GCU Forum - NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13

Donna_137698 Gold Member artist Posts: 1064	Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13 Reply #120 - Jul 25^th, 2013, 11:05am you know, my mother said the same when I told her about this new deal. She was sickened for me - asking us to do more for far less. Time to start looking locally for craft fairs.
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amanda_134440

GCU Newbies
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Posts: 8

Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13
Reply #121 - Aug 9^th, 2013, 4:17pm

9 pages of replies to sift through, so pardon me if this was already asked...

when i am looking at my earnings and payment report, am i trying to hit the $150 mark in the pending column to insure that i get $300? i am trying to figure out how to know whether or not i am making the cut off or not by the end of the quarters.

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Ed_138263 Junior Member artist Posts: 81	Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13 Reply #122 - Aug 9^th, 2013, 7:11pm Yup, that's about it. Except for this quarter. We got a reprieve. We have to make 75.00 this quarter to make 150.00. But 4th quarter, we have to make 300.00. Good Luck!
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amanda_134440 GCU Newbies artist Posts: 8	Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13 Reply #123 - Aug 9^th, 2013, 7:13pm thanks! i didn't get the update about the transition month they gave us. but, in general, i wanted to know how to read my reports correctly. very helpful. thank you for your reply!!!
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Robin_145428 Senior Member artist Posts: 251	Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13 Reply #124 - Aug 15^th, 2013, 10:20am 150 quarterly?? I wont see anything for at least a year.. No way do I make that.. Oh well, good luck everyone
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Trish_136241 Senior Member artist Posts: 440	Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13 Reply #125 - Aug 15^th, 2013, 11:18am The $150 is not what you have to make to get PAID, it is just the threshold you have to make to get the 'bonus' payment, you still get a check if your NET is over $25.
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Robin_145428 Senior Member artist Posts: 251	Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13 Reply #126 - Aug 15^th, 2013, 6:11pm Quote from Trish_136241 on Aug 15^th, 2013, 11:18am: The $150 is not what you have to make to get PAID, it is just the threshold you have to make to get the 'bonus' payment, you still get a check if your NET is over $25. Oooh I see.. thank you Trish
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Ed_138263

Junior Member
artist

Posts: 81

Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13
Reply #127 - Aug 15^th, 2013, 6:41pm

Yes, you still get paid when you reach 25.00, but you now have to sell at least 3 times the amount of cards you sold in the past, in order to reach that payout. This quarter i have sold 107 cards and my commission is 24.13. That adds up to 22.5 cents per card. That is a long way from the 60 cents I thought I was going to make per card. But, you know what, we are all subject to that one little phrase in the license agreement, "We reserve the right to change the terms of this agreement whenever we feel like it" You all know what that means. It means that the admins can change the agreement and if we don't like it, well, that is just too bad. Good luck folks.

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Oma_132016

Full Member
artist

Posts: 240

Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13
Reply #128 - Aug 21^st, 2013, 4:40pm

Ok, so I have to be honest ... I have not be a regular contributor to my store for over 6 months now (I had a couple major projects going on at my day job). My work load has eased up and so I took to checking up with my store.

I was a bit thrown by the immense reduction in commisions for the artists at GCU. I did not want to overreact to any extent until I heard everyone else's opinion, feelings etc. I also took to paying more attention to Mindy's original post in detail.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and conclusion ... at this point GCU has made it very clear that 'they will not be addressing or discussing it any further'. My only concern (besides the reduction in earnings) is that if GCU is taking out money from the artists to continue promoting and advertising ... why is so much pressure being put on the artists to self-promote their stores? I know the benefits of actually doing this but I can only see this being possible with artists who work from home etc...

Despite the fact that the odds are against alot of the artists who can only contribute part time to their store (myself included) I am willing to give it a try. I have been with GCU for a couple years now and I have grown as an artist and made many great friends here. The experience has been great and I'm willing to stick around a bit longer.

Oh ... just and example of percentage loss on my own store :

I sold 100 cards today - the customer paid $199.00 - I actually earned $11.92
So I have a quite alot of work to do on my own to make the quota for this quarter. Wish me luck!!! And I hope alot of you guys hang in there and stick it out.

Oma.

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Ed_138263

Junior Member
artist

Posts: 81

Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13
Reply #129 - Aug 21^st, 2013, 9:41pm

Quote from Oma_132016 on Aug 21^st, 2013, 4:40pm:

Ok, so I have to be honest ... I have not be a regular contributor to my store for over 6 months now (I had a couple major projects going on at my day job). My work load has eased up and so I took to checking up with my store.

I was a bit thrown by the immense reduction in commisions for the artists at GCU. I did not want to overreact to any extent until I heard everyone else's opinion, feelings etc. I also took to paying more attention to Mindy's original post in detail.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and conclusion ... at this point GCU has made it very clear that 'they will not be addressing or discussing it any further'. My only concern (besides the reduction in earnings) is that if GCU is taking out money from the artists to continue promoting and advertising ... why is so much pressure being put on the artists to self-promote their stores? I know the benefits of actually doing this but I can only see this being possible with artists who work from home etc...

Despite the fact that the odds are against alot of the artists who can only contribute part time to their store (myself included) I am willing to give it a try. I have been with GCU for a couple years now and I have grown as an artist and made many great friends here. The experience has been great and I'm willing to stick around a bit longer.

Oh ... just and example of percentage loss on my own store :

I sold 100 cards today - the customer paid $199.00 - I actually earned $11.92
So I have a quite alot of work to do on my own to make the quota for this quarter. Wish me luck!!! And I hope alot of you guys hang in there and stick it out.

Oma.

Oma, So you earned 19.9 cents per card. That's no where near 60 cents that we signed up for. I have a good one for you. today I had a sale for 250 cards, my commission 26.85. Please, one of you math minded people out there, correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that my commission was somewhere around 10 or 11 cents. This is sad and discouraging.

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Donna_137698

Gold Member
artist

Posts: 1064

Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13
Reply #130 - Aug 23^rd, 2013, 4:13am

and let me get this straight too - GCU is in such financial dire straits (as per Mindy's previous comments) that they HAVE to cut artist commissions and yet can afford to have a special offer EVERY DAY which fetches them the same if not MORE money into their pockets but can't keep ALL the artists happy with a little financial incentive (and I say ALL because not ALL are affected by this mess)?

I just made another small sale - 19 cents per card I netted and the sale was made on yet another special promotion.

Does something stink really badly here or what? No, I didn't sign on for this and certainly not to have to work ten times as hard for 50% less.

And no, Admin won't be responding to anything further - they don't at all care - they got something really good - a large pool of artists they don't have to pay fairly at all - talk about total disrespect of their artists.

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Mindy

GCU Administrator
Community Manager

Posts: 6537
Gender: female

Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13
Reply #131 - Aug 23^rd, 2013, 12:35pm

Quote from Donna_137698 on Aug 23^rd, 2013, 4:13am:

and let me get this straight too - GCU is in such financial dire straits (as per Mindy's previous comments) that they HAVE to cut artist commissions and yet can afford to have a special offer EVERY DAY which fetches them the same if not MORE money into their pockets but can't keep ALL the artists happy with a little financial incentive (and I say ALL because not ALL are affected by this mess)?

I just made another small sale - 19 cents per card I netted and the sale was made on yet another special promotion.

Does something stink really badly here or what? No, I didn't sign on for this and certainly not to have to work ten times as hard for 50% less.

And no, Admin won't be responding to anything further - they don't at all care - they got something really good - a large pool of artists they don't have to pay fairly at all - talk about total disrespect of their artists.

Do you have a specific question here? We have done our best to respond to your questions and concerns but it doesn't mean that you'll be happy the answers.

We understand your need to vent and you have the right to your opinion. However your continued judgement of our business decisions and lack of caring for our artist community is incorrect and tiresome.

We've shared earlier on this thread that our intent of these changes is by no means for artists to leave our community but we understand that as we make necessary changes GCU will no longer be a good fit for some.

If the terms and direction of GCU are no longer a good fit for you, you have the option of leaving.

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Donna_137698

Gold Member
artist

Posts: 1064

Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13
Reply #132 - Aug 23^rd, 2013, 12:54pm

guess I'm just not seeing how this helps me when I've strived really hard over the last year to meet your new guidelines and worked on marketing and now all I see is a promotion every day, my sales cut into such a small part, and asked to do more.

Mindy, many are still making the same comments - not just me.

Yes, I do have a choice. I'll do my best to just stay off the forums from now on - heard ya loud and clear!

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Catinka_133492

Full Member
artist

Posts: 143

Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13
Reply #133 - Aug 23^rd, 2013, 1:57pm

Would you have made those sales anywhere else? If you had, it would perhaps be sales in addition to, not, instead of. This is still money earned, no matter how little. The art, and the work of putting the art up here, is already done. If you have already done the work, it is still potential money to earn. All business investments one makes are risks. It is up to you to assess what the potential risks are when you make investments, whether those be financial or time investments. Imagine the lobster fishermen in Maine, (where I live), who have to deal with greatly increased prices in diesel fuel this year. Last year they had a glut of lobsters in the market at the wrong time. Think of the farmers who have to deal with unpredictable factors such as drought or too much rain. The paper greeting card industry is going through some hard times. It has been in the business news recently.

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Mindy

GCU Administrator
Community Manager

Posts: 6537
Gender: female

Re: NEW - Earnings Modifications Effective 7/01/13
Reply #134 - Aug 23^rd, 2013, 3:03pm

Quote from Donna_137698 on Aug 23^rd, 2013, 12:54pm:

guess I'm just not seeing how this helps me when I've strived really hard over the last year to meet your new guidelines and worked on marketing and now all I see is a promotion every day, my sales cut into such a small part, and asked to do more.

Mindy, many are still making the same comments - not just me.

Yes, I do have a choice. I'll do my best to just stay off the forums from now on - heard ya loud and clear!

Donna,
You've missed the point. I'm not saying to stay off the forum. I'm saying each artist in light of these changes has to evaluate if the GCU model still works for them. You have to assess your time, investment, opportunity costs, body of work, expected returns, etc.

You are at that point of needing to decide do you stay or do you go.

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