I dare you to click on me!
Welcome to Cafe de Art! Here you will find my thoughts and reflections as related to art and design. I will be presenting my own creative expressions as appropriate to illustrate the creative projects I may be discussing. Because I market my expressions on gifts and apparel you will have the opportunity to shop for products I have designed. I hope you enjoy these thoughts and reflections.
After making the following posts in the CafePress forum on July 2, 2009, at 4:30 PM CST, my account was suspended. These forum post are presented to show other artists/designers what it takes to get suspended from the CafePress forums. It does not matter what insight you bring, what sense of humor or help you offer, your post may be sensored and your account suspended if the moderators see that you are not falling into line, that you are causing "trouble," or advocating change, even if this helps fellow artists/designers. You will definitely have your account suspended if you dare to whisper to others that they have been hurt, harmed and exploited and suggest that they seek legal aid or make a class action claim to protect their rights and recover damages.
But guess what? I could receive no greater honor than to have my account suspended for trying to help other artists/designers who have been hurt, harmed and lost potential earnings. It is important that someone stand up for rights of people when those rights have been abused and exploited. Thank you CP for kicking me out of your forums and throwing me like Br'er Rabbit into the briar patch. Uncle Remus would be proud of me!
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Let me begin by saying I love Cafepress and have two premium shops, Byteland Gifts & Apparel, and TopPics Awesome Designer Gifts, which I would like to invite everyone to visit and bookmark for your future shopping pleasure and delight. I also have numerous other shops on CafePress and as a long-time CafePress user and shopkeeper highly recommend CafePress to all artists, designers, photographers and creative individuals who would like to market their original creative expressions on gifts and apparel.
Because I am a great fan of CafePress, I want it to remain a profitable company and to satisfy its many shopkeepers and well as the general public. For this reason I believe it is necessary to express my opinions about how CafePress may provide a profitable and satisfying experience for its many shopkeepers and customers. Hopefully my opinions and constructive criticism will do exactly that and the management of CafePress will not just ignore what I have to say about certain policies they may have or may be considering to adopt in the future. I think that by listening to good customers and users of its service, the management of CafePress, its owners and operators, may benefit by providing not only a better service, but one which remains competitive and successful in these difficult economic times.
CafePress plans to change its policy June 1, 2009, such that everyone will only get a 10% commission of all products sold in the Marketplace across the board.
What do you think of this policy? Will it likely increase or decrease your profits? Do you want to retain your right to set your own commission rate in the Marketplace by being able to markup products however much you want for products that sell in your shop and/or in the Marketplace? Do you want CafePress to restore artists/shop keepers power to set markup price as their part of commission in their shops as well as in the Marketplace? Please sent your comments or replies to Terry. Thank you.
What do you think of CafePress's justification of a 10% commission rate? I quote:
As a professional artist/designer with many years experience in the industry I disagree with this decision. It is NOT fair to artists/designers because it does NOT take into account the value an individual's education, experience, skills, ability, talents and other creative expertise and name have when it comes to establishing the price of designer merchandise. It is categorically wrong, exploitive and perhaps even defamatory of artists/designers to say that who they are has no baring upon the value of a work imprinted upon merchandise, then to lump together all products and market them for the same price as work done by highly educated, experiences and talented artists/designers. This is certainly true when said designs where accepted for marketing under the TOS agreement that permitted artists/designers to set their own markup and rate of commission. If you change the TOS agreement such that only a 10% commission across-the-board is given on all products in the CP marketplace, this screws all artists/designers out of their right to set their own markup value. It is like saying your work is worth nothing!
This is like an inspector down grading the value of a home to secure a loan at less value than a home is worth, then turning around and raising the interest rate so that the bank can be then foreclose on the home and sell the home for a higher price, keeping the difference for themselves! In other words, what CafePress is saying they are going to do is downgrade the value of everyone's work, give only a 10% commissions, and then keep what will amount to a larger piece of the pie for themselves -- because they will want to set MarketPlace prices at the highest level that the market will bare. That means if professional artists/designers like me were previously able to command 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% or more for certain items, now that higher percentage will go to CafePress. It will not matter if you are a professional artist/designer, your work will not command a higher price due to your education, experience, name or other factors; your work will be worth only 10% commission in the marketplace. It does not matter if the work was done by a cockroach, a monkey, an elephant or some some worms dipped in paint and let to scroll around on a canvas. Who your are, your education and experience will no longer be a factor in setting the value of your work and the commission you may earn. Even a design made by an automatic, robotics program will be given the same value as a masterpiece you may have labored hours upon!
Therefore I say, "No Limit On Markup!, and made this design such that all artists may express themselves and seek to legally "Guarantee artists right to price their own work!" This can be done by urging state legislatures, especially in California and Kentucky and other state where CP may have offices, to pass a law protecting artists and designers as workers such that all POD services must by law permit users of their service to set their own markup, that this right man not be violated by TOS agreements that exploit artists and designers.
It should also be noted that 10% is not a fair commission rate to pay artists and designers for marketing products produced with designs that the artists and designers already own. A 10% license fees is only appropriate when a company owns a design and licenses that design or name for production and sell upon products. When a design is created and owned by an artist/designer you can not turn this around and say I will pay you only 10% to print-on-demand your designs and claim this is a fair commission. The only true fair commission in such a situation is to permit the artist/designer to set their own mark up as commission. This is because the artist/designer already owns the rights to the designs and is, in effect, granting CafePress a license to reproduce their designs for a commission value set in the markup of the products.
I repeat, you can NOT give artists/designers only 10% commission of designs they own and market these on products and say this is fair. To make this claim is very exploitative of artists/designers and is like CafePress saying everyone's work is worth the same amount regardless of their education, experience and professional skill, ability and talent. This simply is NOT true. This amounts to the degradation of the work of artists, and is akin to the same type of fraud that Wall Street and big banks have committed in the past upon home buyers. The fraud occurs because millions of people have submitted art and designs to CafePress with the TOS agreement that they would be permitted the right to set the markup amount as their commission rate. By changing the TOS and now saying that everyone will only get 10% for products sold in the marketplace, millions of artists and hundreds of millions of designs which belong to the artists and designers, not to CafePress, are being exploited because they are going to be paid a depreciated value for the usage of their work. The end result is that CafePress will be keeping a greater portion of the value of a sold product, no doubt to pay to management, instead of paying it to artists and designers as a fair and equitable commission.
To the creative community of contributors who submit work to CafePress I would think this is NOT acceptable, especially for work submitter prior to June 1, 2009. Therefore I would like to urge all artists, designers, photographers and other creative individuals who are shopkeepers to make it known to CafePress that you do not like this new police, that you want to retain the right to set your own markup and commission rate in the Marketplace as you do in your own store. Please reply to marketplacequestions@cafepress.com or to other CafePress staff and management and object to their plan to give only 10% commission for all products sold in the Marketplace!
The following essay addresses the issue of a 10% commission rate in the Marketplace as opposed to allowing artists/designers to set their own markup rate as their commission rate. These same considerations apply not only to CafePress but to any similar on-line service which is designed to profit from their creative work and expressions of contributors. Basically the question to ask and answer is what commission rate should artists/designers be paid by on-line services such as CafePress?
Some background facts:
Ever since CafePress began as an on-line business it has permitted artists/designers to set their own markup which equals their commission. A monthly fee is also charged for premium shops. It has been regarded as a fair and just policy to permit artist/designers or other creative individuals and shopkeepers to set their own markup/commission rate. This allows everyone to establish the price they want to receive from letting CafePress market their work.
Recently (Spring 2009) CafePress proposes to change it policy such that in the CafePress Marketplace a 10% commission will be paid on all products across the board. The logic is that CafePress created a market and hence deserves to be able to control the price in that market and also may deserve a greater percentage of profits from sales in said market. This may allow it to compete better with other similar services. However doing so means that the rules are being changed.
By only paying 10% commission in the Marketplace, CafePress will be creating confusion. Shoppers will not understand why they have to pay more for items purchased in the Marketplace they they do in a shopkeepers store? Plus this will hurt the profits of professional artists/designers and those who have large shops because they can usually market their products for a higher rate then only 10% commission. This is due in large part because a professional artist/designer or very creative person has the education, experience, talent or other skills and ability to know how to make a superior product. Therefore why should their work be equated to the lower value of everyone else's work, especially when many contributors do not have the education or experience to demand or command a higher price for their designer products?
Professional artists/designers and long-time users of CafePress have also invested a great deal of time and effort into building their shops. For example, I have over 13,000 products in my CafePress shops. Why should suddenly I begin to receive only 10% commission on products which I have previously sold for 20% to 50% commission? Also, the Marketplace which CafePress says it created is, in fact, stocked by products contributors created, including all keyword product tags which enable the Marketplace to function. Because the entire content including keywords is created by contributors to CafePress, and everyone may use Google or other search engines to find products on the Internet, should not artists/designers be entitled to set their own markup prices and commissions in the Marketplace? If CafePress wants a bigger piece of the pie, it can always change the BASE PRICE of items to cover its expenses, operating cost and still make a huge profit.
With these questions in mind the following analysis and considerations may be of interest to all artists, designers, photographers and shopkeepers who use CafePress. Remember, if CafePress adopts a policy to set prices on products equal across the board in the Marketplace there will be no reason for people to shop in your store; they will get lower prices in the Marketplace that CafePress says is their creation. But really the CafePress Marketplace is just a megalithic store with search engines that is full of all user content. Although CafePress has done a good job of indexing materials and creating categories, still the entire content and keyword tags are generated by the artists, designers, photographers and creative individuals who have taken the time and effort to not only make designs, but to upload them to CafePress with their respective keyword tags. Therefore for CafePress to claim it deserves a larger chunk of the profits by giving artists/designers only a meager 10% commission seems somewhat greedy, if not down right exploitative.
Please consider the following argument. Then let me know what your thoughts are upon this topic.
Ever since CafePress started artists/shop owners have been able to set their own markup prices. This is one of the best features of CafePress. It allows products to be correctly priced to reflect the quality of the design, the popularity of the topic and the reputation of the artist making the design. Those designs made by a professions artist who has a degree and many years of experience should NOT sale at the same low price as designs made by less experienced artists, photographers or designers. Let's face it, traditionally the name recognition of the artist has been a major factor in establishing the price of products featuring their work. My work has sold for as much as 30% to 50% markup over the years on CafePress. Hence if CafePress gives only a 10% across the board commission for items sold in the CafePress Marketplace, I will be losing the majority of my profits and my work will be equated to that of the majority of amateurs on CafePress who have neither a degree in Art or on-the-job experience working for major corporations.
I know people who have talent can make fabulous designs with aid of graphic design programs, clip art and even ideas they pirate from more experienced artists. But CafePress would be wrong to reward such behavior by taking away the power of artists to set their own prices. I believe is someone has a degree in art from a university and years of experience they should be able to price their own products to reflect the fact the are a professional artist. A 10% across the board commission should NOT apply to professional artists. If it does, this is going to drive professional artists away from CafePress over time, especially as software and hardware becomes available for people to establish their own businesses and directly market products to large databases of consumers world-wide.
Make no doubt about it, such technology is becoming available. Anyone can already purchase the equipment and materials needed to operate their own production, given they have the capitol. Also there are many new print on demand companies springing up all over the Internet and world. Most of these new companies realize that artists want to be able to set their own markup. Hence these companies represent competition for CafePress and if CafePress moves to set a 10% across the board commission in the Marketplace, this is going to hurt professional artist and drive them to other services. Hence a 10% across the board commission in the Marketplace will hurt CafePress as well as hurt professional artist and designers.
Generally the BASE PRICE of a product should cover CafePress's profits. If CafePress needs to increase anything it should just increase its BASE PRICE. After all that is what a BASE PRICE is, the price necessary to cover the cost of merchandise, its printing, shipping, handling and a profit for CafePress. The Markup price is the artists/shop owners profit. By changing the policy and limiting commissions to only 10% across the board in the Marketplace, this will create great confusion, incorrectly indicate the value of products featuring work created by professional artists/designers and hurt not only CafePress, but those professional artists who have the value of their work degraded by a policy which equates all products of equal value without considering the professional skills, ability, experience and reputation of the artist/designer.
I urge CafePress to reconsider its policy and to continue to allow artists/shop owners to set their own markup. CafePress can change the base price of products if it wants to make a greater percentage of profits. But the work of all designed items should not be made equal, because this then does not take into account the education and experience of the artist/designer and the fact that designs on products created by professionals are more valuable than products which have designs that are not created by a professional.
Our whole system of education is based upon getting a degree and working in one's profession such that the products of one's labor then have a value based not so much upon the nature of the product, but upon the NAME of the artist/designer who creates the product. This is why so many products that are endorsed by celebrities or created by famous artist/designers, can command a high price. It really does matter who the artist is and even if they are just making cartoons or simplistic designs, still their reputation is a factor in being able to market products for a higher price.
If an artist creates a character which becomes popular on television, in a movie, in a video game, through syndication in newspapers and magazines or even through usage in a video game, on the Internet or other media, then any product with those designs may be made more valuable depending upon the popularity and demand of the character. This is what makes merchandise with popular themes and characters more valuable. Then if the artist actually signs such merchandise they become even more valuable.
Unless the value of merchandise reflects the name and reputation of the artist/designer to justly compensate the artist/designer, they are being exploited. The best way to avoid the exploitation of artist/designers is to continue to allow everyone to set their own markup for items in the SHOPS as well as in the CafePress Marketplace.
Let's face it, on the Internet the real marketplace is Google and other search engines. Anyone who has the money to pay for positioning will be able to drive more traffic to their site than otherwise will be generated. If a service like CafePress wishes to pay for advertising on Google or other search engines it should not do this by trying to equate the value of all merchandise and diminish the profits of professional artists/designers, who would then not have enough to pay for their own positioning on Google or other similar services.
Because the key to driving traffic to a site is being able to pay to position on that first page, and because professional artist/designers need to retain a higher price for their products to be able to justify such fees, CafePress should not equate the value of all merchandise as equal and only pay 10% to professional artists/designers. Those professional artist/designers who have invested in their education, who have years of experience and who have also invested the time and effort to build well stocked shops on CafePress deserve whatever compensation they desire. That is why professional artists/designers should continue to be able to set their own markups, be it 20%, 30%, 40% or even 50% to 100% or more, and receive said markups as their commissions.
If one pays Disney studios for a license to use a Mickey Mouse design, obviously the value of T-shirts or other products with those licensed designs should command whatever high markup the artist/designer so desires. The same holds true if one licenses any design. If CafePress gives only a 10% commission across the board in the Marketplace, this will not reflect the true value of designer products, especially those which have been independently licensed, as one can see that products have a value which increases with the popularity of the character or theme.
This is why, in fact, designs related to Twilight or American Idol are popular. It is also why if as a professional artist I create such characters as Robo Bugs, Ms Anime or Alien Arthropods, that products which these signature character designs should NOT have a set 10% commission. These designs have a greater value because they were made by a professional artist/designer, and should they become popular they should command whatever price the artist/designer wishes. To devalue products with these or other signature designs, will be to falsely equate their value with the value of products not designed by a professional artist/designer.
It may be fraudulent to misrepresent the value of work by professional artists, photographers or designers. This is why CafePress would be wise to retain the policy to permit professional artist to set their own markup prices. Then if professional artist make more profits they can invest a portion of this in positioning their shops on Google or other search engine services.
The result will be more traffic and more profits for CafePress may grow over time. In any case, as CafePress can set a BASE PRICE to cover its cost and make whatever profit it desires, it is not necessary to limit commissions in the Marketplace to only 10% across the board. Not only is this confusing (unless shop prices and marketplace prices are equal it is very confusing), but it misrepresents the true value of products. This is because the true value of a designer product always must include such factors as the artist/designer who made the design.
A T-shirt designed by Picasso, Van Gogh or Jackson Pollock, obviously would be worth more than one designed by me, you or John or Jane Doe. Hence it is most honest and accurate to permit professional artist to be able to set their own markup for designer products. Quite frankly products which carry the signature design, copyright or otherwise may be attributed to a professional artist are more valuable than products that do not have this recognition or association. Although I may not be Picasso, Van Gogh or Jackson Pollock, I have more education in the Arts then any of these famous artists, and certainly have greater expertise when it comes to digital design. Hence my work, as well as that of other professional artists, should command a higher price than that of armatures, pirates or profiteers who see my work on CafePress and plagiarize it for their own profit.
I believe the reputation of CafePress will be hurt if it adopts a policy to only give 10% commission in the MarketPlace to all products. The idea that all T-shirt or other products should have an equal value based upon what the competition sells products for is fallacious. This is because the true value of a product must include the value associated with the individual professional artist/designer.
As a professional artist/designer I would like CafePress to tag my shops such that all my designer products will have whatever markup value I specify, whether they are in my SHOP or in the CafePress Marketplace. To give products only a 10% commission across the board when they are designed by professional artists/designers may be quite insulting, ludicrous and defamatory to some professionals, as it negates the high value their work has because of their professional skills, ability and experience. It simply is unjust, if not fraudulent, to say that a T-shirt or other product designed by a professional artist is equal to the value of all other T-shirts because a T-shirt is a T-shirt and all T-shirts have the same value. This is true of any product created or marketed by a professional artist/designer. The value of a product is NOT determined solely by the type of product, but also has a large degree of its value attributed to the artist/designer. If CafePress fails to recognize this fact and to adopts a policy which does not permit professional artist to set their own markup for all products sold on CafePress, then this may hurt professional artists, both in name, reputation and profits they make from their work in their CafePress shops.
I urge CafePress to maintain a policy which permits artists and designers to set their own markup on all products, whether sold in the CafePress Marketplace or in their shops. The value of a product must include the fact that it may have been designed by a professional artist/designer who has built a reputation for themselves. Otherwise it is like saying the any dog, cat, bird, monkey, beast or child may scribble something or mark upon a piece of paper and that this random design has as much value as a design created by a master artist/designer. In fact, there have been people who have tried to market such beastly scribbling for their novelty value. Even random images of religious symbolism burnt into toast, formed in chocolate or created in other objects may have this sort of novelty value. However, the value of such novelty creations is really in those who use the animal, child or random creations as a tool to create designs which are then marketed. The value of such designs remains largely attributed to the humans, and not the beasts. If CafePress does not continue to allow professional artist/designers to set their own markup prices both in the Marketplace and in shopkeeper stores, then it negates the added value that is attributed to a product because someone invested time, effort, skills, ability, imagination and other intellectual attributes into the creation of a product for marketing.
I believe it will hurt CafePress's reputation to not allow professional artists/designers to set their own markup prices throughout the CafePress Marketplace. Quite frankly I believe my work, as well as that created by other professional artists/designers, has a higher value than that created by a cockroach crawling through paint, a monkey slinging dung or an elephant scribbling upon a canvas. The novelty value of such "art" will never come close to the extremely high value that can be commanded of true ART created by professional human beings who are artists, designers or photographer. Yet if CafePress equates the value of all merchandise as equal without permitting the artists/designers to markup the value of products because of who created the design or other artistic factors, then it is like saying professional artists and designers are just monkeys working for CafePress; that their work has no merit or value; that there is only a value of materials; and that the years of education, on the job experience or other devotion to the mastery of one's art and craft accounts for nothing when it comes to the value of a designer product!
I urge all professional artists and designers to join together and protest the dehumanization of their work by a policy which does not allow them to set their own markup value for their work. A large portion of the value of products or merchandise comes from the fact that it may have been produced by a professional artist/designer or other talented person who has invested much time and effort into developing their skills and ability and mastering their art and craft. It is therefor unjust and defamatory to negate the value of a professional artist's/designer's work by adopting a policy which does not allow artists/designers to set their own markup values for all products or merchandise sold in any marketplace.
I urge all professional artist and designer to stand up together and demand that they be allowed to set their own markup value for all products or merchandise sold in any and every marketplace. This applies especially to the CafePress marketplace. If CafePress wants to increase its share of profits for a given item of merchandise it has only to increase its BASE PRICE. But to set an arbitrary 10% across the board commission for all items in the Marketplace is to negate the added value designer products have because of the fact they were created by a professional artist/designer or someone else who has exceptional talent or other skills and abilities they have invested much time, effort and money to develop.
Now I might be a more happy camper if CafePress marked up all items in the marketplace by 30% to 50% and gave this marked up value as commission, which is what I often get for much of my designer products. But I will never be happy with only a 10% commission which is what you can get for a design made by a cockroach, monkey or elephant! A 10% commission is that which anyone who pirates or steals can get; but as a professional artist/designer my original creations can command a much higher price. The same is true for the work created by many other professional artists, designers and photographers. This should not be confusing to shoppers who are intelligent beings and who know that the value of designer products relates to many factors, including not only the novelty or popularity of a design or slogan, but the NAME of the artist or creator of the design. In fact, shoppers quite often pay much inflated prices for products which carry a NAME BRAND based upon the celebrity status of the designer. CafePress should NOT negate the added value of products based upon the NAME or REPUTATION of the artist/designer and/or such other popularity as the artist/designer may bring to a product created to stand out in the marketplace.
If CafePress really wants to improve the quality of its designer products and its profits across the board, it should make more information available to its shopkeepers, that they can better understand how to price items in the marketplace to generate higher sales. CafePress does not need to adopt a policy which will negate the value of work created by professional artist/designers in order to get a higher percentage of profits for itself. Rather, what CafePress should do is continue to permit professional artist/designer to set their own markups in the marketplace and then provide access to statistical and other information which will permit shopkeepers to know how to better price their own items to maximize sales and profits.
Those who have the power and control to set CafePress policy need to realize that the many professional artist/designers and creative people who contribute their work to CafePress are intelligent people. If you provide the information as well as the tools needed, we can all make intelligent decisions. We do not generally want CafePress to be acting as a "Big Brother" when it comes to setting the price or value of our work. What we want is the freedom to market our work at a value we set and establish for ourselves, based upon our own understanding of the marketplace and knowledge of our own self-worth and the value of our work.
Too often policies are adopted by management which exploit artists/designers and other creative people. I believe adopting a policy to pay only 10% commission across the board in the CafePress Marketplace will be equating the work of everyone to that of work created by cockroaches, monkeys or other animals -- that this will be exploitative of artists, designers and other creative individuals. As a professional artist/designer with years of experience, my work has a greater value than that of paint splattered upon a canvas at random by a monkey or an elephant. My work is more valuable than that done by a child or someone who has no education or experience. The same hold true for all other professional artists, designers, photographers or creative individuals. It would be unjust, defamatory and hurtful to not permit professional artists/designers the right to set their own markup and commissions upon all products in the marketplace. This is true even if I want to markup an item 100% or 200% just as a fund raiser for a favorite charity!
As a professional artist/designer I should have the right to set my own markup prices for products. It should not matter why I want to set the markup price of a product to any amount, however reasonable or unreasonable. The right to set the markup price and to receive a commission based upon the full markup price should remain a right professional artist/designers retain when using CafePress and its marketplace. To take away this right hurts artists, designers, photographers and other creative individuals. Perhaps it hurts those most who have the greatest invested in their work and professions as then their education, on the job experience, and cumulative skills and abilities which are reflected in every design, are devalued and become of little merit and are regarded as insignificant should a policy to give only 10% commission across the board in the Marketplace be adopted by CafePress.
To devalue the work of professional artist/designers in this manner is both exploitive as well as fraudulent. It is a lie to say or imply that their work of a professional artist/designer or other creative person does not have any greater value than that of someone who does not have a degree and/or years of experience and a history as a creative artist/designer. Therefore I urge all artist/designers and creative people who agree with me to stand up and demand that they be given a right to set their own markup on all items sold in the market place, whether it be on CafePress, Zazzel, Amazon.com, eBay or such other services as may be created upon the Internet.
Can you imagine the uproar that might be heard if eBay suddenly said that everyone would only get paid 10% for all products sold, regardless of their value? Well, that is basically what CafePress is doing by saying it will adopt a 10% commission across the board for all products sold in the CafePress Marketplace. The argument that CafePress must compete with other services so must lower its commissions to only 10% does not hold water. This is true because CafePress can always raise or lower its BASE PRICE on products. It does not have to cut into the profits of artist/designers by lowering their commissions to only 10% across the board. It does not take a genius to figure out that CafePress has the statistical information to know the average or optimal price that a product sales for and that by establishing such a price for product 10% commission given to an artist will represent much less than what the artist would be able to make by setting their own markup. Hence, such a policy will hurt professional artists, designers and photographers the most, because they are the ones who can command a higher price for their high quality designs. In other word, the new policy to pay only a 10% commission across the board in the marketplace, cuts into the profits of professional artists/designers.
Therefore I urge all professional artists, designers and photographers who use CafePress to demand that they be allowed to continue to get commissions for all their work based upon a markup commission rate. If CafePress wants a greater piece of the pie, it should increase its BASE PRICE for products, do a better job buying in bulk, offer more product options to increase its product base, and also create better tools that will enable shopkeeper to be empowered with the information they need to better produce and manage their stores. In fact, one of the reason other services are taking business away from CafePress is because they are investing in better software and tools while providing more product options. Plus the on-line services which compete with CafePress are continuing to allow users the freedom to set their own commissions by marking up the price of products however much shopkeepers desire.
If those with the power to set policy at CafePress do not listen to professional artist/designers and adopt a policy which pays only 10% commissions across the board in the Marketplace, this is going to hurt a lot of people. It is going to hurt artists, designers and photographers most, as they are the ones who have invested so much in their education and development of their skills, abilities and talents. If CafePress adopts polices which drive away professional artist/designers and those who are most talented, it is not going to compete effectively with other on-line services, especially as software and hardware become available to those professionals who, as entrepreneurs and business men and women, also want to have power and control over their own production of designer merchandise.
Upper management often makes a critical mistake when it adopts policy which does not adequately recognize or reward its workers. This has happened in many industries and is one reason we are currently is such an economic crisis as a nation. Having a policy which enable everyone to set their own markup as a commission rate is a very good policy, as it satisfies the contributing artist/designer who is CafePress's BIGGEST CUSTOMER! Without the work contributed by artists, designers and photographers, there would really be no CafePress. The success of CafePress and its future existence therefore depends upon satisfying its BIGGEST CUSTOMER which is the artist, designers and photographers and everyone else who contributors product designs. If you make these people unhappy by not allowing them to maximize their profits by setting their own markup commissions rates, beware the consequences!
I hope CafePress continues to grow and to be successful in the market place. That is why I also hope CafePress does not stop allowing its professional artist/designers to set their own markup commissions. I am a firm believer in the old adage, "It it ain't broken, don't fix it!" Allowing everyone to set their own markup commissions works! Don't screw things up by changing this policy. I believe this will have bad consequences for CafePress. Just the idea of doing this already does not set well with professional artists/designers. It gives the impression that those in management with power and control are greedy and want to exploit artist and designers, to take what would be profit for the artists and designers away from them and use it to pay management. Am I wrong about this or have I hit the nail on the head?
So I say, if it ain't broken, don't fix it! Retain the policy which allows everyone to set their own markup commission rates for all products across the board. Don't try to exploit artists/designers by giving them only a 10% commission in the Marketplace. Let artists/designers set their own markup and commission rates. Otherwise you will be exploiting artists especially those who are professional and who have been in the business long enough to know how to recognize such exploitation for what it is -- just a way to exploit the talents of artist and other creative individuals and to keep more of the profits for management.
Remember CafePress is a private corporation. Its contributing artists/designers do not have any vote in making policy. Therefore any such policy which effect their earnings is open to question. Millions of dollars are made by CafePress off of the work of artists/designers who have no vote in policy making decisions. Hence by its very nature CapePress is exploiting artists and designers, especially if it takes away the right of said artist/designers to set their own markup commissions. Doing that one thing runs the risk of destroying the very good relationship CafePress and other companies like it have with artist/designers. I don't want to see that good relationship destroyed by a callous, greedy management or corrupt policy; therefore I urge those in power and control of CafePress policy to NOT adopt a 10% across the board commission policy in the Marketplace. Rather, continue to permit artists/designers to set their own markup commission rates!
The following companies are recommends to artists, designers and photographers who may want to market their products using print-on-demand services.
Are you thinking of starting a new on-line business to market your creative expressions? If so Money Tree Tees provides a quality service and is very easy to use.
You may have heard that money does not grow on trees. That is absolutely true. But you can make money on-line working at home. In fact, now you can start your own Money Tree Tees store today! Although money may not grow on trees, it sure does grow on tees! If you are creative, know how to take digital photographs, and enjoy making new and clever designs, you have everything that is needed to start your own home business. At Money Tree Tees we provide you with a full service on-line store where you can design and sell products to the world wide community. Unlike many businesses, on-line marketing is relatively recession proof, as you have no overhead, do not have to keep any stock and can set your own markup commission rates for everything you sell. Many people have started their own successful home businesses in exactly this manner. You can do the same today. Just go to Money Tree Tees and open your own store. It is absolutely FREE! You pay nothing. In your shop you may feature a large variety of quality gifts and apparel products and earn money for yourself or your group, club, team or other organization. Opening your own Money Tree Tees store is a great way to enable everyone to support your favorite cause or work. Just click on Money Tree Tees to open your own store today. Then in no time at all you will find money growing on the T-shirts and other gifts and apparel you design. It is just like having a money tree in your own home!
CafePress -- I have enjoyed a very good experience with CafePres where I maintain two premium stores: Byteland Gifts & Apparel and TopPics Awesome Designer Gifts & Apparel. However CafePress charges a monthly fee for premium shops and as of June 1, 2009, plan to adopt a 10% across the board commission policy for all sales in the CafePress Marketplace. This means the value of original designs by artists, designers, photographer and other creative individuals will no longer be a function of the commissions that one may earn unless the sale is made in their own shop. Thus if an item with a base price of $20.00 is sold for $30.00 one will only get a $3.00 commission; whereas, prior to this change one would get a $10.00 commission. This new police may significantly reduce the profits of professional artists who use CafePress and are custom to marking up the price of their quality products a premium amount (between 20% to 50% or more.
Printfection -- You will probably like PrintFection as it does not charge anything for premium stores. As of this writing a nice selection of some 32 different products are provided. You can print of both the front and back of apparel, including both black and white or other colored apparel. Plus shoppers can place bulk orders. Printfection allows you to set your own markup, a policy which CP announced it will discontinue on 1 June, 2009. Many CP users are searching for other PoD service providers, given they feel betrayed by CP who changed the TOS agreement they had AFTER millions of users submitted designs with the agreement that they could set their own markup as commission.
Zazzle.com -- Zazzles has a great line of products and allows the buyer to customize designs. However Zazzle does not have shopkeeper stores.
Spreadshirt.net -- This service is located in Europe and is a good option for those who cater to a European audience. SS has opened an office in the United States and may enjoy stimulate growth as dissatisfied CP shopkeepers look for other PoD service providers in the future.
For a good review of Printfection, Zazzle and Spreadshirt see CafePress Alternatives & Competitors
The CP commercial bomb of giving only 10% commission to artists/designers for marketplace sales exploded with outrage on June 1, 2009. Many CP shopkeepers have realized that they are being exploited, that their education, experience and talent have not been taken into consideration by CP as adding value to their work. Many dissatisfied artists/designers have therefore decided to look for other POD services to market their outstanding and unique creations.
A number of blogs and other sites have popped up where you can read about the disappointment being expressed. In fact, users of POD services are even making designs to promote their disappointment or call for political action to change the law so that POD services must permit artists/designers the right to set their own markup value. After all this is a labor issue and if a 10% commission equates to the exploitation of labor than a new law is demanded to stop this type of exploitation by POD services.
Below I have listed various blogs and site discovered related to this issue:
How many uploads CP gets per day is NOT a way to determine if their new policy to pay only 10% in the marketplace exploits artists/designer. The fact is, this policy DOES exploit artists/designers because it does NOT take into consideration the value added to merchandise by the education, experience and talents of artists/designers. It may take time to organize and/or see how they respond. In time you will definitely see a response in the form of artist/designers moving to other POD services. It is a very bad policy to not recognize the fact that artist/designers bring value to the POD merchandise they create and that this value is a function of the education, experience and talent they bring to their work.Hence I have decided to give away FREE Stores to all unhappy CP campers at Money Tree Tees.
These stores are stocked with high quality American Apparel gifts and apparel. You can set your own markup and earn what YOU think your work is worth, as certainly YOU are the best judge of that.
I hope this will help those who are hurting from the reckless disregard CP has shown to those artists/designers who have helped make it a successful POD. If that applies to YOU, now you can take power and control over your own work and self expression and get a FREE STORE that lets you set your own markup on off designer merchandise you produce.
Feel free to share this FREE STORE offer and link with other unhappy CP campers. I hope this will help everyone who is hurting from having had the value of their hard work and efforts so exploited by what is obviously the greed of management wanting to get a bigger piece of the pie for itself without considering how this is unjust and hurts artists/designers.
Get your FREE STORE now at Money Tree Tees
You may find it interesting to know that you are NOT alone. There are other unhappy CP campers who do not like the way they will be exploited by CP when the new policy to pay only 10% commission across-the-board for sales in the marketplace takes effect June 1, 2009.
You can find a complete review regarding this new policy and why it exploits artists/writers at Cafe de Art.
I have used the analogy that this new policy is like a commercial bomb. I think that is a good comparison because the new policy does NOT take into consideration the value added to designer work based upon the education, experience and talent of the artist/designer. Hence the artist/designer is being exploited.
This new policy permits CP to keep a bigger piece of the pie for itself to pay managers and others who have the power and control to set policy. It violated the TOS agreement in effect since the conception of CP which permitted artist/designers to set their own markup and earn a fair commission for their work. This is akin to going back on one's word or promise, is it not!
For this reason I can understand why many who have used CP over the years will be disappointed with the new PIMP policy. I am using that term because when a big company adopts a policy that turns artists/designers into prostitutes, forced to accept whatever one will pay to screw them over, that is much like the situation prostitutes are in; they do all the work, get screwed and the pimp takes all the money except what little they pan out.
Really, it does NOT feel good to not be paid what one's work is worth given their education, experience or talent. But that is exactly what a 10% across-the-board policy does; it turns every artist/designer into a prostitute, peddling their wares for whatever CafePimp with pay.
Don't get me wrong, I love CP. What I don't like is to suddenly be hit in the fact, to be battered and abused, to have someone say I am worthless! Yet that is what this new policy does; it says I'm a prostitute, I'm not worth anything. And in saying that it kicks me out the door onto the street and says, "Screw you!" If you don't like it I'll find someone to take your place.
It is this type of pimp policy which hurts people. I'm sorry if such analogy offends anyone, but you should be offended by the policy, not by someone who is sensitive and care about how this will hurt people.
I'm a sensitive person. I can't help but feel for how this policy will hurt creative people. I still believe if you have the education, the experience and the talent, that makes your work worth more than if you were just peddling something made by worms dipped in paint and let to squirm and wiggle at random on a canvas. To me as an artist/designer who has education, experience and talent, you bring value to your work. To say you are only worth 10% and try to make you accept and believe that is to PIMP your work, to turn your into a prostitute.
Such exploitation of workers is common place in third world nations. It also happen here in America, especially to migrant farm workers. But 10% does not even equate to minimum wage. I suggest that perhaps we need laws to protect people who contribute to POD type services, to protect the worker, the artist/designers. That law should say that POD contributors must be permitted to set their own markup.
This needs to be made law! I urge every artist/designer and creative person to write their representatives and urge that they pass both national and state laws that require that all POD services permit contributor to set their own markup. Unless this is done POD companies like CP which adopt a 10% policy across-the-board will be exploiting artist/designers.
So people, if you don't want to get screwed by CP's exploitative policy, take action! Urge everyone to demand that states pass a law to protect them from big companies like CP who decide they will break their own TOS agreements and pimp the hard work of artists/designers by not allowing artist/designers to set their own markup.
This is a very reasonable solution to the problem. It may take time and effort. But if companies like CP see that there is a movement to demand change in the laws to permit artist/writers to set their own markup, perhaps this will get them to reconsider their pimping policies. This strategy has worked for the workers in the past and it can work for the workers in the future. So I say let's make it law that POD companies must permit workers to set their own markup; that if a company changes this policy it must pay retribution in an amount to what people would have earned if they had been permitted to set their own markup, that retribution equal to a 50% markup.
If this is done it will prevent companies like CP from screwing the workers, from exploiting artists/designers and essentially saying that they are worthless, despite their education, experience or talents.
If you like this idea you can email me at terry@byteland.org. Of course you can also write your congressman and send a copy of the letter to CP. Also you can start an on-line petition to be sent to CP. If we do this it will show CP that we are NOT happy campers and do NOT accept the exploitation they have proposed!
What do you think? All replies would be appreciated.
After CP announces its 10% across-the-board policy change and opened its forums for replies, many people expressed alarm and concern. After reading through many of these comments, I made the following post which was removed by CP censors aka "monitors." Apparently they did not take kindly to my encouraging everyone to make designs to express their outrage over being exploited by CP.
Truth or lies: The great CP richer-than-rich rip-off I've been hearing a lot of rumors. Maybe they are true; maybe they are lies. They could be true or just the fabrications of unhappy CP campers who feel they've been screwed by CP's 10% across-the-board commission policy which basically rips off artists/designers and does not pay them anything near what their work is worth.
In any case what I heard, be it truth or lies, is that when the stock market crashed ... you do remember that the stock market crashed, right ... and that thousands of people lost tons of money and that the Feds ended up having to bail out financial institution after financial institution ... that millions of people have been having their homes foreclosed upon, me included...
Well, this left a lot of managers and financial wizards, corporate lawyers, etc. unemployed. Guess where a few of them ended up .... CP
Now these are people who really are good at stealing other people's money. So they took a look at CP TOS policy and got to scheming. They all put their heads together and came up with this great way to con artists/designers out of all their hard earnings. They would just give a 10% commission across-the-board to everyone, regardless of your education, experience, talent, skill, ability ... what difference does that make. Then in a very short order this would generate millions upon millions of dollars. No matter about the legalities, about breaking promises... that would all be covered by a new TOS agreement and more and more fine print so that CP would not be liable no matter how many artists/designers it hurt.
In the blink of an eye CP could then score a killing in the so called CP "marketplace" aka rip-off robot program they had running. Then before you could say, "Screwed up the lardy shopkeeper's you know what," why these folk giggling the numbers would run off to Costa Rica for a pow-wow. While there they noticed just how great a deal the real estate market is and presto, invested millions of our lost commission dollars in off shore property.
So what you bet this has not happened already. After all, the IRS is going to be loosing tax dollars they would have been getting from success shopkeepers who have been shot down and killed by this crazy scheme. The IRS does not like loosing money so they will be looking into CP. Those who conjured up this scheme know this because they already were involved in screwing millions of people out of their hard earn money when they were working for other big companies that have now folded. So they would naturally have a plan in place to jump ship and save their asses before the ship goes down.
This, then, is what I think. It may be truth or it may be lies. In any case I can't give out the names of any anonymous sources. But this is what I've heard. CP is going to jump ship and move off shore. After all, labor is cheaper in third world nations. Also this way they can avoid the problems that are going to be coming from the IRS. Now don't get me wrong. These financial wizards who cooked up this get richer than rich scheme are not fools; they are very smart. They didn't do anything illegal. After all they had that old TOS agreement that could be changed at anytime with no questions asked. And being a private company CP can do whatever they wish, no matter who it hurts.
Thus these very clever executives have a get-out-of-town plan. They will jump ship, move all their money to Costa Rica, burn their bridges, start a new business, and live high off the hog for the rest of their lives employing slave labor to grow a new money tree far and away from the laws of the United States of America.
In fact, I was already told by someone on these boards that the LAW which applies to all of us does NOT apply to CP. Forget the US Constitution. Forget freedom of the press and speech... this does not apply to CP. Somehow CP is God and the law which applies to all of us does not apply to these CP'ers. Yes, I was actually told this. Truth or lies ... it is the truth I was told this, but it is a lie, because in America the US Constitution and the law applies equally across-the-board to EVERYONE. The law does NOT stop at CP doorway.
However, this gives you an idea the type of lies that are going around and what they want you to believe. It makes me sick to realize they would be telling people these type of lies. But that is what is happening. They pull this get richer than rich scam, expect everyone to believe it, and then expect everyone to believe that they are above the law! Really, now!
Truth or lies? I for one don't buy it. My work is worth more than 10% which is just crumbs. Even my dog's art, the doggie poop it leaves piled in the yard, is worth more than 10%. I know this as I recall that fellow who made a work of art out of dung and displayed it in a very high and reputable museum to the outrage and acclaim of all far and wide! Now if doggie poop is worth more than 10%, is not my work and your work worth more than 10%? I would think so. (Oh, and yes, I know this fellow actually used elephant dung -- but I don't see what difference that makes; dung is dung by any other name... it is all dung like this crazy 10% across-the-board markup scheme.)
Truth or lies? In any case, these bright and clever financial wizards at CP aka CafePoop, have it all figured out. They will get richer than rich and jump ship, go down to Costa Rica, or some other third world country, buy up property at ridiculously low rates, build estates, mansions, castles, and factors, and laugh their heads off at all the gullable artists/designers they were able to rip-off at CP.
Truth or lies? At this point I think my ponderings are more truth than lies. Even if we all got together and tried to change the law so that all POD service providers had to permit artists/designers the right to set their own markup without limit, still we would be screwed. Those who implemented this get richer-than-rich policy will be long gone before any new laws can take effect. You see, this sort of thing has been done before. They know that once the doggie pooh hits the fan they have to get out of town fast. It happened with the carpet baggers in the south after the Civil War, it happened with the collapse of the banks in the great depression and then again more recently with the collapse of financial institutions on Wall Street. It is happening again. History is repeating itself and guess who is getting screwed this time??? It is me and you, that's who!
Truth or lies? What do you think? I'd not be surprised if the Chinese have already bought CP and are planning to open up a factory in Shanghai!
Truth or lies? All I know for sure is that this whole CP richer-than-rich rip-off is making me sick. I literally feel sick as I read everyone's post. I can feel the hurt. I can feel the tears. Some people don't have much and depend upon their income from CP to pay their rent of buy food for their families. They have been hurt. I can feel their suffering as I read through these posts and it is making me sick.
Truth or lies? I can now truthfully say that I am a starving CP artist and that I'm not the only one. I feel like someone cut open my gut with a knife and pulled out my entrails. I guess I'm too sensitive to be reading these posts. When I read the reactions of many it just literally makes me sick.
Truth or lies? All I know is that I think we should all make a design about how we feel and post these designs in our shops! Yes, OUR SHOPS. These shops belong to us! The potential value of our work belongs to US! No one at CP has a right to take away what belong to us. They can scheme and plot and tell lies and weave crooked tails, but in the end it is all just more doggie pooh. These are OUR SHOPS. We are not just lowly, worth nothing "shopkeepers" with no rights, with no laws to protect us. We each and everyone of us have a voice. So I say, SPEAK OUT! Make a design that shows how you feel! Post your designs in YOUR SHOPS. If the designs are flagged, post them again and again under a different name. Keep making new designs each day to express how you feel and what you think about this the big CP richer-than-rich rip-off.
There is power in our collective voices. We are all artists/designers here. And we need to boost our sales now that CP is ripping us off. So what better way to do it than make new designs to let the whole world know how we feel and that we won't take it any more!
I already made my design. It say, "10% Commission For POD Sucks." I made another which says, "No Limit POD On Markup" with a no symbol over 10% in "POD." I posted these in my CP shop as an expression of the sickness I have felt when reading through everyone's post and the outrage many have expressed in this regard. I have used these designs to illustrate my site at http://www.byteland.org/cafedeart/index.html.
I'd like to see everyone who has been effected by this issue make a design. I actually felt a little better after making these designs, so maybe that constitutes "art therapy." Maybe it will make you feel a little better also if you make a design. Heck, we got to do something. Who knows, someone might even be able to recoup some of the money they have lost through this great CP richer-than-rich rip-off.
Truth or lies? Perhaps I'll use that as the theme of my next design. How does one illustrate the concept of "Truth or Lies?" Perhaps with a big question mark over 10% Markup Rip-off!
Truth or lies? What do you think?
CPooh seems to have created a giant Google trap which is luring Google users and probably other search engine users, such that instead of finding the links to people's sites and shops, they are getting lured to the CPooh MegaRipOffRatTrap site that CPooh only has to pay 10% commissions. This really stinks!
Obviously everyone who uses CPooh can't afford the thousands of dollars it cost to buy top position on such search engines as Google. Hence CPooh has no problem dominating, getting top place on search returns and controlling the marketplace that they now claim ownership of, when in fact no one owns the Internet or the WWW which belong to everyone equally.
The question is, what can we lowly users who are regarded as worthless by CPooh do to regain power and control?
I'm currently experimenting with some ideas which may also benefit other artists/designer so I'm going to share them with everyone, hoping that this may help others, especially those who are really hurt and suffering from what CPooh has gone and done.
Let me first apologize if I'm a bit wordy. Sorry, that's just my nature. I tend to try to communicate on-line just as I might if I was talking to someone or writing a letter. That's just how I am. So please bare with me as I think out loud and try to explain the strategy to beat out of the Google-CP trap.
What everyone needs to realize is that CPooh really does NOT own the marketplace, not even what they are calling the "CP Marketplace." This is all driven by keywords and search engine results. We who CP thinks of as tiny, no nothing, worthless 10% ants worked out butts off uploading art and designs, adding keywords and building shops. So I beg to argue that it is WE NOBODIES who actually created and who own the CP marketplace. Without our work, the so called CP marketplace would not exist.
Now as to how to take back power and control of the net. To do this you need to understand what is going own. CPooh is buying up top position on Google and other search engines so they can have power and control; they are using our money to do this because they have no right to say we cannot markup our art and designs however much we wish. For the last 10 years or so that was the agreement made; if you break that agreement, no matter what a new TOS agreement says in the fine print, you have hurt and harmed people as has been demonstrated by people's response to this 10% rich-get-richer policy.
So how can we lowly ants that CPooh is stepping on take back power and control of the net? First you have to realize that almost everyone who wants to buy something on the net uses a search engine first or goes to a favorite shop where they have done prior business. Time is money to most people so they want to get in and out as fast as possible. An exception to this is when you make on-line shopping an experience, like when you go out to eat or to the mall to browse, talk with friends and generally have a good time.
Well you see, your shop can be a shopping experience. So you need to have a site which is really more than a store. Sorry, but you can't do this if you limit yourself and your content to what CPooh offers. You need to actually make websites and get a domain name, one or more. I recommend more.
As an example let me use my domain at http://www.byteland.org. This is a site that I've had since before CPooh even existed. Since I've been on the net since CPooh was even born, I can, like Al Gore, claim I own the net! :-) In any case, get you a website and a domain.
After you do this use the simple code below to embed your CP shops in your website. That way when people come to your site you are keeping them on your site no matter where else they go in your shop. So you are trapping people on your site.
<iframe src ="http://www.cafepress.com/yourshop" width="100%" height="100%">Your browser does not support iframes.
</iframe>
Now this does not mean any idiot cannot get out of our shop just by using the browser. What it does mean is that until they actually do that they remain on our website even when they are exploring your shop.
This may not seem a big deal. But here is where it could turn into a big deal and act to take back some power and control of the net from CPooh. If EVERYONE does this and then list their sites on Google, Yahoo and other major search engines it will have an impact. But do not stop there. What I recommend is creating more than one website for yourself and adding different META codes to each page, then indexing these with Google so that over time as this is done by more and more people it is going to be harder and harder for CPooh or anyone else to control the market place and "think" that they own the marketplace.
Currently all those keywords that you are adding to designs on CP are limited to only 20 words. And the way CPooh is now operating you are lucky, indeed, if your designs come up on the first page once users are trapped into the MegaRipOffRatTrap that CPooh has lured users into. But when you make your own website you can add your own META codes that search engines with crawl and search so that you have a better chance of getting a top position. This is especially true when you create your own presence or content and have a topical theme site.
Let me give you an example of how this works just to demonstrate what I mean. Do a search for "Byteland." Byteland is my little piece of cyberspace real estate. I own Byteland. At least I own Byteland.org. Now when you search Byteland on Google you will get this URL
Just do it and you will see that I am at the top of the list. One of these days I may get around to suing everyone else who is using the term "byteland" and has not licensed usage from me, but that's another matter. What I wanted to demonstrate here is that what everyone needs to do is come up with their own original topical theme site so that you are on the top of the Google search engine totem pole.
What this does is created name recognition for you so that when people want to shop they will go directly to YOU and not to CPooh. And if everyone does this it will effectively destroy the delusion CPooh is living under that it owns the marketplace.
You figure there are millions of shop owners on CP. But the majority of these shop owners do not have their own websites. That is why they depend on CPooh for traffic and sales. But now the ball game has change as CPooh has thrown a curve. In fact CPooh has spit on the ball by imposing a 10% rich-get-richer commission upon everyone. But you don't have to settle for this. You can take action and urge that everyone else also take action to regain power and control over the marketplace.
So what we must do is make it easier for people to establish their own websites and presence upon the net. What I'll do for anyone who wants is set them up a site on Byteland with their own byteland.org/yourname domain and drop your CP store into the site! Hee, hee, don't you have to love it. I recommend other webmasters make the same offer!
But let's not stop here. In this day and age anyone really can get their own domain and build a website. You can easily do this using free services. You can use a blog site for a store. You can even use YouTube, BlogTV, MySpace or such sites as Facebook to create an on-line presence. Then just drop in your CP store using the iframe code.
What is nice about this little trick is that you don't have to put all your eggs in one basket. In other words, you can sell skateboards using Zazzle or T-shirts using CPooh. Since CPooh doesn't even have skateboards they can't consider this competition. Well, I guess they could consider anything given they think they own the marketplace and obviously aren't really thinking clearly ... or are promoting the delusion that all artwork is equal, that if I have a degree in Art is is worth no more than if I had dipped worms in paint and let them squirm on a piece of toilet paper and called this art. That is what 10% commissions means, in case you have not already realized this con for what it is.
Someone once said that if you repeat a lie enough times everyone will believe it. Who said that? Hummm.... try Googling it. When I Googled this I came up with a number of results:
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it...." is regularly attributed to Joseph Goebbels. However, I have found no evidence that he said it. Everyone quotes everyone else, but no one ever gives a source.
"A lie told often enough becomes truth" Vladimir Lenin.
William James (1842-1910) The father of modern Psychology "There's nothing so absurd that if you repeat it often enough, people will believe it."
In any case if CPooh says it owns the CP marketplace enough and that your work is only worth 10% commission, I guess you can believe that if you want to, but I for one, don't buy it. My work is worth more than 10%. I know this because I know what others have paid for it in the past. So CPooh can't pull the wool over my eyes. Maybe they think they can do this with newbies, but I'm sorry CPooh, I just don't buy this crap which is why I have adopted the idiom CPooh. Please, be honest with people and pay them what their work is worth!
Now the way I see it is everyone work is worth a lot more than CPooh says. Unless you are actually a can of painted worms, your work is worth more than 10%. Is anyone here a can of worms? I don't think so.
Thus I suggest everyone who thinks they are not a can of painted worm and who values there work do what I have suggested. Get you a domain, build you a website on another server, and add META code that will direct traffic to your unique name and domain instead of to the CPooh. By the way CPooh is MY PROPERTY! I own CPooh! So CP you can't have any objection to this because CPooh is not CP! If people are confused about this that is not my fault.
So start taking back power and control of the marketplace by getting a domain, pointing it to your website, developing content for your website and dropping your CP store into your website, blog or other service. Also add other POD service providers so that all your eggs are not in the same basket. You can see how I've done this on Byteland.org at www.byteland.org and on the subdirectory Cafe de Art at www.byteland.org/cafedeart.
In fact everyone store on CP is just a subdirectory of www.cafepress.com. My premium store www.cafepress.com/bytelandart and www.cafepress.com/toppics is just a subdirectory. So you see why I suggest everyone get their own domain so you are NOT a subdirectory of www.cafepress.com. Make your CP shop subordinate to YOU! Then you are on top and not getting screwed by CP who wants to be on top like a control freak dominating, taking power and control, screwing everyone!
I think this is a good and appropriate analogy as this is exactly what CPooh has done. They want to be on top and have, via their 10% richer-than-rich commission policy have the audacity to say they own the marketplace. All CPooh own is www.cafepress.com. They certainly don't own me. They don't own www.byteland.org. So from now own when people go to Byteland.org my CPooh store is embedded in BYTELAND and is no longer exclusive to CPooh. I'm the topdog in my domain and CP is just going to have to realize that they are not the alpha dog.
So folks I recommend that everyone who has a CPooh store because it is easy, simple and convenient realize now that there is NO ADVANTAGE to having only a subdirectory on www.cafepress.com and trying to get traffic to your CP shop, because that is just screwing you out of your money. No one is worth just 10%. So you should get your own domain and put your CP store inside your domain, under you, so that you are on top and CP is not on top screwing you.
Then once you have your own domain and are top dog, you can begin to recover from your losses. I realize this will present a learning curve and take time for some people. That's why I'm offering free sites on www.byteland.org for anyone who needs some help with this. I can't do this for everyone, but certainly I can do this if it will help some people. The only problem is time and money. It does take time and money to build and maintain websites.
In any case, you don't need me. Everyone can get a domain and a free website and begin to build their own presence on the net. If you already have a CPooh store all you have to do is get a domain and a website and drop your store into your website. Then list your site on Google, Yahoo and other search engines if you have not already done this. Point to your website, NOT to a www.cafepress.com/subdirectory aka www.cafepress.com/yourshop as you may have done in the past.
It will take the individual efforts of many people doing this to effect CPooh. But in time CPooh will see that it does not own the Internet or own the marketplace -- that it cannot get away with exploiting artist and designers by saying their work is worth nothing or an infinitesimally small 10%. That just in NOT true and no one should believe this lie! Moreover, no one should repeat this lie or let it be repeated without standing up to CPooh and saying this is a lie, that your work is worth more and that YOU are the only person who can say how much your work deserved to be marked up!
Everyone has a right to set their own markup! This should be written into LAW in every state and nation! CPooh is not above the law. CPooh does not have the right to say what my work is worth or what everyone else's work is worth. Only the owner of art work can say how much their work is worth and how much they want to markup their work, be it a penny or a thousand dollars or more!
I've noticed that CP is engaged in a META code war. Has anyone else notice this?
META codes are those codes you put in your website so that search engines can find your page. Really when you tag a design with keywords, these are the META codes that are used to find your design when people land on the CP marketplace and do a search.
All the business CP gets from Google, Yahoo and other search engines comes as a result of these keyword searches -- of course bookmarking of CP's site also enters into the equation such that when people return they may go to CP's marketplace as they bookmarked a page.
But all in all the CP marketplace depends heavily on these META codes and keyword searches. What is interesting is if you visit CP front page and featured topical pages and see what designs they are featuring. Notice the topical keywords characteristic of these featured designs. These are the "hot" designs or topic CP is featuring. Hence one strategy everyone can use to boost their sales is to create similar designs and/or be sure to include the same keywords in their design when uploading them to their image baskets.
Plus if you observe and record ALL the topical designs that CP is using then you can use these keyword topical names in your own websites to draw traffic to your dot.com sites.
Now what do you suppose the result of this might be if more people learn how to use META code in their dot.com site designs, and also use iFrames to embed their sites in their own dot.com sites?
If you take a look at my www.byteland.org site this is what I am doing. Plus I can control my own META codes. Now don't get me wrong, I do NOT rely on CP's keywords to select META codes. I also look at what are the HOT keywords on Google, Yahoo, etc. In fact, current HOT keywords often inspires me to make a design related to that HOT keyword. After all if OBAMA is the hottest keyword for the day it just makes sense that by making a few OBAMA designs and including OBAMA in the META code of my dot.com or dot.org website, that it will draw traffic to my site, especially if I have already established a topical site that comes up to the TOP of the page on a given Google or Yahoo search.
Basically what I'm saying is that everyone may be able to benefit, to draw more traffic to their shops, and to increase their earnings if they learn how to use META codes. Actually many of the changes that CP has implemented over the years have come as a result of their adding keyword tagging to images so that they could build a marketplace and claim it as their own. But you see, actually it is each user who adds the keywords to designs and enables and empowers CP to profit. Hence the idea that CP created and owns the marketplace is a little egotistical and like Al Gore saying he invented the Internet. CP did NOT invent keywords and META codes; this is a feature built into the HTML and is a basis for how all search engines find pages and sites on the Internet.
Now if you are not familiar with META codes or HTML, that puts you at a distinct disadvantage. It means you are ignorant when it comes to how search engines work and by being ignorant it makes it a lot easier for someone to pull the wool over your head and say things like, "We created the CP marketplace so we deserve a larger piece of the pie; hence you get only 10% commissions across-the-board." That not a direct quote; I'm paraphrasing and translating what was said into what perhaps would have been a more truthful way to have said it.
Basically CP no more created the marketplace than Al Gore invented the Internet. META codes and keywords determine what designs will be "hit" and pop up when someone makes a search. True, CP did construct code that enables very excellent organization of design material, but each user ultimately assigns keywords. Hence we each can claim a proportional credit for giving CP the power to make a profit from our work.
Now what would happen if everyone suddenly realized that they are the ones who have the power and control over the marketplace, as they are the ones who assign keywords? This means you can do what I've suggested, determine what are "hot" or "popular" keyword searches and tag your designs accordingly, also including those "hot keywords" in your META codes on your own dot.com or dot.org site. This will drive traffic to your site to some degree. It certainly will give you an edge over others who do not use META codes and include "hot keywords" in their sites or as tags on their designs.
So you see more is at play here than meets the eye. CP relies on keywords to organize its presentation of designs when people visit its front page for each topical design it features. By knowing the keywords CP is using for its featured designs, you can be sure to use those keywords on your designs. The question then comes up, "What happens if I use hot keywords on a design or on my dot.com site or homepage that have nothing to do with a particular design?" The answer is that it will still result in driving traffic to your site or design!
Oooops, you mean if OBAMA is the hottest keyword search and I tag my designs with OBAMA and use the keyword OBAMA in my META codes on my dot.com site that it will generate traffic? Yes, indeed! Even if you make a blank design and fill it with white space or black space and call it OBAMA, using keywords like "President" or "Barack," a design that may have nothing to do with a "hot" or "popular" keyword will still draw traffic if you tag it with "hot keywords."
This means you could take care to add certain keyword to your images to take advantage of this robotic way in which search engines work. After all, these robots are not intelligent. They are just doing what they are told to do. But because YOU have intelligence, you can lure the monster into your trap simply by knowing how it behaves. Hence you can actually create a network or web of your own within the vast network and web that CP has created to drive traffic to your designs.
The CP marketplace is really just a large web or network of designs which have keywords. Everything is based upon those keywords we each decide to use and which we each type and hence tag our images with after they are uploaded to CP. That means if we do a little research first and see how CP is organizing and featuring designs, what keywords they are essentially putting at the top of pages to feature, then we can use that knowledge to drive traffic to our sites and designs.
But most people do not use this method and remain in the dark, wondering why their great designs do not sell more than they do. It is NOT because your work is not good; it is simply because people are not able to find it among the millions of other designs that are out there.
So we can all benefit from a little knowledge related to META codes and keywords. I can write HTML in my sleep so I know a little about what I'm talking about when it comes to META codes. In fact, I actually do have dreams where I "see" a design and "hear" the META codes, such that when I wake up and remember my dreams, this inspires the creation of a new design. Really, this is true. And I don't drink and I don't do drugs! I get high on my art and designs and love making new websites which feature my work. CP is just one of many POD's I use and I certainly do NOT worship CP or believe for one minute their egotistical, lawyer hype, that they created the marketplace and so own it and can justify paying only 10% commissions.
This simply is NOT true. Let me prove to you why this is not true by a simple experiment everyone can do. Take a blank image 1024x1024 pixels in size. Fill that blank image with BLACK. Then type in a "hot keyword." Then upload that image to CP and tag it with the "hot" keyword. Or if you like put the top 10 "hot" searches for the day into your design and tag the image with these 10 "hot keywords" (or pick from among the top 100 "hot keywords" for the day/time that you like best or which relates to your shop and use these to make a "hot keywords" design). Now obviously this is NOT a masterpiece. It is just a design with a list of "hot keywords." But guess what, this rather nonsensical design will get more hits than a really great, creative design which is not tagged with "hot keywords." Note: You will have to edit your "hot keywords" design to comply with CP's policy such that you do not pick keywords which are the names of celebrities, teams, businesses, or the intellectual property right of someone else.
What does this prove? It proves that YOU have the power and control to create the marketplace. It proves that your work, even if it is just a list of "hot keywords" filling up the black hole of cyberspace, is what creates the marketplace. YOU are the one who created the marketplace, not CP. All CP has done is exploit our work to make a profit off of everyone's hard work.
To further prove my point I'm going to actually make such a "hot keywords" design and post it on one of my sites at www.byteland.org/cafedeart which will reflect the "hot keywords" for today. Note: Google now features the "hot keywords" by date at http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends so you can go to that page and get the top "hot keywords" and use them to make your own "hot keywords" designs and/or as inspiration for design idea.
I'm not sure what they are yet as I've got to run over to Google "hot keyword" searches to see what pops up. This will, of course, vary from day to day. There are other ways to discover "hot keywords" as by using some of Google's other tools, but I'm trying to keep this simple so everyone can do this to see how it works. The idea is that YOU can make your own "hot keywords" black void design, post it on CP with the keywords, and thus see what I'm talking about and learn a little in the process about META codes, keywords and why it is NOT true that CP created the marketplace -- but that WE THE PEOPLE created the marketplace because WE THE PEOPLE assigned keyword tags to our designs -- which if you have thousands upon thousands of designs in your shop as I do, amounts to a tremendous amount of time, effort and MONEY over the long haul.
In conclusion let me invite everyone to go see the "hot keywords" design at www.byteland.org/cafedeart/index.html#metacodewar
Then make your own "hot keywords" design. Do NOT put any other design elements into the design other than FONT color or FONT style variations. Basically you just want to make a BLACK HOLE or a WHITE SPACE design that list up to 20 keywords, then use those same, identical keywords to tag your design. Remember, this is a simple experiment. It is designed to show you how keywords work; that really it is just keywords that result in people finding a design and that YOU, not CP or anyone else thus creates the marketplace.
Now the question come up, "What sells a design?"
Obviously no matter what the "hot keywords" are which get someone to find your design, who want to buy a list of keywords? It is the education, talent, skills, ability, imagination and other qualities YOU put into creating a design which will sell the design and make people want to buy it. Hence what actually sells a design all belongs to YOU! The keywords only let people find your design but keyword do NOT sell a design. It is your artistic abilities which sells the design! Hence when you realize this and prove it to yourself in this way, it is proof positive that CP is wrong to try to tell everyone their work is only worth 10% commission!
You see, in theory everyone could flood the marketplace with "hot keyword" designs. But no one is going to buy them because they are just black and white lists of keywords. Hence the statement that CP created the marketplace and that this justifies paying artists/designers only 10% commission is false; is a fallacy! It simply is not true.
The "hot keyword" design experiment should prove this to everyone. I challenge everyone to make their own "hot keyword" design. Make one for each day of the month if you like, based upon a Google or Yahoo search. Just type in a string "hot keywords" or if you want to limit it to a topic you could search Google for "hot DOG keywords" or "hot CAT keywords," or whatever other topical search you want to use. You can even review some of CP's front pages and topical pages to see what designs they are featuring and the associated keywords and then make a "hot keyword" design based upon this. Then post your "hot keyword" design in your CP shop. If nothing else it is going to drive traffic to your design.
But wait, you say people cannot see your shop because CP's marketplace is not referring traffic to your shop anymore. Well then, put your shop URL at the TOP of your "hot keywords" design! Then your shop location will appear inside the design and the result of searches will show your shop URL in topical searches that people make! Imagine if everyone does this what will happen. People who are using the marketplace which CP says they created, but have filtered your shop out, will be able to see your URL and can then go to your shop!
In fact, why don't you make some topical designs with your shop URL in BIG letters. Then upload these URL designs and use different "hot keywords" to tag your URL shop designs. For example a design could say "Visit www.cafepress.com/toppics" which is a premium shop I own. This design will show up in search results depending upon what keyword I use. If I pick "hot keywords" then I will get more hits than if I pick keywords that no one is as likely to search. So as this is a premium shop with many topical design, it would make sense to use the "hottest" most "popular" keywords. Thus my shop URL will pop up and be visible in search results and show in the marketplace, that people can find my shop!
Isn't it nice how META code keyword and search engines work! Now to be sure CP may not want people putting their URL's in designs. But everyone has a right to advertise their shops! This is a good way to advertise your shops. Many people also put a small 50% watermark of their shop's URL or website upon all designs and/or include this as a copyright for designs. Thus when people buy a shirt they can see on the design who made the design and have a way to refer other's to your shop. I have used such copyrighting on may of my design and am certainly going to start using it more often on any new designs I upload to CP. Thus each design becomes a calling card for your URL -- another way to show and demonstrate to CP that YOU created the marketplace and that it belong to YOU -- that your work is NOT worth just 10% and that you are going to take power and control of your work by putting your URL as a copyright notice upon all your designs so that regardless of what CP does, people know who YOU are and where they can go to buy YOUR great designs in the future which in NOT the CP marketplace, but your own dot.com or your own shop on CP.
Thus the META code wars continues. The wizards at CP are very smart and bright; they understand META codes very well. They have used this knowledge to make a fantastic mega site. But CP does NOT own the marketplace. All CP owns is www.cafepress.com. YOU own the marketplace. CP is just marketing subdirectories like www.cafepress.com/bytelandart which is one of my premium shops. I am paying for premium shops which are just subdirectories. I own ALL the designs in my shop. All my work is copyrighted. CP is just a POD service, one of many. CP is just making money off of everyone's work. So if you want to assert your rights and make a bigger piece of the pie, then learn a little about META codes. Get your a dot.com address. Put your dot.com as a copyright and watermark on all your designs. Make designs which feature your dot.com address. Post these design on CP and tag them with "hot keywords." Use CP to market your domain. Make it so that every design which is sold in the marketplace has your URL upon the design so everyone will know where to go and where to refer other who see our design as as walking advertisement and may want to buy one of your design.
If EVERYONE does these things it will take back power and control of the marketplace. But to win the META code war, you need to learn about META code and about "hot keywords" and why using them is so important in marketing designs upon the Internet. Also you really do need to invest in your own dot.com or dot.org or dot.whatever. You can buy a dot.com at www.godaddy.com or even at www.yahoo.com. There are many sites that offer good rates on dot.com or other domain names. The point is to pick a domain name that you can include on all your designs as a watermark or signature, so that everything that is sold will be a walking calling card. Hence from every sale you make you have your domain name out there walking around, adorning their bodies, or hanging on people's walls. Thus the marketplace will be working for you and no matter what CP does, your URL, your domain, will be on your work as your copyright notice.
You can win the META code war; together we can all win the META code war. But you have to take action. You can't just sit on your butts doing nothing. You have to understand what CP is doing, how they are using META codes and keywords to make them money. Then you can take action to use META code to make YOU money. It is a war out there and we will each live or die, depending upon our actions. I personally hope YOU win the META code war! I rooting for all the talented artists, designers, photographers and creative souls out there who have been hurt and harmed by this 10% commission rip-off. I'm rooting for YOU, and YOU, and YOU, even if I don't know you. For you see, we are alike in that we have both been hurt by what CP has done. Since I know how META codes work, value my work, and do not like being exploited, I'm sharing this knowledge with YOU! I hope it helps and will contribute to YOUR success. Good luck! Perhaps if I've helped you, you will even visit my shops and help me! :-)
Browse through the Hot Keywords Emporium for more hot gifts and apparel. You will get more attention and your popularity will grows beyond your wildest dreams when you wear "Hot Keyword" T-shirt and apparel and surround yourself with "Hot Keywords" gifts! It may seem crazy, but the popularity of "Hot Keywords" gifts and apparel has already been proven by Google, as these designer gifts and apparel were created only after making a "Hot Keywords" search on Google.
People need to realize that life is hard. "It's A Jungle Out There!" That's the theme of my recent design at www.cafepress.com/bytelandart/6765934
This is a great reminder for everyone who has a shop on CP. The big guys do not always play fair. In business the little guy, you and me, often are devoured by the big guys, just like in a jungle. It's a matter of survival of the fittest, which in the case of artists/designers means not only the most talented, but the most intelligent.
Indeed, "It's A Jungle Out There!" If you want to survive you have to fight. You need to take care of YOURSELF first. You need to create your own domain, your own business site. You need to invest time and effort into marketing YOURSELF. Don't depend on CP to market your designs. We have all seen now what can happen! The little guy and girl gets devoured by the big monster!
I'm putting these "It's A Jungle Out There!" gifts and apparel in my Cafe de Art shop at www.byteland.org/cafedeart as a lesson in survival. This relates not only to LIFE, but to business.
What has happened to the millions of people on CP is a very good reminder that "It's A Jungle Out There!" If you want to survive in the marketplace you are going to have to realize this and take action to insure your survival.
There is a great deal of competition. Everyone should see now that it is not your fellow artists/designers who are your biggest threat; rather, it is the BIG GUY, the big monster out there in the jungle who can pounce upon the little guy and devour them with a simple thing like a 10% commission policy.
Indeed, "It's A Jungle Out There!" This is not about who has the best designs, who makes great art. This is about exploitation and survival. In order to survive as artists/designers everyone needs to realize that, "It's A Jungle Out There!" You cannot depend on anyone but yourself!
After Darwin postulated his theory of survival of the fittest, sociologists, one of whom was a distant kin, developed theories related to how this relates to the survival of peoples, of societies, cultures and subcultures. Basically the idea is that in order to survive you must remain competitive. All is fair in love and war! If you do not want to be devoured and destroyed, you need to fight for YOURSELF, for your people, for your cause, and for your very existence.
What has recently happened is a very good example of such theories suddenly become reality and prove themselves. There is now a situation where only the most competitive artists/designers on CP will survive. Suddenly everyone has been made aware of the fact that "It's A Jungle Out There!"
To survive as an artist/designer you can't depend upon anyone else. You need to depend upon YOURSELF. You need to put yourself first and to do those things which will insure your survival. You need to realize that "It's A Jungle Out There!" You then need to take actions to insure your survival.
In this regard I recommend that everyone who has not already done so get their own domain. You can get good deals on domains at such services at www.godaddy.com or at www.yahoo.com. Or you can Google "domain service providers" and pick from those that pop up.
Then everyone needs to do a Google search of POD service providers and learn about what other POD services have to offer. In other words, don't put all our eggs in one basket; use a number of POD service providers. In doing so build shops for YOURSELF on your own domain. Don't trust any single POD service provider because we have seen what happens when you do.
I have over 15,000 designs in my CP shops, so everyone can understand how much I am effected by a 10% commission policy. The only think keeping me afloat is that I created my own domains years ago at www.byteland.org and www.talgsd.com. Hence many of my sites have good placement on Google and other search engines. Of course now CP comes along an is buying up the TOP SLOTS on Google. Obviously CP wants to control and monopolize the marketplace and has even said it created the marketplace. This sounds very predatory to me. Indeed, "It's A Jungle Out There!"
But I do NOT recommend everyone jump ship as some have done. I know I'm hurting and that others are hurting. I hope CP will realize their 10% policy is hurting people and will go back to the old policy of letting artists/designers set their own markups without limit. That is the only fair policy. To not do this rips-off artists/designers and denies the value added to their work given their education, experience, talents, skills, abilities and other creative qualities they each embody in their unique, original creations.
But I'm NOT a fool. I realize that "It's A Jungle Out There!" To survive I cannot depend on CP to do the right thing for everyone else. They obviously are going to do what right for a few top dogs and executives who want to make a killing, buy property off shore, and live a good life in paradise. Wouldn't we all like to be rich enough to do that? Wouldn't we all like to be making millions of dollars off of a slave army of worker? Would we all like to be able to have all the things that millions and millions of dollars can buy?
So I'm not a FOOL. I realize "It's A Jungle Out There!" I do NOT expect CP to turn around, apologize, and do what is BEST for artists/designers. Certainly a 10% commission is NOT best for me! It is not best for YOU! And it is not best for anyone who depends upon what little they may make from their CP shops to help feed their children or make ends meet.
"It's A Jungle Out There!" Once everyone realizes that then the sooner you can start to take those steps necessary to survive. As for myself I am NOT jumping ship. With over 15,000 design in my CP shops that would be rather suicidal. I personally don't believe in killing myself. But then nor do I believe in being bullied, exploited and financially raped and robbed. So I'm going to fight back and do whatever is necessary to survive.
Yes, "It's A Jungle Out There!" But we can survive. I've developed some survival strategies. If anyone wants to know what they are, just email me at terry@byteland.org. I will reply to everyone and share some more of my survival strategies with you. I can't do it in this forum because as everyone knows by now, we do not have real freedom of speech in these forums. They are moderated and controlled. Some forums are even "temporary" such that you cannot express your thoughts, ideas and feelings today and expect to get help tomorrow. Here today and gone tomorrow! It's like a storm passing over blowing away everything in its path. Unfortunately what is being blown away is me and YOU! We are the ones seeking help with our shops. We are the ones asking questions and hoping someone will provide answers. We are the wants trying to learn, educate and inform ourselves and everyone else. That when forums which people are using are shut down, it is just one more insult and one more way we are being hurt.
So yes, I say, "It's A Jungle Out There!" If you look real close at the design I made you can see a small insect upon the tiny leaves. This is a predacious insect. It lays eggs upon the leaves and when the eggs hatch out, a small nymph begins to hunt for other tiny insects. When the nymph finds prey it grabs them up into its needle-like jaws, lifts the from the plant and injects digestive enzymes into the helpless creatures, slowly dissolving them and eating them from the inside out.
This is much how artists/designers are often exploited by big companies. Our work is not recognized for the potential value it represents. We are not praised and given gold metals. We are viewed as worth only a dime a dozen, only a mere 10% commission. Thus we are devoured by the craving predator which eats us from the inside out!
Yes indeed, "It's A Jungle Out There!" To survive we all are going to have to fight back and institute strategies for our survival. Some will do this and survive; many will not and will perish. Which one will you be? Are you going to die in the tidal wave or grab on to whatever you can and try to survive?
"It's A Jungle Out There!" You can see my design at
www.cafepress.com/bytelandart/6765934
I put this design in my premium CP shop where I keep my other naturalist related designs and photographs. This photograph was taken while out exploring the urban jungle for alien life forms. Yes, this original photograph is worth more than 10% commission. All of my photographs are worth more that 10% commission. All or YOUR work is worth more than 10% commission. But you see, now we all can only use CP if we press that little button and "agree" to their new TOS agreement and degrade our own worth in the process!
"It's A Jungle Out There!" Have you seen the TV commercials about abuse and exploitation of children or a spouse. There is a bully screaming and degrading their victims. The first thing they do is tell them they are not worth anything. Does this sound familiar? This is what bullies do. The first thing they do is degrade and humiliate their victims. The same thing is happening right now every time YOU have to click on that little button to upload one of your precious photographs or works of art. You are being made to say that you agree and that your are not worth as much as you really are worth.
"It's A Jungle Out There!" Until you realize this, until your realize that there are predators in business, you will continue to be a victim. We all have been bullied and it hurts some more than others. But it does not really help to cry. We must do whatever is necessary to survive. That's why I made this design. "It's A Jungle Out There!" This has nothing to do with CP. I was not even thinking of CP when I took this photograph. I was enjoying the experience of exploring nature, searching for tiny creatures and wondrous, beautiful images, trying to capture the moment, that moment when the light is just right and suddenly a tiny insect lands and "click" the shutter is pressed and the moment is forever captured.
It is this type of experience we each capture in our photographs and express in our art work. These precious moments are worth more than 10% commission. These precious moments are our lives and are priceless! That's why it hurts so much when someone tries to tell us and make us believe that our lives and our work is worth less than we know it is worth. Indeed, our lives and our work are really priceless!
"It's A Jungle Out There!" To some you are only a piece of meet. There is a popular commercial which closes with the phrase "It's not just a piece of meat!" You and I are artists/designers and creative souls. Our expressions are not just a piece of meat to be devoured by some predator. We are not just victims waiting to be devoured by big corporations. Yet that is what some would like you to believe, that you are just a piece of meat, only worth 10%.
"It's A Jungle Out There!" I do not believe for one second that I am worth only 10%! My work is worth more than 10% even if it took only a fraction of a second to capture an image. For you see, a whole life time really goes into each moment that is captured when that shutter is clicked. The image may not be of a famous person, of a celebrity or rare event. But to me and YOU that is a precious moment, a part of our lives, and it is priceless!
"It's A Jungle Out There!" I do not think I have an inflated ego when I say that this photograph of a tiny insect upon a fan of leaves is worth more than 10% commission. To me this is a priceless photograph and over time it could make a lot of money. Why I could put this photographs on large canvases and sell it for display in homes, offices and even schools to remind everyone they they and their children are priceless and that everyone must fight for their survival in a cold, cruel world, in a world that is indeed a jungle.
"It's A Jungle Out There!" In fact I could put this photograph upon a billboard and post it across America so that everyone driving by sees the photograph and is reminded that life is hard and that, "It's A Jungle Out There!" How much would this simple image capture in a fraction of a second, in that fleeting moment when the light was just right and an insect happened to land upon the leaf, how much would this image then be worth? Certainly more than 10% commission.
"It's A Jungle Out There!" Why this image could be put up in lights in Time Square just to remind everyone that life is hard and that "It's A Jungle Out There!" It could be the basis of a television commercial about abuse and exploitation, that we must teach our children survival skills so that they do not become the victims of abuse or exploitation. "It's A Jungle Out There!" It really is, and certainly this photograph is worth more than 10% commission as is all my work and all YOUR work!
I value life highly and I value people's expressions highly. That why I want to help everyone and to let you know that your work, no matter what anyone says, no matter what buttons you much push to upload your expressions, that your work is worth far more than 10% commission. No matter how many times you press that upload image button and are thus made to agree that your work is worth only 10% commission, YOU are worth far more than 10%! You and your work is priceless and YOU have a right to set your own markup! This needs to be written into LAW!
"It's A Jungle Out There!" Throughout history societies have had to create laws to establish order and institute justice. Laws are needed in modern society more than ever. It simply has become too easy to hurt, harm, abuse and exploit people on-line and escape justice. We have all seen what has happened with big financial institutions and upon Wall Street. Many people have been conned out of their life saving by scams and schemes enabled by instantaneous trading via the Internet and no regulations. Well, this same sort of thing has now happening with everyone who has been told their work is worth only 10% commission.
"It's A Jungle Out There!" We are all being made victims and being humiliated by having to agree that we are only worth 10% to upload our expressions. I for one do not buy it. I know my work is worth more than 10% commission. Plus I know YOUR work is worth more than 10% commission.
"It's A Jungle Out There!" Don't let yourself become a victim. Don't let yourself be devoured. Take steps to insure your survival. There are things that everyone needs to do. There are things you can do to make more money and to survive. Don't let anyone humiliate you by making you say and agree that your work is worth only 10% commission. Do NOT believe this lie! You and your expressions are priceless!
"It's A Jungle Out There!" That's why everyone should let CP know they are not happy campers and DEMAND that CP return to their former policy of permitting artists/designers to set their own markup. I believe that would be best for CP and best for everyone who loves CP and wants to see their business grow and survive just as we each want to grow and survive.
"It's A Jungle Out There!" Certainly CP can grow and prosper while still doing what is right and letting artists/designers set their own markup. This makes much sense as it is the policy CP has had for 10 years! I believe that was a good policy. I believe that remains a good policy. And I believe returning to and keeping this good policy would be best for CP and everyone who uses CP.
"It's A Jungle Out There!" But you see, if people can come together and do what is right for everyone, it will work out better for everyone, including for CP. It was a mistake, a blunder, to adopt a 10% commission AFTER permitting artists/designers to set their own markup since the conception of CP. But people make mistakes. Big businesses can make mistakes too, and often do. The thing to then do is correct those mistakes. CP does not even have to admit they made a mistake. They can just say that the new policy did not prove to be profitable, beneficial or competitive, and so they are going to return to their tried and true policy of permitting artists/designers to set their own markup.
"It's A Jungle Out There!" Do I expect CP to listen to me? Not really. I expect this post will be gone in a flash. That's because I'm right about this and they know I'm right about this. But bullies have a complex and this complex values money and profits and all the things money can buy more than it values the masses of people who enabled those profits to be made. Only in very rare cases do we see a corporate executive embrace their employees and share the wealth. In most other cases "It's A Jungle Out There!"
If you agree please let me know. Send your comments to terry@byteland.org.
I'll archive this post at www.byteland.org/cafedeart and put a link to the design "It's A Jungle Out There!" in my shop. Or you can just go to my premium CP shop at www.cafepress.com/bytelandart/6765934 and buy these great designs which are worth MUCH MORE THAN 10% COMMISSION. So please buy them from my CP store where they are properly marked up. This will help feed me, my family and even my dog. In fact it will also help rescue other homeless animals. If you want to know more about that go to Good Shepherd Dog Animal Rescue at www.byteland.org/gsdar You see, in addition to exploring nature and taking photographs of insects, flowers and other small animals, I'm trying to do something to rescue the many homeless animals I often see when I'm out exploring for photographs. That's another reason I realize that "It's A Jungle Out There." But so many people just don't care. Ironically the new 10% commission policy is going to hurt all the homeless animals I've been trying to help. I guess it's true, "It's A Jungle Out There."
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If you are an artist/designer and are not happy with the new policy of CafePress to only pay a 10% commission for products sold in CP's marketplace, here are some strategies you may take to drive traffic directly to your CP store and get full markup of your designer products:
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The META Code Wars: Hot Keyword
Hot Keywords! First edition design for search made June 13, 2009. Hot keywords will vary according to the exact time you make a search; the result will never be the same. These keywords were selected from among the 100 top hot keywords of a search made using Google on 13, June, 2009. Please note that the list was edited to exclude any names of celebrities, teams, businesses or other returns that might represent someone's intellectual property rights or an actual site on the Internet. The idea is to show how anyone may make a design using only hot keywords and fonts which will return good results or "hits" when these same "hot keywords" are used to tag the design when it is marketed upon gifts and apparel! Neat, huh!
Hot Keyword Gifts And Apparel
Hot Keyword Gifts And Apparel
Hot Keyword Gifts And ApparelHot Keywords
It's A Jungle Out There
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It's A Jungle Out There!
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It's A Jungle Out There!Explore the Jungle
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