Zazzle 50,000 Products Experiment

So I wanted to test if it was actually possible to make some decent money using only the Zazzle marketplace.

Therefore, I decided to try the following experiment:

- First, I created my own Zazzle product template containing 100 products to ensure that all of my designs would fit perfectly and look nice on all the products.

- Then I uploaded 500 unique clip art designs (that I created and owned the rights to) on 50,000 products.

- The results after a month of having those 50,000 products live in the Zazzle marketplace: $13 in Sales

Ouch...

Not very good for the amount of time and effort it took to create 500 unique designs and upload them all with titles, descriptions, and tags.

My conclusion:

You are probably better off just being an affiliate for Zazzle and taking the 15% commission off of other people's designs instead of trying to create too many designs of your own. It just doesn't seem like it is worth the effort to create too many designs yourself, because your designs will just simply get lost in the crowd.

Any other thoughts, opinions, or experiences?

 

Never used them but, I'd definitely go the affiliate route..sounds like the other didn't work too well.

 

tsktsktsk.. you need good graphics, good keywords, and good descriptions.. and more than a month.. silly rabbit.. zazzle, as all POD's (print on demands), require a lot of work and persistence. This is for this current month.. 340 sales so far in March 2013.. last month was more.. hopefully next month will be even better.. ya gotta work it.. if you cannot sell in the MP I doubt you will do much better as an affiliate.

 

I'd hate to try and wade through that store - 50,000 products that are nothing but 100 different clipart files. Imagine going to a store at the mall that had that. You'd leave immediately.

I do OK with Zazzle - a couple of sales a week. You need to take time and make some really good designs. It's a quality over quantity game.

 

I agree Terry, but it is obvious this person is not really interested - it was a slapped together experiment and very unrealistic- but for anyone who is serious. yes you need good designs - good key words, good descriptions, and time.. zazzle or other POD's are not get rich quick schemes - they require hard work and long hours -

 

I totally disagree with that logic. The last time I checked Zazzle has something like 14 BILLION designs listed. If you think you can throw up a few designs and make decent money just using the Zazzle marketplace it simply is not going to happen.

Your few designs will simply be lost in a sea of billions no matter how good they are.

However, if you do have a high traffic website or blog and can get people interested in your designs that way, then I could understand just having few designs.

I am just saying that people who think they can just open up a Zazzle store and then rely solely on the Zazzle marketplace for their sales will be very disappointed with their results.

 

I don't get it. You tried your method and failed (by your own estimate, not mine). You meet some people online who tell you what is currently working for them and say that we're wrong?

There are plenty of ways to make money on Zazzle. You can keepup the shotgun approach of uploading 50,000 products like you have been, or you can try making quality designs that people would actually want to wear.

Here's what I'd suggest:
1. pick a niche - for example remote control airplanes
2. create 10 designs - for example a slogan like "are you high enough?" with a public domain clipart of a remote control plane
3. create a zazzle store for this niche. Upload your designs and take the time to really add good descriptions.
4. buy a domain like "RCplanethsirts.com"
5. use a plugin like Elegant Zazzle - http://www.zazzletools.com/elegant-zazzle-plugin/ and feature only your Zazzle store.

At the end of the day you've got a domain that you can market (and get in search engines). This domain feeds directly to your personal Zazzle store. I personally like to market my own domain (that I can sell in the future).

This isn't for everyone. 90% of your shirts won't sell, but there will be that 10% that will really take off.

 

Not necessarily true.. key words and descriptions are the key as well as good designs, my personal websites do not have a ton of traffic - most of my sales are MP sales.. this is my income for the last 3 months.. you need more than a few designs - GOOD designs.. but tons of clipart designs is not the answer - those are a dime a dozen.. and doing that - no you won't make money.. in any case a month is not long enough to test drive Zazzle.. it is either a hobby or serious work- in my case - it IS my job..