POD For You

[DiveArtist]

My Zazzle shop sales are pretty slim although I am getting a few more that in the past. I still make more at CP (but still not that much). The other POD's that I have make nothing. I am still opted in at CP since I just don't get that many shop sales. I'm tempted to do a test and opt out and see if shop sales increase but I am afraid to do it around the holidays. SOme money is better than none. It is a good thing that I am not only relying on POD sales for an income. Thankfully my graphic design business seems to be picking up. Maybe that is an indication of an upswing in the economy and it will hopefully filter down to the POD business. I probably need to take another look at all my POD designs and work on my SEO to get them found more easily by Google.

[MaxMuhlin]

I did a "test" like that in September, DiveArtist (by removing all tags except my one unique tag). . .and my sales figures nosedived instantly. . .without any corresponding rise in Shop sales. . .I couldn't take it after 3 weeks and went in to my image basket. . .sigh. . .and retagged thousands of images . . .and SALES PICKED UP AGAIN instantly. . .with September finishing pretty well for me.

So, now I know.  I am making sales at Zazzle, more and more as I get my designs moved over and on product. . .but Cafe Press' Marketplace still hauls in a minimum of $30.00 a day for me.  With a few Shop sales thrown into the mix to keep that figure increasing as we get deeper into Holiday Shopping.

Ann K.

[Bikerchick]

Do any of you find that the actual  sales (not commission) have increased by staying opted in at CP, like CP said it would - you know - it will be "good for you" nonsense?   Or are # of sales made  the same or down?

I know some of you may have posted this along the way, but I'm wondering how that is holding up for 4th qtr.

[RobertPlantFan]

The first two months sales numbers did increase and I actually was in the same ballpark as my previous numbers. But since then it's steadily declined. I'm still making a pretty good number of sales, but not enough to "make up the gap" in commission.

[Mayhem]

sales, for the most part, have remained steady.

It's just my profit that's kicked the bucket.

[lyricalb]

My sales haven't increased. I'm running slightly behind last year's sales.

[Bikerchick]

So... worth it or not to opt back in?   The thought kind of makes me ill..... but I'm just wondering

[lyricalb]

Without being opted in, I'd have no money at all.

[RobertPlantFan]

Same here. I no longer get shop sales at all.

[moonduster]

Ditto this. No shop sales anymore.  But so little cash overall from my sales now that opting out wouldn't hurt too much.

[reflections06]

I stayed opted in and my MP sales went up (way up) while my SHOP sales went down (way down).  For me, the way things changed it pretty much evens out to where I'm making roughly the same amount in $ sales as I did before the changes, even though the # of overall sales is much higher.

If I opted out I'd make almost nothing.  I try not to remind myself of how much those increased sales would be had the changes not occured.  It's too depressing.

[lyricalb]

Whereas I am making approximately 30% of my old money. 

[Mayhem]

i'd have lost my house if i wasn't opted in. Shop sales are few and far between.

[Bikerchick]

For the most part, I'm making about the same amount of shop sales, which was more than nothing, but could be better - $70 - 100 isn't awful and I don't have a particularly large shop.   What really hurt the shop sales, was that I cannot upload to google.   THAT hurt. 

[BarbD]

My sales stayed steady (or as steady as they were), my money tanked (about 25% - 40%) and I was finally making pretty good shop sales...when our feeds were yanked.

If I opted out, I wouldn't make anything at this point.  

[DiveArtist]

Last month I made 13 sales compared to 24 orders last October. This month I've had only 4 orders totaling $11.30 compared to 8 order for the same time period last year totaling $110. I don't seem to have the quantity sales that a lot of you do to make up for the lack of commission. I'm not sure why.
 

[JMGNole]

My shop sales died a month or so after I got out of the MP.  That just prompted me to do more at other places.

I'm moving things now at every opportunity and I'll be out of there after the holidays.  I'd rather lose every single holiday sale than let them put my stuff back into the MP.

That's just me, I managed to keep the POD income out of my budget, so this is all gravy even if it's just in drops.

One thing, Zazzle is finally starting to pick up for me with every added design.  Not big bucks, but much more than CP.

[Tanith]

Do any of you find that the actual  sales (not commission) have increased by staying opted in at CP, like CP said it would - you know - it will be "good for you" nonsense?

 Well in month to month comparison this year to last only Feb 09 had lower gross sales than 08.  Average increase over last year is 25%. So CP is making more money from my sales this year than they made last year.  My commissions are down despite the increase in gross sales. Numbers of orders are also up.  The pattern is fairly consistent throughout the year so the marketplace changes don't seem to have made much difference in rate of sales.

[Linda]

Well, they need OUR money to go boating, hiking and making tv commercials, don't they? And who knows what else...

I agree with you, JMGNole. I would rather not sell anything than get 10% in their marketplace. Yeah, call me stubborn, idealistic or something similar. I've made it this far without their "help."

[Rattlebrained]

I'm still opted in, sales died almost completely between June & September, in October I sold a bit more than October 2008 for half the commission (made a few shop sales), so far Nov. hasn't been too hot on the contrary. This seems to be partially due to Google's latest changes (Oct. 30th.)

My main shop that has always been above  CP for my main keywords fell off the screen to the 3, 4th page and my daily visitor stats which had already suffered after the goofle base vanishing act are now down to a trickle. In the same search results CP comes below my stuff at Zazzle and Screened, but I have not had the time to move that many designs over yet. In any case I'll probably opt out in January if the holidays MP sales don't mess with my brain too much.  

I've been wondering if checking "Private shop" automatically opts you out or not? Anyone know? Since it seems to remove you from the marketplace if it didn't and assuming you have an offsite shop to promote, would it be a way to stay opted in the affiliate program without being in the MP?

[NinaPA]

Several things really affected my shop sales this year from CP.  One is having to rebuild all my off-sites with a new tool.  Another is not being in google base, that really dropped my shop sales totals down. 
But a third is not having that link from the MP to my shops.  I'm losing a lot of personalization orders now and that is hurting my shop sales because I'm simply not getting the orders numbers I did last year for that kind of stuff.
I miss my shop sales... 

[TheTShirtPainter]

The only sales I get at CP are a few from basic shops opted in.  My one last premium opted out gets Zero sales.  I used to before the Google base change.  I even have my one last premium on a CPShop, but no sales.  I need to just close the premium and pull basics into the CPShop.

I will not opt in my good designs, because I am getting good sales at Zazzle with them.  I still don't get it.  I used to get really good sales at CP before the 10% thing.  I did try to leave them in a month or 2 but sales all but totally stopped and my cpcash was going to shop fees.  Not gonna pay the shop fee out of my own pocket to just have them sit there.  

I don't have the popular Twilight or new stuff, do not like it.  

Cindy

[Michele]

My sales are definitely up from my opted in shop. But its another year of being open AND nearing the holiday season, so this could just be typical. Who knows for sure? The upcoming New Moon movie is helping quite a bit also. (Where's the greedy smiley that rubs his hands together?)

I'm thinking of opting in my other shop for the holiday season. Shop sales have tanked. My hope is that this could be the last time I would have to have my designs in the CP MP. By promoting the (WANNA TRY THE GOOD COP/BAD COP ROUTINE?) out of my shop and eventually being able to move everything over to Zazzle next year, I might be able to make it on my own!

That reminds me, I need to make some banners for some promo ads...

[Tanith]

I agree with you, JMGNole. I would rather not sell anything than get 10% in their marketplace. Yeah, call me stubborn, idealistic or something similar. I've made it this far without their "help."

  My Dad's reaction when I told him that some people were making this choice was "Good for them." 

I thought I'd give it a chance to prove itself and it hasn't.  My choice to stay was driven largely by the fact that I had already paid through December.  Now as I get close to renewal I have decisions to make.

[GearGems]

I would rather not sell anything than get 10% in their marketplace. Yeah, call me stubborn, idealistic or something similar.

Personally, I call it being principled.  It was just one of those lines that I will not cross, the same way I refuse to ever accept one dime from the government.

My sales plunged too, sadly.  They were doing okay (improving little by little) up until the Googlebase disaster.  Now I still make enough for the shop fees, so I'll probably stay on past spring when they're due for payment, but really, they are only a whispy shadow of their former self.  And Zazzle seems to have peaked for me a few months ago.  The more I add, the fewer sales I get...well, my checks have been a few dollars less every month.  Never seen that happen before!  Oh well.  I'm still a "pro seller", but going the wrong direction for sure.  I wonder if I'll even see a holiday spike in sales.  It hasn't begun yet, sorry to say.

And I have grown to rely on this income.  At least it managed to get us 100% out of debt.  Hopefully we can stay that way, God willing.  I can't exactly go out and find a "regular job", since I'm a musician and that's all I've ever done in the real world.  But, as such, I certainly know how to live frugally, and fortunately never got out of that habit, even when I was "flying high".

Shoot, I could write the definitive book on living frugally.  Maybe I should!