To the Designers Who Offer Digital Downloads

[whimsywhim]

Good morning,

To the designers who offer digital downloads - may I ask why?  I would love to know your thoughts. 

I ask because I've been going back and forth since Zazzle has been offering the service.  What's stopping me is that buyers can purchase the product once yet download it as many times as they want and share it.  People can also buy the product, download it, have it permanently then cancel the sale.  

I would love to have your thoughts on this.  Thank you.

[Anne]

I did not know until recently that people can alter the text and then download it again and again. That s***s in my view. So I am only offering digital downloads when I consider a design a "lost case" or if I am not very "attached" to it. (if they still don't sell, they will end up in the bin at some point)

[whimsywhim]

Thank you for your response.  That makes sense.  The cancellation gets to me almost more than anything.  That's just ripe for being taken advantage of.

[Sandra-]

Hi Whimsywhim, I sell lots of digital downloads, they’re very popular now, and I have had very few cancellations for them. So the advantage of offering them far outweighs any disadvantages in my opinion. So I’d go for it if I were you or at least try it for a while and see how it goes for you ☺️

[whimsywhim]

Thank you so much for responding.  A couple of days ago, I asked my husband, who doesn't do any POD, and he said what you said.  I'm going to try it and see how it goes.  Thank you so much!

[Sandra-]

That’s great! Good luck with them 😊

[whimsywhim]

Thank you!

[Mariholly]

I wasn’t really in favor of digital downloads, but if you really think about it, if a buyer wants to cheat, they will! They can take a screenshot, buy a physical card and photocopy it, etc. Lately, I’ve noticed an increase in the sale of unique cards, and I always think, "They’re going to photocopy it, and I only made 20 cents..." Well, with downloads, the commission is good, and I think I read somewhere that Z would somehow ensure there’s no abuse. In any case, I don’t use my real artwork there—mostly photo collages or AI-generated designs. Give it a try! I sold a few, and I only had one cancellation. At first, we were all really scared, but now I think we’ve gotten used to it and accepted that it’s just another option.

[whimsywhim]

That is an excellent point.  I didn't think about them finding a way to cheat with a physical copy.  I did put several on digital downloads.  I'm going to see how it goes.  Thank you very much for responding.  I greatly appreciate it!

[vimbaiz]

Now that you mention it, it now makes sense on all the sales I've had where someone just buys 1 physical copy for an invitation (for example) and pay like a dollar something for it and I literally get cents as royalty. I always wondered who needs literally ONE invitation card for a party and yet now I get it. So they'd go and photocopy that one card and save on buying bulk or digital.? My my this is really sad. And to think people would make a small effort of compensating creators for their effort they're out there trying to rip us off😔😔

[Badeesie]

Probably sometimes people buy just one invitation to copy, and sometimes they buy just one to compare how different designs look physically or to compare paper quality from Zazzle vs from Canva vs from Minted vs from Vistaprint etc.

[Mariholly]

Well, there will always be people who buy just to compare and see the final result. Not everyone is a scammer, but it seems like people are saving on unnecessary things. I even remember a post in a brides' Facebook group with a tutorial on how to take a screenshot to print it. Plus, they can cut it out and simply send it to their guests via messaging... Believe me, the possibilities are many.

[Anne]

@Mariholly  "I read somewhere that Z would somehow ensure there’s no abuse"
I wonder if Zazzle has a limit to the amount of alternative versions one can download. Also: I think it is possible to download an invitation with no text/custom fields at all? If that is the case someone can easily use an original design for anything. I think Zazzle needs to make this information available for designers in order to make an informed decision on whether to go along with this or not.

[Mariholly]

I must have read it in a message from the Downloads post, but to be honest, I think we know they can make up to five modifications. Well, maybe it's not necessarily to scam us. For example, a place card designed in a format that allows downloads can be modified for each table, or a proposal card for each bridesmaid, or even small signs—that actually seems fine to me. But if someone uses the same format every Christmas to send greetings and logs in every year just for that... I don't know, it doesn't seem very logical to me. Maybe a professional in the event industry... but they would always offer the same design. Honestly, if you think about it rationally, I believe only a minority would misuse downloads. In fact, the images we upload to Pinterest are perfectly downloadable—obviously not in a quality suitable for printing something large, but for something small or for sending via messaging... The loopholes are already there; digital downloads won’t be to blame. Just my thoughts.