Society 6 new terms

[Uncle Pete]

Rather than just hijack the RB subject:

Have you checked your tier, many people are premium without selling a lot, it seems the tiers are randomly assigned. They could change every month too.
Society6 also introduced new fees and plans.
With AI and everything else the good news just can't stop coming.

Just looked at RB it says I have no account. There's some good news? Zazzle I dropped because the fees are more than anything I make. Etsy is dormant, I still can't tolerate the fakes, frauds and creative descriptions that are lies or misinformation.

Effective May 4, 2023 the fee for creating a new account on Society6 will increase to $5.

Effective May 4, 2023 when you make a sale through Society6.com, or one of our third-party affiliates, a shipping fee ranging from $0.30 - $8USD will be deducted from your earnings. Shipping fees vary based on the product sold and the full list of fees can be found below.
 
Announced but not in effect yet:

"In Fall 2023, Society6 will introduce annual subscription plans for artist accounts. This program will offer tiered plans, each with their own features and benefits. All artists will be required to select a plan to continue selling with Society6.
These plans will be designed to support our commitment to high-quality original artwork, improve the shopping experience, and allow us to offer enhanced services for the artist community at each tier. We look forward to sharing more about this new program in the coming months."

Annual Subscription Plan = pay to sell on their site.

The point is, some people have said they would drop RB and move to S6, which doesn't seem to be more than trying to change horses in the middle of the stream.

Society 6 paid 10% on some items and we were allowed to set our own price on others. Add the shipping, and the Subscription?  👎

[Annie2022]

Just looked at RB it says I have no account. There's some good news? Zazzle I dropped because the fees are more than anything I make.

Pete, Zazzle doesn't charge any fees.

What are the costs to be a Zazzle Creator?

Nothing. It's completely free. Once you make a sale, you will get a percentage of that sale, based on the royalty percentage that you set.

https://help.zazzle.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000209913-Frequently-Asked-Questions

[ravens]

Zazzle seems to have a "non-contributing account fee".
https://help.zazzle.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019101674-Non-Contributing-Account-Fees

[Uncle Pete]

There are no fees for people who are successful, and producing sales. Fair enough. And for anyone else, it's $2 a month.

The standard Zazzle commission rate is 15% per sale, which is 85% for them. There are ways to make that better and get more commission.

Way back, when I was actually trying, Zazzle has a really nice system for creating product templates, that makes listing items easier.

But I still shouldn't have listed them as a fee place. 👍

[Annie2022]

There are no fees for people who are successful, and producing sales. Fair enough. And for anyone else, it's $2 a month.

The standard Zazzle commission rate is 15% per sale, which is 85% for them. There are ways to make that better and get more commission.

Way back, when I was actually trying, Zazzle has a really nice system for creating product templates, that makes listing items easier.

But I still shouldn't have listed them as a fee place. 👍

I thought you had perhaps confused them with Etsy - because that's what people, who have trouble selling on Etsy say about them. 

I'm not sure what you mean about 15/85% comparison??  Zazzle is more like FAA, both build their profits into the net selling price of the product, which is then fixed, and the contributor's margin is then added to that. Their margin is already set, you can determine your own. (A lot of the top Zazzle sellers that I have researched set their margins to 20% - 25%, some even to 30%. So that means 80% to 70% for Zazzle, but probably not the best way to look at it, especially seeing they have to pay for the cost of production)

As for the $2 - well, just upload a file every 15 months?? No fees. In fact in some ways they are better than FAA, because they don't charge an annual fee of $30 if you want to upload more than 25 files.

(Anyway, I hope this doesn't jinx the situation and they end up adding fees onto contributor set margins (commissions), like Redbubble just did. lol Murphy's law. But for now, its still ok)


One of the downsides of Zazzle is the amount of competition there, which seems to be growing exponentially, possibly because it has no listing fees.


I found this interesting article about Etsy vs Zazzle, if anyone is interested. 

https://elkeclarke.com/zazzle-vs-etsy-94/

[Uncle Pete]

Good article. I see the major distinction being that Etsy, most of the target buyers, are hand made items, while Zazzle is fulfillment and true POD items. I realize that's not an absolute, but it seems to be a major difference in how they work.

The 15% is the default profit on Zazzle, creatives can go higher or lower if they want.

Back to Society 6. They are changing the terms and will be creating paid accounts in the future.

Someone bought a hanging metal print this Spring, my FAA account is good for another year.  The way I've made FAA work, and I don't make much, but good enough. If someone sees a photo and says they want a print, I upload the image(s) to FAA and they pick what they want. I don't own a color printer. Last few sales have been framed prints, large for rec. rooms and everyone is happy. I like the fact that I don't have to dicker prices or go through decisions on this size or that or changes. People go look, they order, they get exactly what they wanted.

I get some money a month or so later. No inventory, no equipment, no drama.

[Annie2022]

I haven't tried Society 6.

FAA is good for photography. And so was Redbubble (I think). It didnt take me long to sell wall art there, but of course closed my account now due to the fee debacle.

Zazzle is a bit different and has its own market: personalization. In recent years, there's been a big buyer trend for personalized gifts, Christmas and birthday gifts and cards, wedding stationery, and party supplies. They have the added design feature where you (as the seller) can add customizable text, photos, and designs to your items, to produce personalized products. That's a big market, and the best way to do well on Zazzle.

Here's a quick example of what I mean (taken from Zazzle's search for Mother's Day). Click on 'personalize' and see what I mean.

https://www.zazzle.com/black_and_white_script_first_mothers_day_photo_card-256023892928453092

Best suits contributors with some design skills, as opposed to just photographers. But of course, you can still try to sell a greeting card with just your own photography on it, but it won't tap into the more popular personalization market.

[Annie2022]

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