Zazzle Trade Union

Zazzle Trade Union (ZTU)
SenatorJPO
Posted: Saturday, January 10, 2015 6:32:24 PM

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Joined: 11/29/2012
Posts: 70
Location: Wisconsin Wastelands
Zazzle is renowned for its gala percentages-off sales -- which provide deep discounts but shred royalties to ribbons.

Zazzlers can change their royalties only on the 20th of each month. This makes it unfeasible to simply hike royalties on those products affected by a given sale -- to offset the price dip -- and to then resume the lower royalties once sticker prices have been restored to their default, which would stabilize prices despite discount-induced volatility.

Because the timing of such sales is not communicated to designers a month at a time -- the closest Zazzle came was emailing its Christmas Week sale schedule to us -- we Zazzlers are locked into the 30- or 31-day royalty rate for each product, no matter the specifics of all the percentages-off promotions Zazzle holds during the same period.

Design contributors consequently exercise less control over their product prices than the Zazzle marketing department and the dicta of a particular sales promotion.

The saving grace is that we retain copyright over our respective designs. The downside is that we get paid piecemeal based on customer volume instead of a lump-sum license for Zazzle to use our images.

Granted, it would be cost-prohibitive for Zazzle to pay us a license and then to pocket 100 percent of sale price in return, due to the volume of designs that sell poorly or never sell at all.

To continue some type of meritocracy -- e.g. not paying those who fail to a single unit -- while raising our earnings power, I propose a trade union: We Zazzlers Hike Our Royalties!

I hereby found the Zazzle Trade Union (ZTU)! Those who wish to join must do both of the following:
1) Raise your royalty rates for each item among your shops to be at least 39.9%; and
2) Add the phrase, "Proud member of the Zazzle Trade Union (ZTU)" to your profile description.

There are no fees, dues, contracts, or membership covenants. Imposters who include the self-proclamation without raising their royalty rates to 39.9+% by January 20, 2015 -- or by the 20th of whichever month in which they join -- will be mere imposters.

Membership is obviously self-identified -- but verified by the presence of the 39.9-and-over percentage royalty rates on your products, with the profile blurb confirming that you indeed joined this trade union and did not already have such royalty rates by coincidence.

We show economic and occupational solidarity by our trade union, while maintaining the invaluable differences in artistic expression that make us unique designers.

Speak up once you've joined the Zazzle Trade Union (ZTU)!
SenatorJPO
Posted: Saturday, January 10, 2015 8:11:51 PM

Groups: Member

Joined: 11/29/2012
Posts: 70
Location: Wisconsin Wastelands
Country1969 wrote:
You all agree to Zazzle User Agreement when you start using the site.
If anyone is not happy with it, you have the right to leave.

http://www.zazzle.com/mk/policy/user_agreement

You can't start a Zazzle Trade Union on here.

Zazzle has provided us with a place to sell designs and make money. Not everyone will be happy with something on here one time or another, but starting something like is wrong. Zazzle takes this stuff serious and it wont let this happen on here.

I am happy with designing on here and standby Zazzle.


Yes, I may -- and so may you or any other Zazzler.

I triple-checked the Terms of Use (TOU), and nothing prohibits seller collusion, whether that is for price fixing; hiding the on-sale products during sales; etc.

Nothing in the Zazzle TOU / Agreement / Policy prohibits that.

The buyers benefit most from the promotions, so they must agree to the promo terms, i.e. only certain products are discounted on certain dates; discount is before shipping cost; etc.

Sellers who do not agree with certain promotions may merely make their products private on those dates a discount applies specifically to that product category, effectively "shuttering" sections of their store. Idea

If Zazzle has a problem with this, then it may update its Terms of Use! Call the modifications "the SenatorJPO Clauses" or something such. Grin
SenatorJPO
Posted: Saturday, January 10, 2015 9:00:31 PM

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Joined: 11/29/2012
Posts: 70
Location: Wisconsin Wastelands
mcphoto wrote:
umm ok.Good luck with that. I'm fine with sales as it brings in sales I might not always get.


Get on this train before it leaves the station! CHOO CHOO Postcards, gifts, and apparel featuring trains, railroads, and locomotives!
SenatorJPO
Posted: Saturday, January 10, 2015 9:47:15 PM

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Joined: 11/29/2012
Posts: 70
Location: Wisconsin Wastelands
RGebbiePhoto wrote:
I never cared for the "Union" mentality. It always ends up costing so much more in the end.

Zazzle has never capped our royalties. If your royalties aren't set that high, that's YOUR fault, not theirs.

Do what you wish, but there is really zero to accomplish by forming.


The purpose of a trade union is to trend prices upward throughout the industry, e.g. among Zazzlers who might otherwise be more competitive / lossy on price.

ZTU membership communicates that only desperate stores will permit their prices to go below a certain level, and the implication to first-time buyers is that cheaper stores -- those who attempt to undercut the ZTU -- are of inferior quality. Stick out tongue

I hike; others hike; enough hike their prices to systemically accustom customers into paying higher prices.

Such classical conditioning is a gradual process -- one of habituation between the online customer's typically cheapskate mentality and the immutable reality of rising prices -- but bolsters Zazzle's image as a premium e-tailer.

This rising-of-all-tides-via-cartel has been true for such diverse industries as resource extraction, sugar processing, courier services, jewelry merchants, and legal professions.

To assert the contrary -- that a trade union would "cost more in the end" for sellers -- places the burden of proof unto you. Stand and deliver! Grin

SenatorJPO
Posted: Saturday, January 10, 2015 11:02:08 PM

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Joined: 11/29/2012
Posts: 70
Location: Wisconsin Wastelands
ForestWildlifeArt wrote:
Unions have their purpose, but this is not one of them.
More Sales by Z means more sales for us. We may not get as much per sale, but we have more sales to make up for it. When Z has a sale it's not just our royalties that take a cut. Z takes a cut too.
I'm sure they've determined that the loss per sale is made up for in the increased number of sales, or they wouldn't do it. As it is with them, so it is for us. Raising your markup way above average is not going to help you. You may make more per sale but you'll get fewer sales. There's really no advantage.

As above, so below, eh? But we've no proof.

Don't knock the ZTU until you've tried it a few months.

And with that, I bid everyone a good night. See everyone -- critics and all -- tomorrow!

SenatorJPO
Posted: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 7:32:10 PM

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Joined: 11/29/2012
Posts: 70
Location: Wisconsin Wastelands
colorwash wrote:
What is your hook going to be? I imagine you'd get most of the newbies to join you, since this is where you are posting.


Yes, I'm targeting those who have not entrenched themselves psychologically into the mindset that Zazzle wants to brainwash designers into adopting.

All change pivots on the Youth Movement, and all new designers are "young" in terms of inexperience on Zazzle. At the same time, those long-time designers looking for a new hook to market themselves are welcoming the ZTU as enthusiastically as the newcomers!

The more vehemently the status quo opposes me, the more appealing my ZTU becomes in the hearts and minds of rebellious Zazzlers. The many-on-one ridicule transpiring in recent posts makes me seem a metaphorical martyr, strengthening my pathos in support of my ethos and logos.

SenatorJPO
Posted: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 7:35:39 PM

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Joined: 11/29/2012
Posts: 70
Location: Wisconsin Wastelands
Quidama wrote:
1) I remember you from a while back when you referred to your impression of a Proseller vs Non-Proseller antagonistic atmosphere here. From your posts here and looking at your profile, etc., you seem to thrive on "bucking the system."

2) Nothing wrong with that if that's your thing, but from an outsider's perspective, it sure seems to me that you might be creating some or most of your problems yourself. It seems to me that if you willingly join a community, whether it be a university or a POD design community, by definition you have to follow their rules, processes, expectations.

3) Do you realize how many designers are on Zazzle, how many designs are available to customers? Do you think by raising your royalties to 39% or even 139% or by hiding your products during a sale, that a customer is going to notice or care?


1) YOU said that! You were the one to accuse me of creating an "antagonistic atmosphere!"

You posted in response to my thread asking for non-Pros to self-identify for the purpose of amateurs promoting each other's products to more quickly achieve professional status.

You, Quidama, misinterpreted that as being divisive, whereas I posted in the spirit of competition. BIG difference, brah!

2) Everyone makes their own "problems" and brainstorms "solutions." That's part of what it means to be sentient.

Part and parcel of diversity is the variety and intensity of issues we bring to the fore, as well as who sees these issues as "opportunities" versus "obstacles." The connotations assigned by the speaker or writer hint at one's underlying interests, plans, and ways of thinking through processes.

Rather than poo-poo the notion, you should be grateful I grace the forums with my eloquence and innovations. You and others benefit from interacting with me, even if you don't understand how. Why?

Because I break the group-think that has been virulent throughout the Zazzle forum!

3) I have legions of fans from my blog audience and professional network. It's just that they haven't agreed with what I've posted in my Zazzle store so far -- but I launched a new one that is more daring and provocative than the last.

Expect me to go Pro Seller in 2015! Why? Because people are noticing.

SenatorJPO
Posted: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 7:36:57 PM

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Joined: 11/29/2012
Posts: 70
Location: Wisconsin Wastelands
Quidama wrote:
Hi SenatorJPO,

I remember you...


"...Will you remember me?" That's actually really sweet.

Nonetheless, the tone of my prior response remains intact, utterly undiminished by the fact you deigned to remember me!

SenatorJPO
Posted: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 7:39:05 PM

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Joined: 11/29/2012
Posts: 70
Location: Wisconsin Wastelands
Country1969 wrote:
For SenatorJPO, you want a chance to up your rates before a sale starts to make more money. You do know a sale means a lower price?

It gives customers a chance for a discount. Sales bring in people. Many people browse and look for sales or cheaper price.

Why would you want to raise your original rates before a sale only to jeopardise a sale that could be waiting there?

...What works for one, doesn't mean it will work for the other...

I am happy with any sale I get. Money is money. That's why I have money. Someone said something about people being content to make a dime on a post card, i'm one of those people.

How much do you want to make on them, $5.00? I sell many of them and I get paid.


That's why Zazzle remains an "open shop" -- in regulatory labor vernacular -- with ZTU membership optional. I'm an advocate for ZTU and believe the benefits outweigh the risks.

No need for me to "bribe" anyone with free merchandise, as Parleremo facetiously fantasizes.

SenatorJPO
Posted: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 7:42:25 PM

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Joined: 11/29/2012
Posts: 70
Location: Wisconsin Wastelands
Parleremo wrote:
SenatorJPO: If we join, will you be giving everyone a ZTU shirt and mug, free, from your store? I don't join anything unless there is some free goodies involved. =)


No freebies are involved because the prestige of ZTU membership is more than adequate. I should charge admission but am not due to legal and logistical complications that would entail.

Wait a minute; here's a "free" retort: If you want free stuff, then go ask your mother.

SenatorJPO
Posted: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 7:45:57 PM

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Joined: 11/29/2012
Posts: 70
Location: Wisconsin Wastelands
RE: Critiques of organizational membership being a potential "gloss-over" to distract from a store's lower-quality / over-priced wares:

Newbies don't know that, and ZTU membership strengthens the designers' feelings of prestige that probably motivated them to publish on Zazzle in the first place. For untested designers, it can be a promotional means of standing out while one gains a reputation.

One could always leave ZTU after "getting the rub" -- IF they wanted to quit.

SenatorJPO
Posted: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 7:51:23 PM

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Joined: 11/29/2012
Posts: 70
Location: Wisconsin Wastelands
RE: Trolls - ForestWildlifeArt is only half-correct: Although I'm not a troll, keep feeding this discussion thread to fuel the ZTU Revolution!

Here's an image to vanquish your troll imagery:

Majored in Sonnin' Y'all Gifts and Apparel

SenatorJPO
Posted: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 7:58:29 PM

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Joined: 11/29/2012
Posts: 70
Location: Wisconsin Wastelands
Thanks for everyone's patience! The past 72 hours were too hectic for me to get back on here, but I've answered all serious objections to the ZTU.

With that declaration, I hereby declare this thread weighs favorably on my ZTU scheme. May the discussion continue in the comment section of my blog!

Those who misinterpret me as a troll -- have simply misinterpreted me. I'll leave you troll baiters with this quotation:

All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed; third, it is accepted as being self-evident. - Arthur Schopenhauer

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