Making a living may not be possible for most people on Zazzle, but it is possible to make a bit of pocket money. I thought I would show which designs make money on my Zazzle account. Most of them are in my main store, ilonagarden. When created, I had no idea they would sell well.
Yes, I know I’m not very smart to share this information with you, the great public. Most designers are afraid to attract copycats and stir up competition. If I were making a living at this, I suppose I would feel the same. Instead, I operate with a philosophy that it is good to help one another to be successful.
It is likely that the cheese will move soon enough, anyway.
The first design is one that Zazzle had chosen to give exposure to on their front page at the time, which resulted in many more sales.
Pink Binder with Gold Glitter
This one continues to have sales occasionally. There are many copycat versions, and designers have come up with many variations in the same “genre” of metallic and glitter look effects. So far, it has proved to be a look with enduring popularity.
Wedding Designs
My earliest effort at a wedding invitation sold the most, although that was years ago. Nowadays, there is so much competition in this sector, added to the fact that trends change, that it is no longer selling. Well, maybe not surprising since I accidentally deleted the product! Here is the replacement I made.
Here are my other wedding invitation designs that have sold:
The vintage primroses are one of my first efforts at creating an invitation of any kind.
For nature lovers who have a love of green, the idea of a wedding in the woods has great appeal.
Shower and Party Invitations
As with the wedding designs, these have occasionally sold for me, but the sales are few and far between. I know that a part of my challenge is in gaining exposure.
For those which have gained sales, these are the top selling invitations:
This next vintage Shower invitation is one of my favorites. I thought it would be popular because the darling “Roaring Twenties” theme would be so much fun for Bridal Shower decor.
I recently began creating Kids party invitations and the “Happy Monkee” made a sale. It is a new type ( for me) of illustration based children’s themed products. It is within my newest store, “IlonaBaby“.
Products That Sell Aren’t Always Moneymakers
I don’t have a high royalty markup, so if I sell lots of tissue paper or stickers, it doesn’t relate to good income. That is something to keep in consideration when selling. Unless it goes viral, a design that sells quite a bit may only make a small dollar amount.
That is true of my best selling sticker,”Sparkly Hope Star”.
It has not sold as much lately probably because of high competition in the increased number of glitter genre stickers.
Another low-income, but high volume product is postcards. Below is my best seller in that department:
Summed Up
As you can see, I have done best with following a specific trend, the glitter and glam look.
I’m not sure about the legs on that trend, and I’m going to concentrate on trying to come up with other types of designs, while populating my stores with products that create more income from their royalties. I am not yet at “break even” point with the money I put into graphics resources.
I like to take a look at Zazzles best seller pages, for ideas on what is trending in colors and genres.
I have enjoyed my time designing for Zazzle… so that is probably the main plus for this particular endeavor.
For much more on my opinions about Zazzle, how to get started and make some money with it, see my Webwork on Ilona’s Reflecting Pool.
