Sales

[Peter222]

 Just wondering, has anyone been making normal sales anymore ?

 I have never seen my store so low. since I joined in 2009. I cant explain it. The analytics show the normal amount of views, But I am down to like 6 pending credits .   

[sanainvi]

Yeah ! my sales are also low . The first half of March was good in term of sales , but in the second half my sales went down soo much , meanwhile views are same . I just can't figure out what exactly is causing this .

[Peter222]

Have you been getting 3rd party sales ?   Some how think that some of those were cut off some how. But thats just me taking a wild a guess trying to figure it out. TY for your reply

[sanainvi]

Yeah ! i have been getting 3rd party sales . What should i do to get more sales in that case , i am a newbie and got zero ideas about this 

[Kymberli_Design]

Last month was the 1st time in 5 years I didn't earn my monthly payment. Something has certainly changed. It seems that Zazzle is no longer a passive income anymore. My sales have been down drastically since Nov/Dec 2023.

[itsMolly]

Peter, you aren't alone. The day fanny packs were introduced, I did 7 cute ones, the day of, statement text & personalized, with covers. Hardly any looks. That's when I decided this isn't working. Been here since 2011 buying business and convention items, and really got going full time 2 years ago. Busted my butt with the new collection rules. It was going well. I send people here from blog, webpage, X and FB. Great holiday season 2023. Then it stopped. I can't spend all this time every day for $11.00 in March. I've handed over my stores to my grandson to operate and going to start selling on eBay again. IMO more people know what is going on than they admit. 

I do want to wish much success this season to the wedding store owners (actually to everyone). I have a lot of respect for what you do. This is how I found Zazzle. I did one wedding. My client was Bridezilla. 😉

Peter, I hope it picks up for you! 

@itsMolly 

[ColsCreations]

The day fanny packs were introduced, I did 7 cute ones, the day of, statement text & personalized, with covers. Hardly any looks. That's when I decided this isn't working.

New product lines seem to take a long time to show up in the MP. With the duffel bags, if you sort by newest, the newest one listed was created over 6 days ago. So unless one is promoting with direct links to the product or a collection it's in, it's going to be a while before it gets any looks.

[itsMolly]

Yes, I know and totally agree with you. Pinterest is the only direct linking. I gave fanny packs as the most recent example but there are a few more releases. 

Others will read and learn from your reply. Thank you! 

[ColsCreations]

It's now been over 8 days since a new duffel has been added to the MP. Not like I'm expecting sales right off the bat or anything, but, the couple hundred that are there (results show 929 but no way to filter out all the results that aren't duffels) get a leg up this way as they face much less competition and if they get a sale then that bag gets a little more steam behind it so it will still rank before the newer bags whenever they do get added. So it does create a bit of an unfair advantage for those who were able to get some in before the "indexing" came to a halt.

[JLynnW]

I just had a sale of a pocket watch. The 1st day of April and 1 sale, I try to be forever hopeful. I hope the same to you @Pete and all; not just 1 sale, but Hope. Forever hopeful is a good place to be.

[Peter222]

Thanks for your feedback folks,   It feels like a punch in gut, when I look back at 15 years of work and somehow its just gone for all practical purpose    Maybe  it will change again with time.

[Martin]

It's not all doom and gloom. the first quarter of this year has been better than last year. Granted not by a huge margin, but up is up.

I will add a caveat to that. I have really concentrated more on Zazzle since last June and was hoping to see a higher return on my effort.

Now I just need to keep it rolling. 

[WBartworks]

I just checked out your website.  Really cool!  I also noticed you already have silver status and this after just starting in 2019.  Quite impressive! I started late 2020 and still haven't even achieved pronze status. Any tips you can give us on how to become more successful?

[blushroses]

Same here...

i am in Zazzle 5 years, 5000 listing - today 3 sales ... something happen with Zazzle...may be i need to go another way..

[NPL]

Same here, been here since 2016, and have been growing each year since. Untill 2023 sales were dropping and this year is worse. I can't keep up with all the changes.

[Peter222]

If we are not getting sales, then Zazzle isnt making that money either that I know of. I would like to suggest we band together and send a message directly to Z if that is possible. They have done something, and they need to know we are "All" seeing it, so its not just a natural "slump" in sales  This has to be addressed, I cant even push myself to design anymore. I have been a shop owner since 2009, so why is this happening. If anyone knows the best way to notify them, as a Whole, we are loosing our shops for all intensional  purposes. AND they are loosing money too.

[Wesha]

I too feel the same, a message on behalf of most of the creators suffering from this low sales for a long time now .... can Moderators help us in conveying our message to Zazzle?

[sanainvi]

I agree too

[Caprice]

I agree sales have been down for many — BUT — I doubt they've been down for Z as a whole. It would be a 5 alarm fire for a company to be losing sales like that. Is it more likely Z sales (as a corporation) are the same for them, and that there's some small segment of the design community that is getting the visibility/sales?

[Peter222]

Mods would you let us know

[WBartworks]

I think, If the amount of views we get is the same, it may be due to people having less money to spent and are now just browsing. However, if there are lower views, Zazzle may just not advertise our product as much as before.  That's just me guessing. 

[RascalSplat345]

This is my thinking as well.

[Mariholly]

I have always assumed that all the changes that Z is making are to improve sales, but is anyone really selling more? Is someone who used to have low sales now experiencing higher sales? I only read comments talking about low sales, increasingly low, including myself... If we have all noticed a significant drop in sales and no one has noticed an increase, it is really worrying...

[ElizabethR]

I have read several articles saying couples are spending less on their wedding. It made me wonder if wedding designers have notice if couples are order less products across the wedding suite choices or if they are ordering a lesser quantity of each item.

[Jinaiji]

It seems like something's up across all platforms, and Zazzle isn't at fault. Sales and views are dropping on Etsy, Creativemarket, and even Pinterest (go and read forums). It'd be understandable if it happened gradually, but it's all happened really fast and the same way everywhere.

[blushroses]

agree....i think the Canva is the reason...all is Free there ...

[Caprice]

The way I understand it - PAPER products can be created there - but not other products?

Maybe "personalization" of products was a fad-type idea whose time is...over?  (gulp)

[CrazyMermaid]

Each of these platforms has had different problems and challenges for sellers. Etsy has seen millions of new sellers so the competition is much greater. Recently I saw sellers were angry about allowing Chinese sellers on to the platform. Creative Market made their license completely unfriendly to POD designers. I was buying a lot there and then stopped completely. I think here evites and other types of invitation making sites are hurting busienss as well as Canva and Kittl.

[Peter222]

Contacted  Z via email. Gave me absolute nothing in responce. Just a link to a announcement made a long tome ago about Collections and the hard times.  I just want to know WHAT changes they made ?      I kinda feel so kicked in the gut  , last 15 years of work gone for the most part. 1 sale in March.

Whatever, moving on to p's and sad

[Caprice]

I must have missed the message about 'collections and hard times'.  What did it say?

[ameliacarrie]

I read some of these posts and started to worry a bit.  So, I looked at my earnings from March of 2022, 2023 and 2024.  Mine has substantially decreased, but, not being great at math I asked ChatGPT to tell me what percentage my income had gone down from March of 2022 to 2024.  It said 63.09%.  If it keeps falling at this rate, I'll be paying people to buy my creations. LOL

[Es]

Anyone else down on sales today from their normal? I usually do okay on Mondays but so far -Mon Apr 8 - just had one sale this morning. Anyone else?

[CrazyMermaid]

Americans which make up the bulk of Zazzle's customer base were busy will the Total Eclipse and March Madness. 

[almdrs]

"US consumers are purchasing fewer items across categories, reflecting subtle shifts in shopping behavior with meaningful consequences for consumer-packaged-goods players.

The volume decline is pervasive across categories, from grocery to personal care and household products. US CPG volume declined 2 to 4 percent on average, with larger subcategories such as vitamins and supplements suffering 5 percent declines compared with 2022 figures.1 Even the holiday season wasn’t enough to open a proverbial parachute: grocery volume declined 2 percent in November and December 2023, compared with the same period the year before.

This is happening even as consumers increase their shopping frequency across most channels and categories, creating a confusing set of circumstances for CPG brands to navigate".
(McKinsey & Co.)

"A recent CNBC and Morning Consult survey has unveiled a notable trend in American consumer behavior, revealing that a staggering 92% of respondents are actively reducing their spending in response to concerns about inflation. This shift aligns with caution expressed by major retailers like Walmart, Target, Home Depot, and Best Buy during the first quarter." (January 1, 2024)

[Peter222]

I see ty

[jackynet]

I also seem to have missed getting a payment last month.  I don't think I have ever gone below the threshold needed for a PayPal payment here.  I get a lot of international orders as well as domestic ones.  Maybe the political situation is on peoples' minds but it's never been like this for me.  We get natural disasters every year and when that happens, I figure it'll affect sales but that doesn't normally happen.  I sure hope things change soon.  I just haven't felt much like adding products since the discard of creating with the Quick Create feature.  And CP just doesn't pay like Zazzle does but lately my sales there have been making up a little of the deficit. 

[Wesha]

What is CP ?

[Soraya_Shan]

Another platform, called Cafepress.

[WBartworks]

No sale since May 17.  It's getting worse! 
If I didn't have so much free time on hand, I would have ditched Zazzle by now. Instead, I challenged myself a little and created my first cross-sell/event suit collections.  One for kids and another for adults birthdays.  Although I doubt that my extra efforts will generate any more sales.  

[nikkileigh]

Sales are awful and getting worse by the day! Not sure what to do at this point. Nothing seems to be working.