk action to test.

This does work. I had maybe a dozen products needing optimization and select all --> make public took care of them. Immediately after, I still saw them as Opt needed, but by next day the list was empty and they were all public.

So my bad. I had forgotten I'd done that.