Some questions are asked more than others, particularly when someone is new and still learning the ropes, so here's a list of some of the most commonly-asked questions and their answers. If there is a question you think should be included in this list, please feel free to let me know.
Q.) Does anyone really make money on Zazzle?A.) Of course! Anyone you see with a zPRO icon next to their name has earned at least $100 a month for three consecutive months, and there are shopkeepers on Zazzle who make a living entirely on their shops. As with anything worth doing, you get what you put into it--if you work hard and post quality work, you will see sales. (See The
Top Ten Mistakes Zazzlers Make for more tips on building a strong store.)
Q.) I posted postage stamps and shoes, but they're not showing up in my store! What's going on?A.) Shoes and stamps require approval by Keds and the USPS, respectively, before they can be posted publicly in the marketplace. It can sometimes take more than 24 hours for new shoes or postage stamps to appear publicly in your shop, so don't panic.
Q.) I have posted products to my shop, and they're not showing up! Where are they?A.) When you post a new product for sale, it can take a while for the Zazzle site to "catch up", so your new products may not appear in your shop for a while. Usually, new products will show up within an hour or so, but may take longer if the site is undergoing maintenance or updates. Other reasons your products may not be showing up:
*You have set the visibility to "hidden" or "direct only" instead of public
*Your products are awaiting approval, as in the case of Keds and Postage
*You are logged into one of the international domains (such as .uk or .de) and certain product types (like postage) do not appear in international domains.
*You may need to empty your cache to see your shop in its current state.
Q.) Why was my design rejected/deleted or purchase canceled?A.) The most common reason a design is rejected or a purchase canceled is due to copyright or trademark infringement. If a customer tries to order an item that would violate copyright or trademark law, Zazzle is required by law to deny the sale. Some designs that are not allowed due to copyright, trademark, or intellectual property law:
*Images or names of celebrities--celebrities retain the rights to their own image. (Politicians are the exception to this rule)
*Images of or references to copyrighted characters or concepts (such as Mickey Mouse, CSI, the Twilight series, etc)
*Trademarked names, images, or phrases (The Coca Cola logo, the phrase "Just Do It", the word "Pepsi")
*Any image that you do not have permission from the copyright owner to use. This includes photos found in image searches such as Google or Flickr. If you did not create the image or photo yourself, you must be able to verify that you a.) have permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the image, b.) that the image is in the public domain, or c.) that the image is old enough that the copyright has expired (laws vary on vintage graphics).
Q.) Can I change my username? A.) No. Once you create an account, you cannot change your username. If you made a mistake in your username or decided later that you don't like it, the only way to change it is to create a new account and delete the old.
Q.) When do I get my money?A.) When you make a sale, it will take 30 days for the earnings to clear. When you have $25 or more in cleared earnings, Zazzle will send you a check at the next pay period.
Q.) Why is someone else's information appearing in my shop!?A.) Sometimes a glitch will cause another shop's information to briefly appear in yours. Try refreshing the page and it should go away.
Q.) How do I include pictures in my posts?A.) The code to post pictures is:
Code:[img]IMAGE LINK[/img]
If you want to put an image in your post, all you have to do is click the
button (Up where you can choose your font style and color) and put the image location in between the two pieces of code.
Q.) I made a sale--why isn't it appearing in my volume bonus?A.) Volume Bonuses are broken up into different sections based on where the sales come from. If you make a sale through the Canada site, it won't apply to the same bonus as a sale from the Australia or Germany site. Use the drop-down menu on the Volume Bonus page to look at your Volume Bonus for each category and see how your bonus is adding up. Also, if a sale is referred, it will not be counted in your Volume Bonus. You can find out if a sale was referred by checking your Royalty History.
TIP: Computers can make mistakes too--check your VB regularly to make sure it is adding up correctly to your total sales.
Q.) Is there a way to easily see my total sales for the month?A.) Unfortunately, the only way we can figure out our total sales for a month right now is to add them up ourselves.
TIP: Mind your business! Take the time to check your earning totals and make sure that they are adding up correctly. While Zazzle is usually very accurate in what we are paid, mistakes can and do occasionally happen, so it is our responsibility to make sure we are being paid what we should.
Q.) Can I delete comments on my products or shop wall if I don't like them?A.) Yes. If someone is posting negative or inflammatory comments, or if you feel like they're just using your comment wall to promote their own shops, you can easily delete their comments. (Just go to the comment in question and click "Delete". You can also turn the comment wall on your shop off, but unfortunately, you cannot do that for individual products.
Q.) How do I know who bought my items? Can I thank them for their purchase?A.) To find out who bought your items, go to your account, click the "Earnings" tab, and click "Royalty History" on the sidebar. It will show you a detailed report with some basic information about who bought what. Unfortunately, there is no way for us to personally thank our customers--a necessary measure to protect customers from some of the more unpleasant shopkeepers that exist on Zazzle.
Q.) Should I hide or delete out of season products?A.) Absolutely not! Many people shop for holiday items out of season, and if your products aren't out there, you'll miss a sale! Furthermore, your products gain greater status in search engine results the longer they're out there and the more hits they get, so don't handicap yourself by pulling your perfectly good merchandise out of the marketplace.
Q.) Can I open more than one shop?A.) You can have as many shops as you want, and with Zazzle's new consolidation tool, you can now have them under one account. Go to your "My Zazzle" page, click the "store" tab, then click the "Open New Store" button.
Q.) When should I open more than one shop?A.) This is a difficult question to answer, because it entirely depends on the individual situation. Now that Zazzle allows consolidation of stores under a single account, it's easier than ever to keep track of multiple stores and create niche shops for your various ideas, but there's no rule that says you HAVE to have multiple shops either.
Creating multiple shops is a good idea if:
*You want to offer products in widely different themes. For example, you may open different shops to separate your childrens' art, gothic designs, political designs, etc.
*You want to create a niche shop so that customers can more easily find what they are looking for. For example, you may open a baby niche shop if you want to offer a variety of baby-friendly designs and don't want customers to have to sift through 77 pages of your "I ♥ Flip-Flops and Daschunds" designs to look for gifts for little Mikey's first birthday.
*You don't want to alienate customers with potentially controversial products. Many professional Zazzlers create separate shops for political and religious products, to avoid upsetting potential customers that would otherwise purchase from their main store.
*You just want to try something new. There's nothing wrong with creating a new shop just because you had a good idea. You can always move the products to your main shop later and close down the new shop if you decide it's just not working out.
Q.) What is the difference between "Private" and "Hidden"?A.) Answer courtesy of josef12:
josef12 wrote:Private products are available to you only. They can only be accessed when you're logged into that store specifically. They end up there after you add them to the cart or are awaiting approval from Zazzle's content management team (stamps, shoes).
Hidden products are public, but are concealed from view by others. A lot of people post for sale hidden so they can create a whole new line of products and make them available all at once.
Direct/API also won't show in your store, but are available to outsiders. If you want to create a line of products for one customer only and don't want others to see them, make them direct/API and then give that URL to your potential customers.