Zazzle Review

Looking for a way to generate extra income? Want to start your own line of clothing or products? Creating a Zazzle store may be the answer.

In this Zazzle review, you’ll learn more about what the print-on-demand platform is like, the printing technologies, pricing, features, and more. From there, you can decide whether you want to use a Zazzle store to support your business.

What is Zazzle?

Zazzle is an online marketplace that also offers people the chance to create and sell their own products. Launched in 2005, it is one of the older platforms. 

With it, you can create tons of products across various categories like:

• T-shirts
• Mugs
• Phone cases
• Wedding invitations, stationery, address labels, wrapping paper, greeting cards, etc.
• Business supplies like business cards, banners, outdoor signs, signage, displays, etc.
• Sports and games
• Accessories like bandanas, hats, backpacks, etc.

Earnings take 30 days to clear. You’ll receive payment once a month via PayPal. If your payout balance is less than $50, you’ll pay a $2.50 service fee to withdraw funds early. 

Is Zazzle safe? Yes! Beyond Zazzle designers using it to generate passive income, it’s also a marketplace where people can buy birthday or Christmas gifts for their friends and family. If they don’t want to use their own design, they can buy existing products from any store in the Zazzle marketplace.  

That means, even if you don’t create your own products, you can still earn income as an affiliate. You’ll earn a portion of every sale made through your affiliate link. 

Zazzle Printing Technologies

Zazzle offers a few printing technologies. Users cannot choose which printing technologies apply to each product, however. 

• Direct to Garment: Also known as DTG, this is a form of digital printing. It sprays ink onto the fabric. The imagery becomes a part of the garment itself so it can easily withstand plenty of laundering. It often produces better print quality than screen printing.
• Sublimation: This approach requires special paper and heat. The design is printed onto the paper, then transferred to the product with heat.
• Digital Printing: This method prints the design onto paper products pixel by pixel. 
• Embroidery: Embroidery uses thread, rather than ink.

Zazzle produces each t-shirt with DTG, but they offer two options: Classic or Vivid.

Classic printing is also known as single-process printing. Any white used in this process comes across as transparent. This means the t-shirt’s color will show through. 

Vivid printing, also known as double-process printing, has an upcharge. It’s because this process prints a layer of white onto the shirt before applying color. 

Right now, Zazzle does not offer engraving services.

Pricing

Creating and using a Zazzle account is free. You only pay for the custom products people buy and keep the profit for yourself. You set the retail pricing or your royalty rate.

The base price ranges from $13 to $24 (US dollars) on each piece of apparel. For non-apparel pricing, you can expect to spend anywhere from $2 to $300. You can also qualify for bulk order discounts to save on fees.

Optionally, you can sign up for Zazzle Black. It costs either $9.95/month for Standard or $39.95/year for Premium. 

Zazzle Black Standard includes unlimited standard shipping for qualifying products.

Zazzle Black Premium adds unlimited 2-3 days shipping for qualifying products.

Makers who purchase a lot of inventory for themselves may benefit from the savings free shipping offers.

Features

Zazzle has most of the same features as other print-on-demand companies. You can use it without an online store. It includes a mockup generator to help you see what your products will look like and market them to others. 

If you need design services, you can get in touch with people who will help you. It also offers personalization options like Printful and Custom Cat. 

The design tool is easy to use. You don’t have to have any experience with graphic design to produce high-quality products.

Ecommerce Integrations

Like CafePress and TeePublic, there are no ecommerce platform integrations. It’s meant to be a standalone store. If you already use something like BigCommerce or Wix, then you won’t be able to import orders from your website into Zazzle for production. It also means you won’t have as much control over the user experience for shoppers.

Since there are no ecommerce integrations, most people market their niche stores with social media ads. It’s easy to spread the word about the products you offer and drive traffic to your store.

Marketplace Integarations

There are no marketplace integrations for the Zazzle website. They want you to use the store they build for you, rather than also being able to sell your Zazzle products on eBay, Etsy, and Amazon.

Customer Support

Zazzle offers phone support and an in-depth help center. There are no dedicated account managers or live chat options. If you have questions that aren’t answered, you can reach out to customer service agents for help. Customer support is available for buyers and sellers.

Alternatives

If Zazzle isn’t sounding like the ideal printing partner, check out what these alternatives offer.

Printful

Printful is one of the best print-on-demand companies on the market today. We rank it high on our list because it is an all-in-one solution. Beyond creating merchandise, they also offer branding services, design services, and warehousing services. 

Printify

If you want something like Printful, but don’t need branding or warehousing, Printify may be the better option. You can get many of the same products you’d find on Zazzle and Printful at a lower cost. Since Zazzle handles the technical side of your store for you, their base prices are a bit higher.

CafePress

CafePress is a direct competitor. It also features a marketplace where you can buy other people’s products. If you don’t want the hassle of setting up your own store, then CafePress may be a good option.

Leave Your Review

Do you have any experience with Zazzle? Whether you’ve used Zazzle as a creator or you’ve ordered someone else’s products, we’d love for you to share your experience. Our readers appreciate insight from people like you.