Just got an email from Zazzle telling me that there is still a sale going on for people who missed the Black Friday sale. Same deals but with different coupon code. Check the previous post about Zazzle’s Black Friday sale for details of the great savings on offer.

Use this promo code to get these great savings:
MISSEDFRIDAY

Zazzle are starting their Black Friday Sale early so if you are a Zazzle shopkeeper now is the time to let all your customers and potential customers know. Post about it in your blog with details about the sale and examples from your store and then use Twitter to tell your followers about your blog post and how they have save a lot of money if they shop today.

$8 OFF Binders 30% OFF Mousepads 40% OFF Calendars 50% OFF Business Cards $9 OFF Ties 50% OFF Posters $4 OFF T-Shirts $3 OFF Mugs 55% OFF Cards, Photo Cards, & Invites

30% OFF Major Brands Star Wars Disney Hallmark Looney Tunes Barbie Hot Wheels BONUS: FREE SHIPPING on $35 or more!

Use this promo code to get these great savings:
ZAZZLEFRIDAY

The Avery & Zazzle Photo Album Design Contest is over and the winner is KrispysKingdom who will be receiving a check for $2,000 for the 1st place entry Family Tree Photo Binder! You can see the winning binder below and as you can see it is a very creative work of art that allows customers to customize it to their hearts content.

As far as I know, this contest was only open to legal residents of United States or the District of Columbia which is pretty slack as I have just noticed that Zazzle have opened French, Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian and New Zealand versions of their site on top of the already existing US, UK, Canad, Australian and Germany sites. Also I noticed a recent contest at Cafepress that allowed users from several countries to participate. (Not Japan, where I live, though.) It’s time to step up to the plate Zazzle.

Cafepress have just announced portals for several popular musicians. What does this mean for the Cafepress shopkeeper. It means that you can create designs for bands that already have a huge fan base. The already have people searching for their t-shirts and gift items. Yes, your designs come with a ready-made guaranteed market.  Of course sales are another thing. You should get some sales thanks to the Cafepress marketing machine but if you really want to make money from your fan designs you will need to sell them from directly from your store rather than the Cafepress marketplace. See below for email and links to information about portals and design restrictions:

If you’re a big music fan then you’ll be happy to hear about our new set of fan portals (coming soon)!  We’re thrilled that our partner, Live Nation, is inviting the creative CafePress community to create fan-designed merchandise for some of the most talented musical artists (see below).  You can start now!

Be sure to read the Design Guidelines as there are very specific rules that designers must adhere to in order for their content to be featured in and sold through the artist’s fan portal.  Click on the artist’s name below to view the design guidelines specific to that artist.  Please note that the guidelines may be more restrictive than the CafePress Content Usage Policy, however we need to respect the creative decisions of the artists.

Cheech and Chong
Chickenfoot
Gene Simmons
KISS
Lil Wayne
Maroon 5
System of a Down
The Who
Tommy Lee
ZZ Top

You may notice a lot of these names have stores at Zazzle too but Zazzle shopkeepers cannot design for them…yet. What do you say Zazzle? Gonna make some new deals?

In the previous post I mentioned about my fear of Zazzle taxing international shopkeepers 30% which would hurt. Well, it seems that this may not be the case although I am not really sure either way at this stage because I only have rumors and second-hand information such as this email that was posted in the Zazzle forums.

Hello Zazzler,

Thanks for contacting our support team. Yes, we are asking that all of our contributors follow the directions in the previously sent email and fill out the information requested. We are not applying taxes or fees, we are simply required to keep track of this information and report it to the IRS.

Please follow the instructions in the email and respond accordingly.

Thank you for your cooperation and we appreciate your patience.

For frequently asked questions, or to email us, please visit www.zazzle.com/support?CMPN=cs.

Best Regards,
Matt L

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I received this email from Zazzle this morning:

Hello International Zazzle Seller,

We recently reviewed our records and have determined that your account is now subject to reporting to the United States Internal Revenue Service. In order to receive all pending and future Zazzle earnings, you must complete IRS Form W8-BEN, and return it to us.

Download the W8-BEN and support documents here:
Instructions: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw8ben.pdf
Form: http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8ben.pdf

Once complete, please send the signed form back to us via email, FAX or US Mail.
Email: zazzle-w8@zazzle.com
FAX: 1-650-362-2199
Company Address: Zazzle.com, Inc. 1900 Seaport Blvd
4th Floor
Redwood City, CA 94063

Thanks for your cooperation.

- The Zazzle Team

I am not really sure about the details yet or how it works but it doesn’t look good. In the first form that they sent it says

Foreign persons are subject to U.S. tax at a 30% rate on income they receive from U.S. sources that consists of:
• Interest (including certain original issue discount (OID). (OID));
• Dividends;
• Rents;
• Royalties;
• Premiums;
• Annuities;
• Compensation for, or in expectation of, services performed;
• Substitute payments in a securities lending transaction;
or
• Other fixed or determinable annual or periodical gains, profits, or income.

Again I am not sure but I guess Zazzle shopkeepers are in the Royalties category.