Quote from Lisa_135184 on Mar 17^th, 2010, 5:03pm:

 
 just to be clear, i think an opt out is the way to go for those who don't want to be part of this and those who are wanting to promote so that we do not step on toes.  
 
and i too have had images taken from my online sites, off of flickr by a huge corporation, we have also had our identity stolen, two credit cards, 14,500 in charges to korea, thankfully we did not have to pay,  but we still are dealing with it 3 years later.

Denise, so sorry to here of your troubles, been there myself.  
Yes very agreeable point, we really dont want to have people stepping on others toes which could very easily turn ugly and turn into a legal battle.
 
I love GCU wholeheartedly, I dont want to go, but im just not willing to have others profit off of me even if it means losing a few sales here and there. The only exceptable point I see about the  "Sell the Card" feature is if I ( me, myself and I only) wanted to start a private online store of my own cards and use the link back promotion, but i dont think that doubledipping-applys then (50cent per card sold, to link back to my own cards plus my commision above that) Admin would have to advise on that.
 
If that were the case then theyd have to make a:
opt out for others to sell our cards extended feature link
opt in to sell our own cards via extended feature link
 
Steve, dont apoloize this is what forums are for, to voice our opinions, educate and learn, good or bad. Im just glad to know I helped you to realise the potential of this matter.

I don't think it's wrong to get a referral fee if someone clicks on a link to the site and buys a card.
 
But given what's been said, I could buy  the domain corriecardshop.com and then set up a card shop selling Corrie's cards, without her knowledge or permission and get 50c for every card I sell?
 
I suppose if we were selling real cards through a distributor then I suppose this would be the same as the distributor selling them to business or wholesalers to sell, but I think artists should be able to opt in or out if they want.
 
Don't apologise Denise, it wasn't your fault.
 
I may however, set these up on my websites to sell my cards or we could set up groups to sell each others cards with permission i.e. I could join with other pagans to sell their pagan cards?
 
Gillean

tom actually according to miles we do get both if they buy our cards from our link... hmm
"For example, if the customer finds your blog and clicks on an image of a card they like, they will get directed to that card on GCU.  Say they add that card, quantity of 1 to the cart, and then find 9 other cards they also add to the cart, and then check out.  You will earn $.50 for each card the customer purchased on that order, for a total of $5.00 for simply referring the customer.  If they were all your cards that were purchased, then you earn both the card seller's commission $5.00 as well as the artist's commission $5.60, for a total of $10.60 for that order!  (assuming there were no discounts or promo codes involved in the order)  
 
 
I like to call this above scenario 'double dipping' and unlike with chips & dip... we not only encourage double dipping, but we celebrate it!"

maybe it's my sleepy eyes...  but i thought this
 
 #5.  Artists are already in the system so they can't combine a card seller's fee with an artist discount code to reduce their effective cost of purchasing their own cards.
 
was not the same as the end of his statement about it all being your cards... duh.. sorry.  i was reading that as artists would not get the commission if it was their own cards that sold..as if we were buying the cards.  i apologize...

I wasn't going to jump into this right now as I've had a week with 5 of the 10 top emotional upsets a person can experience happen this week, but perhaps a diversion is what I need.  I can certainly understand Lisa & Steve's concerns, but I really don't think this is the same as (1) custom  design - an opt out issue or (2) Facebook possible "free" sales = no commission . . . also an opt-out item - both of which I have decided to opt out of as (1) my design fees do not warrant me taking on custom work of the particular kind of card I design and I do not wish to even be bothered with it, and (2) selling an easily copy-able image of my work for less than I agreed on or for NOTHING at all, does not sit well with me.  
(1) Selling other people's cards HAS been an option since GCU's conception . . . part of the whole marketing plan.   Those of us that joined early were well aware of this.  I think that later on, many joiners may have just skimmed over this.  But this IS to our advantage.  Have you ever looked into what it would cost to produce lets say 1000 copies of 100 of your designs??? AND then figure out the printing, supply, distribution, advertising and fulfillment of those 100,000 cards???  And at that, not knowing just what will or won't sell . . . perhaps being left with an a lot of $$ invested in inventory that could just sit in your living room of garage???
 
When I produce cards for retail sales, I have to sell them for close to $5.00 to make $.56 a card and of course even more for a handmade card.  To pay someone else $.50 to connect to one of my cards where I make $.56 (yeah it can be less if they buy a bunch,) but you are still getting paid and the "promoter" (that person who put your cards on their site of blog or whatever) gets paid too . . . YOU would not have had that sale otherwise.  This is GCU working for you.
 
For those of you who have read my posts in the past, you know that I AM all about protecting artist's rights.  But we can not all be prima-donnas.  There is risk in any venture where your work is "out there" on the net.  Choose your battles and your venues carefully.  There is a balance between being "protected" and being "promoted."  For those of you afraid of your work appearing on an unacceptable site, you do have recourse.  But for the most part, I believe you will find it is mostly other artists trying to help out fellow "GCUers" as they help their own stores.
 
It's called marketing.
 
Obviously, most of those aware of what can be done with this program are other GCU artists.  And these folks are pretty much interested in the success of GCU artists and GCU as a whole.
 
Of course an "Opt-Out" should be available, but just be aware of what you may be "opting out" of AND that GCU has been working from the "get go" to promote (with your help) your cards.
 
Now back to "real life." . . . AGHHGH
 
'e'

Quote from Lisa_135184 on Mar 18^th, 2010, 10:11pm:

 
GCU does not have plans to offer an opt out option for the Widget / "Sell this Card" functionality.    
    
As we continue to expand and strengthen our affiliate program (anyone earning seller commissions from GCU is essentially an affiliate) we would like to keep the process simple and straightforward by allowing affiliates to promote any content on our site, as opposed to searching for artists that have given affiliates the green light to promote their work.    
 
Affiliate commissions come out of GCU's pocket, an investment we are willing to make to acquire new shoppers.
    
The ability for artists and card sellers to promote and sell cards on their websites and blogs has been available on GCU for years.  "Sell This Card" takes that process a step further making it easier for artists and sellers to promote our content and generate sales without being limited to just one widget per account.