Updated Zazzle User Agreement Insights

If you are a Zazzle designer, you will want to be clear on how the changes impact you in the updated Zazzle User Agreement. Zazzle is making huge changes to how we as designers can make money on their platform. The Zazzle User Agreement goes into effect on November 22, 2019. In this article, I help you gain clarity on specific points and what the changes mean for you.

Zazzle User Agreement goes into effect on November 22, 2019

The Zazzle User Agreement and the Zazzle Designer License Agreement have both been updated and come into effect on November 22, 2019. It is important that you understand the changes in the agreements. And also what new things will be happening on the Zazzle site. They affect you as a Zazzle designer and how you can earn money online with Zazzle.

Changes to How Designers Make Money on Zazzle

Currently, designers can make money licensing their designs to Zazzle by posting them for sale on physical products in the Zazzle Marketplace (Zazzle’s online eCommerce platform).

Soon Zazzle will be adding the option for designers to create and sell designs as a digital product or as part of a physical product through collaboration.

It is not completely clear how this will work yet because it has not been officially announced. However, the two agreements provide enough detail to figure out that the New Zazzle Create Tool will be a place where customers can use digital content (free for now) provided by specific Zazzle Designers. Zazzle compensates the designers for the use of their licensed content in this tool.

Also, the new Zazzle Collaboration option on the Zazzle Design Tool will change how designers can sell their designs on physical products in the Zazzle Marketplace. How designers will be compensated is outlined in detail here in this article.

Explaining Designer Digital Content Creation and Customer Usage

Here is what James C. on the Zazzle forum wrote:
“Zazzle is expanding its definition of Content to include digital Content. Digital Content lets visitors to Zazzle and Zazzle designers create a design on the Zazzle Create Tool. They can then use the design without having to add the design to a physical Product on the Zazzle platform.

Zazzle Create, our new tool for creating digital Content, will drive potential new Users to the Site to create everything from digital invites and cards to Facebook® banners and Snapchat® templates”.

The Zazzle Create Tool Content Compensation

Zazzle has been working with a test group of designers to provide the content (Digital Designs and Secondary Content). This is the content that you currently see in the Zazzle Create Tool. The number of designers who can contribute to the Zazzle Create tool will increase in the near future. If you’d like to be a part of this opportunity, you can apply by clicking this link here.

Digital Content is free for users to download. However, every Zazzle designer who contributed to a design that is featured on the Create Tool on a physical Product received compensation.  

Royalty Changes in Zazzle User Agreement

Royalties will be determined differently than in the past. When Secondary Content is added to the Content on your Marketplace Design the royalties will payout depending on how many elements and images the customer adds to your originally “posted for sale” design.

Click here to read about the Zazzle Royalty and Referral changes. This article goes into detail about the upcoming changes. Customers will be able to add additional Zazzle-licensed digital content. This Secondary Content is from participating designers. The customer can add digital content to an existing product design which is posted for sale on the Zazzle Marketplace.

Clarifications from Zazzle

James C in the Zazzle forum posted:

“Collaborators (Users – both customers and Zazzle Designers) DO NOT have any increased rights to your Content beyond what they already had to your (Zazzle) Marketplace Products. Their rights are unchanged, they can customize (if you allow that) and purchase.

Content on your Marketplace Products WILL NOT be available for download. If you want it available for download you can apply to publish via the new publishing methods described in the agreements.”

 

New Zazzle Chat – Talk with Your Customers

Zazzle introduced “Zazzle Chat” this month.

Zazzle Chat is a messaging tool for designers and customers to connect with other designers and other customers.

Check often and reply ASAP, if you have messages. You can maximize your profits by helping out customers directly and in real time, instead of using the Zazzle email option.

The Collaboration Feature – Share Your Design

Zazzle introduced “Zazzle Collaboration” this month as well.

The Zazzle Collaboration option has huge potential.

Customers can collaborate on designs with you as the designer.

Or give your friends and family permission and then they can see your design in the edit menu on the Zazzle Design Tool. They can give you feedback or manipulate the design components as well.

Amazing!

Exciting New Options for Zazzle Designers – Coming Soon

Zazzle has added three new definitions in Section 1.2 of the Zazzle User Agreement. They clarify the different publishing methods that you, the designer, will have when they release these options in the near future.

These are:

• The current “Post for Sale” is the historical method of publishing physical products to the Zazzle Marketplace.
• “Post for Download” publishes Digital Designs into the Create Tool.
• The “Post for Use” publishes Secondary Content accessed through the Zazzle Design Tool. It can then either be downloaded via the Create Tool or purchased as an addition to existing product designs in the Zazzle Marketplace.

Zazzle has also added a sentence to the end of the second paragraph of the Designer License Agreement to further clarify that “your Zazzle Marketplace products will NOT be available as downloadable content.”

Apply to be a Beta Tester for Zazzle

Currently, there are only a limited number of beta tester designers who have access to the “Post for Download” or “Post for Use” options. You will not see those options if you are not one of those beta testers. To apply to be considered for this Collaboration Content program, click here.

Designer License Agreement – Transaction Fee Carveout

A final note from James C who posted a clarification in the Zazzle forum:

“In order to simplify and correct the Transaction Fee Carveout, we have changed the wording to specifically state the 15% Royalty threshold.

“Previously, the User Agreement said the Transaction Fee Carveout applied when the Royalty was greater than 2x the Standard Royalty Rate. While this was technically true, in actual practice, the Transaction Fee Carveout was only applied to Royalties of 15% or higher, so we have changed the wording of the User Agreement to reflect this reality.”

Comment Below

There is a great deal to understand with so many changes happening on Zazzle.

Comment below and tell me what your biggest learning is from this article.

It is an exciting time to be a designer on Zazzle. There are so many opportunities to earn money on Zazzle, compared to when I started over 10 years ago.

What I have learned over the 10 years on Zazzle, is that Zazzle is always looking for ways to help us as Zazzle designers grow our online businesses and access more opportunities to make money online on the Zazzle platform. It is a fantastic online business option.

This article has given you a better understanding of what is currently happening on Zazzle. And how it affects you as a Zazzle designer.

About the author:

Elke Clarke, is the award-winning author of the book Create Online and Grow Rich. Elke is a business and mindset coach for digital creatives who want to build a profitable E-Commerce business. Connect with Elke, on social media by clicking here or visit https://www.ElkeClarke360.com