W8-BEN Tax form No response from Zazzle

[Spark]

Hello to everyone! I have not been able to resolve the problem with W 8BEN-form for more than six months. Z-Support does not respond. Can anyone help me or give me advice what i need to do? 

On April 11, 2024 I received a letter from Z-support saying that my address in my Zazzle Payment settings has duplicate postal code and my form does not, and I need to fix it. Then I fixed it, attaching a new W 8BEN-form and send it to zazzle support. But there was no response… The last time I sent my form again was 10 May 2024 to this email address: Zazzle-w8@Zazzle.com and there is still no answer. Who can solve my problem or who did you personally contact for submitting and accepting W 8BEN-form? 

[Spark]

there is no response from Zazzle either by email or on this forum....Well, that's very sad...

[Fiona]

Hey @Spark,

I will follow up on this with our W8 team now and ask that they contact you.

-Fiona😊

[Spark]

Hi! Fiona, the W8 team hasn't contacted me, and I don't think they will. Anyway, I am very grateful that you are the only one who responded and tried to help me! Dear Fiona, thank you for notice and responding to me.

[elizabethk]

Hello Fiona ,I have the same problem as Spark .I submitted the W 8BEN-form early April, submitted again changes I was asked , after that no response 😔.  

[Fiona]

Hey @elizabethk,

I will reach out to the team now regarding this & ask that they get in touch.

Apologies for the delay here.

-Fiona😄

[Dba]

Hi Fiona,

I have sent my form few weeks ago and did not received any message either. 

[Dba]

Hi @Fiona , is it possible that you can help with my response too?

[AvisNoelle]

Hello Fiona,

I have posted the following in another thread (June 12th 2024) and as no one seems to be monitoring it, am trying again here. No answer from Zazzle at all. I have done everything Zazzle has asked since January, the goal posts keep getting moved each time. Please will you get someone to help all of us with this problem, tired of being in limbo for 6 months! thank you. Avis

I have been sending W8-BEN forms to Zazzle since January 2024!! I do everything they ask, and each time after a lengthy wait I get a different Zazzle staff (I think this is a big part of the problem, lack of continuity), and they say it looks good ... except for this part blah blah. So I change that part, send it back, another wait and sometimes I have to send a reminder! More than once actually. Then I get another person who says.. add this thing, so I add that thing ... and on and on. I'm getting very frustrated, and honestly I've sent so many versions in I've lost count. The last one I got was the end of May asking for me to put my FTIN in section 6, I replied "like the one I sent back in February?" and attached that copy. No word back. I asked for an update on June 3rd, no word back. I have put my earnings on hold for now until you guys get your act together. I am a Silver Proseller and I'm about ready to close my shop that I've had since 2008.
I have given you every version of this that I can, now I'm being asked to do what I already did months ago, after that you moved the goal posts! Now we're going in circles and I'm tired. Ready to call the IRS for help, I'm in Canada btw. You need one dedicated staff member to see a case through from beginning to end, then possibly you might shorten the process for all concerned. Any help in approving mine would be much appreciated. Thanks.
AvisNoelle Reference Number: CAS-9316267-H8T3K1

[AvisNoelle]

Bump! Is there anyone at all moderating these W8 threads on here. ⁉️ Really getting tired of being ignored. I would like this resolved, it's been 6 months...that's long enough don't you think? Give me a dedicated person to follow this through from beginning to end! Thank you in advance.

[Fiona]

Hey AvisNoelle,

I will reach out to the team now regarding this & ask that they get in touch.

Apologies for the delay here.

-Fiona🙂

[AvisNoelle]

Thank you Fiona, finally a reply! Please pass on that I want ONE dedicated person to help me from beginning to end, not chopping and changing people who all have a variety of directions that just muddy the waters and cause confusion! Lily wanted me to change (last one I talked to) something, which I'd already done back in February! I sent her that one to prove it, and crickets since then! So please don't just pass it on, because I've been passed on enough... we all have. Thank you in advance.

[Lilypaperdesign]

Hello @Fiona I have similar problem.

After My W-8 form has been processed Z-support are still canceling payments.
A total of 5 months canceled payments.

I asked for Z-support several times, only template messages from them. They were absolutely no help in finding out why this is happening and ensring it doesn't happen again next month.

History of  W8+payment: I sent new W8 in Febr. All paperwork W8 was fine for April.
Even though these things are okay, since then all payments have been canceled (5 months).
Since February at the begining of each month my payment was 'pending debit' row, note "Payment will be issued by the 15th"., then on 15th go red and cancelled.
So every month 'pending debit' row in green, than go red and cancelled on 15th.

This is my main source of income. We have living expenses, and families. I can't afford to live on loans just because Zazzle is keeping the money and has not paid for five months. It's frustrating.

I hope it's just a simple technical problem. Please help fix it ASAP.

[AvisNoelle]

I feel very sorry for you, I hope you get this sorted! I've never heard of this one, truly awful. Now that this thread has been rejuvenated maybe you can resolve the issue. 🙏

[Lilypaperdesign]

@AvisNoelle 
I feel sorry for you as well. I hope the problem gets resolved soon. For long-time zazzlers whose main income depends on this, it's even more distressing.
It's kind of a joke, that now July should I post several times on the Zazzle forums, ask for moderators, so that I can finally receive my Christmas earnings?

But in another forum thread, designers they were a little frustrated with the months-long payment problem, (started with W8) that they wrote about 20 posts in a day. 🙂
And than interestingly, they were paid within 5 days.

[AvisNoelle]

Really... well isn't that interesting!? Funny how that works eh? Squeaky wheel and all... 😉

[Lilypaperdesign]

Hi @AvisNoelle! I apologize for my late reply. I'm over a minor illness. And a couple of weeks in a 40-degree heat wave at the same time.
I'm answering here because I think the other forum thread has been closed.
How are you?
But update! I received the payment. 🙂 I hope everything will be fine with payments in the future.
Avis, what an adventurous life you have. 🙂 Lovely Story. I didn't even leave the country until I was 23 years old. 😄
(Hungary) Unfortunately, there is a withholding tax of 30%. The US has canceled the tax treaty. Because "Hun" government is "not behaving nicely". I'm sorry and it's devastating to me.
Any good news from you with W8 and payment? I'm a little tired of this mess, but I trust that everything will work smoothly.
I hope my creativity will return more and more, I will start making cards and invitations again.

[AvisNoelle]

Hi Lily! Hope you are feeling much better. Yes we had a bit of high heat, then it disappeared, rain, more rain, then wind etc. This summer has not been good for my new hobby of veggie gardening! Anyway, yes got the W8 approved, and then there was a hiccup with a missing payment in my PayPal but I was partly to blame for that (long story), and now I have a payment pending so we'll see what happens. I hope and pray it's all fixed now for both of us! Glad you finally got paid but ...wth, they cancelled the tax treaty!?? That sucks! Let's keep our fingers crossed that decision gets reversed soon! 😎🤞 Hungary, lovely country from pics I've seen.
You must be relieved to get paid though, I hope everyone in this and other threads gets it sorted. Been going on forever! Then I think in less than a couple of years it'll start over! This time I hope lessons have been learned. I too would like to get creative again, been ages since I did new designs, have lost my zest for life lately. ♥🙏

[Spark]

Hi dear Fiona, the best moderator of this forum!!! Unfortunately did not receive a payment on paypal. The payment status was "pending" and after 1 day the status changed to "cancelled" (( The information on my W-8BEN form and the info on my payment settings account is match. Fiona, what do you think might be the problem?

[justme24]

Hi @Fiona

After several promises, I'm still not being paid. I was assured a payment this current month but nothing has come through.

What is wrong this time? 

I need my money ASAP, I have creditors to settle too. And because I have not been paid for the past sales [2023 to-date], I am reluctant to produce more products. Pay me, then I will produce more products.

Or pay me to delete my stores because I am tired of this cat and mouse chase. It is NOT encouraging at all considering the amount of time I spent to create those products.

I hope you can still pay me this month though.

Thank you

[Fiona]

Hi,

Your W8 form was collected and added to our system on 2/18/2025 so you should be paid in the next payment cycle.

Thank you and sorry for any frustration. 

[justme24]

@AvisNoelle OMG, you're NOT alone about this. I'm getting exactly the same as you. I have lost count of how many forms I had completed, they acknowledged receipt and said I would be paid in the following batch payment. 6 weeks later, they came back with the same problem that I needed to complete the form again.

I received this today, 3rd January 2025, with the following message: 

I regret to advise you that our finance department has reached out in regards to the W8 form that you submit and it appears their is a small error with the form received. Again I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and the W-8BEN form you recently submitted is in need of revision...

I googled it and it brought me to your message.

If Zazzle is finding it difficult to pay their creators, then I can only conclude that Zazzle is either facing a bankruptcy problem and instead of paying the creators, they are hiding behind the uncompleted forms queries to not fulfil their obligations. They're using the creators' funds to settle their creditors. 

It's only a matter of time before the truth come alive. 

Also, the response looks like a cut and paste reply they have been sending to everyone. I have decided to stop producing or marketing products on Zazzle. I didn't do anything for Christmas which could have brought me a lot of sales. And until they release my money [from 2023 to date], I won't be doing anything new on their platform.

I have bills to pay and if they can release my funds, that would go a long way to paying off some debts. 

Zazzle, if you're reading this, get your acts together and release my funds because there's nothing left on that form that I have not completed. It seems that I am going around in circles in just about one paragraph. 

I am amazed that you're just copying and pasting this request to buy time. What you're asking has NOT come from your finance department.

Be aware that bad news travels faster than good news. If someone goes on social media to broadcast your acts, you're done for in 24 hours. Be wise, pay your creators on time, they deserve it, because they earned it.

For some people, this is their only source of income, so pay them soonest.

Thank you

[AvisNoelle]

Hi Justme24, I am sorry you're going through this, it's so darn frustrating! If you read my posts you'll probably find the one where I had success finally. Took forever, and in the end I emailed the CEO (the father of the Beaver clan) and told him all that had transpired in detail. Then after that I started a whole new form, which I hadn't wanted to do but as I'd kept correcting what they told me, and then I was shuffled to another staff member it seemed to be going in circles. I had asked to have a dedicated ONE person to help me from start to finish, as I saw the confusion ensue from getting different people. That helped. I did a new form, with one person, I think it was Lily in the end, but can't recall now. After this is seemed to go fairly quickly, I think by mid August it was sorted (began January 2024!), and boy was I glad! Hope you're making progress. x

[justme24]

Thanks, @AvisNoelle and sorry for the late response.

Yes, they responded and I have completed the form twice this year again. I hope this time it meets their requirements.

I believe they should take a page from Amazon's playbook. It took me less than five minutes to fill out a similar form on Amazon.com because they pre-populated all the necessary details, allowing me to simply select the options that applied to my situation.

As a UK treaty business, Amazon has streamlined this process, effectively addressing the issues outlined in Part 10 of the article that Zazzle is struggling with.

My advice for Zazzle is to act as if they are a seller on Amazon. By doing so, they could learn how to complete the W8-BEN form effectively and apply those insights to their own business. In other words, they should take the opportunity to observe Amazon to improve their process.

[AvisNoelle]

Hi I saw a Mod had stepped in for you, so I hope it's being expedited? Did you see my reply here? The squeaky wheel gets the oil as they say, don't give up! This is something Zazzle needs to fix, it's a bad business practice and doesn't encourage our creativity at all... I hope you get some action. Avis x

[justme24]

Thanks, again. Yes, they need to get their acts together. 

During my search for answers, I found out that this problem was dated back to 2017? That's awful! Do they not read or learn from feedbacks? I think they need a new management structure because their current structure is not a not good for business progression. 

Have a great day! 🥰

[chuamishael]

They should have automate this process, other website have automate submission of W8ben online, you don't need to attached any pdf files.

[justme24]

Yes indeed!

Alas, ZAZZLE, an American company, based in America, operating from American soil is still doing business with their bear fingers in the age of AI and automation! 

Wonders never end.

Somebody please, wake up Zazzle from the ICE age, we are now in the AI age and going faster than was ever imagined. Otherwise, they'll miss the boat and go burst.

[Spark]

Hi Fiona! I finally received an email with a response from zazzle support and they sent my form forward to be processed by finance team! Dear Fiona, thank you so much for your help! 😘😘🙏

[hellocookies1]

Hello fiona, i have the same issues. It's been months now. Really frustrating..

[Jo]

Hi there, my problem is very similar to the above with the W 8BEN-form.  It's actually been a long slow process with no result, I have been wanting to take my earnings for over 12mths.  My W 8Ben was approved which took weeks and weeks of back and forth, and then when I tried to take some money it once again said I hadn't put in my forms, but I had, so I re-sent and now I haven't heard back and it's been another month!  I don't know what to do as I love Zazzle, please help! Jo

[Spark]

Update: I finally received an email with a response from zazzle support!

[Spark]

Update 2: yesterday my submitted W-8 form has been processed and my payment settings have been updated !!! I would like to thank Fiona and everyone from the zazzle team for their help!

[Jo]

That's amazing news!!! I am so happy for you, hopefully mine will be the same as well.  I haven't had a response yet, so maybe fiona can get mine moving as well.

[Spark]

Thanks Jo! I hope you will succeed! 😌🙏

[AvisNoelle]

Hi Spark, I'm happy to hear this! I think you can thank yourself for being so persistent! This problem has gone on way too long! 👍 I haven't heard a thing, hopefully I'm on the list.

[Jo]

Hello @Fiona,

Please help and read my previous post here, I have waited another two weeks on top of my 6 weeks, on top of a whole year!!!!! I have never been paid and I have been with this company since 2022!  I received another email saying it can take up to 6 weeks but to be honest I am beginning to wonder if I'll ever get paid.  Please help!!!!!!!

[AvisNoelle]

Bump

[AvisNoelle]

Update: Today July 8th I got a response from Lily who was I think the last one I spoke to in May, asking for yet another revision! She's wanting me now to add my FTIN to section 6 part 1 again! She is referencing one I sent in April as being almost right, except for the FTIN. She doesn't mention my reply to her referencing the one from February? I sent her a copy of it in May!
Now if you look at my post here June 21st which was a repost from another thread I got no answer to, that one from June 12th... well, that's what I was being asked for before and had already submitted that version! So because (I think) they don't keep track of the continuity of their email chains, they have lost the plot! They ask for new things, they are submitted, then they've moved on to another complaint, and on and on incessantly. Totally unorganized. So I have submitted a copy of that FTIN version from February this year once again, that I'd submitted and then got ghosted afterwards. I have begged for them to not pass me on to another person, or ghost me, as I'm pretty much done with this 'Process'. I'm not doing a whole new form because I've done what they wanted. Not wasting any more energy than I have to on this. And "apologies" won't cut it any longer.

[Spark]

Hello Avis! How are you? I haven't visited the forum for a long time as I've been very busy lately)) But today I came here see by yours replies your situation has moved on! It's great, I'm very happy for you! And I wish your problem was finally solved!🙏