Feedback on single invitation sale

[shellifitz]

In the old forums there were several threads discussing how people will buy one ivitation with the intention of using it as a digital invite or to mass produce and print their own. 

Well I don't sell that many invitations (so far) so I didn't jump in to those conversations.  

However over the past weeks I have an example where I know this is why one single invitation I designed is going to be used this way. 

I was contacted by a shopper a couple of weeks ago through my own email addy  asking me if this specific invitation was offered as a digital download.  I informed the person that it was not and they thanked me.  Then nothing happened until this morning when that exact invite sold one copy to a person whoses name matches the one that emailed me asking about it.  

So, okay I got a sale of one invite but I am pretty sure it was not so she could sample it and come back for a bulk order.  Anyway I just wanted to mention it.  Hopefully this kind of thing only happens rarely. 

[CreativeLeahG]

I'm sorry this happened to you, especially as you were trialing a new niche. Not a good first experience.

Unfortunately, it happens often

and worse, people screenshot them so they don't even need to buy 1.

There is a thread re a photographer who has a TIK TOK video promoting these illegal 'hacks' for saving money"

Presently I think many are still able to make more money than they lose re this type of thing, but how long for? I wish there was something we could do, but presently it doesn't seem to be the case.

Zazzle offering a download option we can 'profit' from is perhaps a solution.

[CrazyMermaid]

It happens. Selling invitations is not for the faint-hearted, if you are going to worry about every sale. Sometimes people ask for a digital download, I say no and then they order 150 paper invites. Sometimes they order 1 or nothing. Even with that there is money to be made. After weddings crashed in 2020, I have made sure that I have profitable niches in non-paper, non-party categories. I am sleeping much better!

[shellifitz]

@CreativeLeahG 

I guess it is just part of it.  I was trying to think of a way that digital downloads could be profitable but to be competively priced the royalties would be pretty low.  

I guess we just have to take the good with the bad... at least bulk sales make up for it.  

[shellifitz]

@CrazyMermaid 

That is partly why I didn't get into invites before... that and I just don't enjoy designing them that much so I already had non paper backup products or other paper goods that are not wedding related. 

This invite I am speaking of is not a wedding invite either by the way. 

[CrazyMermaid]

@shellifitz Once you get used to invites, they can be quite addicting to make. I was referring to all kinds of invites as well. It is very customer-service related too. That is another reason, I increased my non-invite inventory. I want to have more passive income. 

[A_New_View]

I had never sold any invites or Christmas cards until this past Christmas. I finally sold my first Christmas card. Yep, that's right - card. Someone purchased one single Christmas card. I had no idea why, at first, that someone would only buy one card. "Hmmm, must be a pretty lonely person.", I thought. lol Oh well, I just hope my wedding invitations sell, and not just ONE invitation! 

[WittyBetty]

This is why offering digital products to download is so overdue on Zazzle (given they have all necessary infrastructure, I really can't get it). I bet most people would gladly pay for a digital invite if it was right on the page of a printable invite (in the "Other Products in This Collection" or better with an icon right on the product view like "Want it Digital? Click Here" and then a customer would be taken to the digital version with the ability to customize and download it). When a product with a reasonable price is right before you eyes, you are more likely to simply buy it than you are to think about a way to steal it.

[shellifitz]

@WittyBetty

I agree and think that is a really good idea.  After giving it some thought I decided that even if royalties are not real high if we sold one digital download as opposed to one invitation the royalty on the download would be higher because the price of the dl would probably be a little higher.  so it really would not be a loss.  

[WittyBetty]

@shellifitz 

Yes, and also for Z there will be no cost in producing a digital invite so royalty could be quite high and still the final price would be okay, like if a downloadable invite is about $9-12 and the royalty set to 50%, you still get something instead of virtually nothing. Same for Z, they would profit doing basically nothing (except tweaking some code in Create tool which is only once).

[shellifitz]

@WittyBetty  

good points!  I hope they consider it!