I'm sorry, but up until this past year or so, it took no longer than one week for you to approve cards, and that was a trend for the last few years. I actually stopped uploading as many designs this year because it is taking so long to approve them. Your goal is a maximum of 4 weeks? When it was one week not so long ago? I don't understand how you can cut royalties in half and still say your company is "growing" when you state you've had layoffs and take months to approve a card.
 
Also, how about you save some money on the "2 free ipads" you are giving away on Facebook every few weeks? Since you can't afford to pay us, those are obviously coming out of our collective pockets. I think you are really taking advantage of every artist here. I'm an artist. I do actually WORK for a living, every day,  I work 12 hours promoting and illustrating most days, including weekends. That is more than your average 8- or 9-hour shift. I am not independently wealthy. My hard-earned money should not be paying for other people's iPads. I think others here will agree with me on that one. How about some reasonable giveaways?

Quote from Chrissy_135289 on Jul 9^th, 2013, 8:14pm:

 
The card review times have not been 1 week for around three years.  
 
As for the promotional giveaways these are part of our social media and acquisition programs.  To avoid getting into a discussion around what we spend on marketing promotions, why and what are other giveaway alternatives I'll just share the cost of a few iPads is inconsequential compared to other costs and expenses like artist earnings.

I can understand reinvesting to market more but not at such a high cost to the suppliers (aka - the artists) who provide you card designs to sell ( that would be otherwise blank cards) to the customers on your site.
 
 If you think of it like this : someone who has a min. wage job goes to work and gets paid for the hours they work for the day, correct? No one would go to work everyday if they weren't getting paid right?  
 Ok so if employees of GCU put in 8 hours of work, they get paid for 8 hours of work correct?
 
 How would you feel if you were told well if the website makes $150,000 every quarter you will get you full paycheck but if it doesn't you will only get half and you need to help promote more? Would you still want to work there or would you need a job where you get paid for the hours you work?
 
So now think of this:
Now we as artists put in 8 hours of work creating designs to upload to your website for the day, at the end of the day we "do not" get paid for the 8 hours of work it took to create the designs we uploaded to your website and "will not" get paid for those 8 hours of work until those designs sell over and over again for us to actually get paid for the 8 hours of work it took to create them not including any expenses of supplies to create the designs etc.
 
Now with both thoughts in your head, how would you feel as an artist/designer when you don't get paid til the design sells ( if it sells bc there is no guarantee that it will sell) and then your earnings are cut in half, and you are expected to promote more for half of what you were earning bc the company wants to do more marketing that may or may not bring in more revenue (bc customer sales are not guaranteed unless you have something they want and even then still no guarantee they will buy)
 
How would you feel? Would you feel valued? Would you still want to put in the energy to continue to create new designs or would you move on and work where you will actually get paid for the work you do?  
 
Please know, I am not trying to be argumentative, I just want to show you through my eyes what I see and feel, thank you for listening and I do hope you can understand how it feels to be on this end of it all.
I thank Nasser for giving everyone the next quarter to try to get better organized for the change.

The card review times have not been 1 week for around three years.  
 
As for the promotional giveaways these are part of our social media and acquisition programs.  To avoid getting into a discussion around what we spend on marketing promotions, why and what are other giveaway alternatives I'll just share the cost of a few iPads is inconsequential compared to other costs and expenses like artist earnings. [/quote]
 
"a few iPads is inconsequential compared to other costs and expenses like artist earnings."
 
Mindy, Are you saying that our earnings are just a business expense to you???

Quote from Cori_146275 on Jul 1^st, 2013, 4:50pm:

 
This is one of the reasons I stopped adding new cards.
Whilst I too like many of you will live with the commission cut I am afraid that like Terry I will no longer be adding new cards.
 
Whilst I can understand having to economize it just doesn't seem fair to cut commisions by 50%
 
If it wasn't for the many many artists who upload their creations GCU wouldn't be in business so surely chasing away artists isn't the answer.

I have read through these posts and this question has not been addressed.
 
Is this a correct assumption:  
If minimum earnings thresholds have not been achieved for any given Quarter, earnings will be left to accumulate until a minimum threshold for payout is achieved in a subsequent Quarter.  
 
For example Q1-2013 $50, Q2-2013 additional $60, Q3-2013 additional $70, which means Q3-2013 payout $180 check will be sent to the artist.

Thanks Trish for the reply, but just for my clarification...  
 
Mindy noted two-tiered quarterly earnings structure, but she detail the Premium earnings and threshold structure.
 
(and yes we would all strive to be premium earning artists)  
 
But is the first tier which was mentioned in the announcement, much like the status quo:
i.e. for the standard earning artists, the quarterly check thresholds remains as $25 earned based on 10% or 0.35c commission per card sold.  And earnings can be cumulative from quarter to quarter until min $25 is earned, in which case a check would be issued?
 
Have i got it straight now?
Thanks again.

Wow, this is a joke right?!  
 
I am already having 30% of my GCU earnings deducted due to the bizarre tax rules. Now I have to take a 50% cut in my commission?!  
 
One of the reasons I signed up with GCU is because I will not participate with a company that slaps on quotas.
 
These thresholds are ridiculous because they are arbitrary amounts decided solely by GCU.  
 
I do not buy into the argument that I should be grateful that GCU provides a vehicle for artists to sell their wares. This may have been the case 5 years ago, but not now. There are many other venues that provide these services for free or low cost. GCUs commission rate is now 5-10%. That is not a good thing.
 
GCU expects me to be ok with:
- provide/create the products they sell for profit
- commit time and money to promote the products
- having no control over discounts provided to customers (thus affecting my commission)
- waiting 4 - 8 weeks for cards to be approved  
- being blind sided by changes being implemented  
- letting them decide on arbitrary "thresholds"
 
I find it interesting that in the artist FAQ, GCU says this:
 
 "Where do the card buyers come from?
A12:      Cards buyers come from sites that are in the 'Powered by BigDates-Solutions'� network. Greeting Card Universe is the exclusive greeting card provider for BigDates. You'll enjoy marketing and site traffic that these other sites employ. You don't have to lift a finger! Click here to see "Powered by BigDates-Solutions" sites. Buyers also come from search engines like Google, etc."
 
However, outside of the FAQ, we are told "Lastly, do not despair, meeting the quarterly thresholds is realistically within reach for artists who are willing to put in the extra effort."
 
I also saw on the FAQ:  
 
"How much money will I earn?
A14:      You will earn up to $ 0.60 for each of your paper cards sold. Artist payments will be made thirty (30) days after the end of each calendar quarter if the amount owed exceeds twenty-five dollars ($25). You can increase your minimum payment amount. Click here for Payment Information in Account Information."
 
Based on the new commission structure, the only way to receive $0.60 commission on a sale is if we reach the threshold by the end of the quarter. This is certainly not clear in the FAQ.  
 
If I were deciding whether to sign up with GCU, the faqs paint a very different picture than what is reality.
 
I have 2400 cards on GCU. Based on my sales, I would be able to meet the thresholds. However, I think that GCU is not conducting themselves in good faith and I cringe at the thought of what will be coming next (ie charging for "premium" accounts, charging for "premium" services and tools, etc). I know that if I leave, my spot will be filled with others and GCU's bottom line will not be adversely affected. If anything, they will save money by not having to pay me full commissions when I meet the thresholds.  
 
I wish all those remaining at GCU the best of luck and great success with their artistic endeavours.
 
Lisa