OK, here may be a new one.  I signed up for one of the Reminder Services here and today got an email reminder to send my brother a Birthday card.  His birthday is in 7 days.
 
I first thought to take one of my cards, change the front caption to customize it, upload it, and then send it once approved.  But then I decided against this.  Why?
 
1.  I've had several cards sitting as PENDING for several days.  I can't tolerate a delay for this card as it also needs to be mailed coast-to-coast.
 
2.  I've used this image 3 times before and it might be rejected based on the 3-use rule. (I've had other's rejected on the 4th version even though there were 3 different captions on the 3 prior versions).
 
I ended up making a GCU photo card instead which bypasses approval, and now the card is in the queue to get printed, and will be mailed perhaps even today.
 
SO HERE ARE MY QUESTIONS:
===================
1.  Are Private cards exempt from the 3-use rule?  Will the reviewer know this if we mark it Private after uploading it?
2.  Are Private cards able to bypass the approval process, or at least be guaranteed a 24hr turnaround?  Usually private cards are customized and are time-sensitive requests.
3.  How do commissions apply?  I used my Artist discount code but it seems I won't get a artist commission on this photo card.  No big deal, but it would be nice to know how this works.  
 
Thanks

Private cards appear only in your Private gallery - they are not searchable among GCU's "general population" cards, and are not visible to customers unless they click the link in your store. Private cards do not require approval as far as I know because of their unique character, and I'm pretty sure the 3x rule doesn't apply either.
 
Where commissions are concerned... that's a question for GCU admin. I think - don't quote me on this - that an artist can have *either* the 50-cent discount on a card bought for themselves, *or* the artist's discount, but not both.
 
Corrie
http://www.corrieweb.nl
 

Hi Tom,
Private cards will still need to be approved by the staff here at GCU, although the turnaround is usually much quicker since we don't need to check keywords, categories, profiling, etc.  These cards are usually approved within 24 hours.  
 
The 3x rule does not apply to private cards.
 
You can still receive your artist discount and artist commissions for these cards so the effective cost is in fact $1.49.  
 
With Photo Cards, you can receive the artist discount, but you will not receive artist commissions.  
 

Thanks Shaun.  Good info!  Not sure many of us knew these details.  At some point a comprehensive and indexed FAQ file update might be useful for artists.
 
SueB - Hi.  GCU lets "shoppers" make their own greeting cards called Photo Cards.
 
Go to the paper cards category page;  there is a LINK in the upper left area.  You can use your artist discount code but you won't get a commission.  It's a good option is you are in a time crunch like I was.
 
TOM

My shop .... hmmmm ..... a lot of "clickers" mainly.  
 
I did send a batch of art out to the "Big Guys" as they requested, so I hope to hear something soon.  I mainly want to be on their list to submit work on a regular basis.  Hope all is well with you!  You're nudging me a few weeks ago squeezed 30 new cards out of me;  now up to 130 or so.  I may need another nudge though!