GCU Forum - Comission changed from 7.5% to 6%?

Isidra_197763

GCU Newbies

Posts: 6

Comission changed from 7.5% to 6%?
Aug 24^th, 2017, 10:25am

Hello everyone,

When did the artist commission changed from 7.5% to 6%?
Someone just purchased 20 cards and my artist commission =$1.56 (6% - $0.08 per card)
However, the commission tables says 7.5% (see below)

Thanks,
Isidra

Artist commission tables states
Price of card $2.29-$5.00=10% commission
Price of card $1.89-$2.28=7.5% commission
Price of card $1.70-$1.88=7.5% commission
Price of card $0.50-$1.69=7.5% commission

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Shaun_131054

GCU Administrator
artist

Posts: 2482

Re: Comission changed from 7.5% to 6%?
Reply #1 - Aug 24^th, 2017, 10:39am

Hi Isidra,
You're correct, you should have received 7.5% here. I believe I found the order in question and it was a bulk order for a real estate company that we took over the phone. This is not something we do commonly so perhaps something wasn't recorded correctly. There were about 30 designs included in this order so they'll all be adjusted if needed to 7.5%. We're looking into this. Sorry for the confusion.

Shaun

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Beverly_133630 Full Member Posts: 177	Re: Comission changed from 7.5% to 6%? Reply #2 - Aug 24^th, 2017, 10:49am I sold 30 cards to Alberta, Canada. Total Cards sold was 700. only 6% was given for commission.
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Shaun_131054 GCU Administrator artist Posts: 2482	Re: Comission changed from 7.5% to 6%? Reply #3 - Aug 24^th, 2017, 10:51am Quote from Beverly_133630 on Aug 24^th, 2017, 10:49am: I sold 30 cards to Alberta, Canada. Total Cards sold was 700. only 6% was given for commission. Hi Beverly, This was the same order, there were about 30 different cards in the order.
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Jay_134502

Senior Member
artist

Posts: 280

Re: Comission changed from 7.5% to 6%?
Reply #4 - Aug 24^th, 2017, 2:23pm

Quote from Shaun_131054 on Aug 24^th, 2017, 10:51am:

Quote from Beverly_133630 on Aug 24^th, 2017, 10:49am:

I sold 30 cards to Alberta, Canada. Total Cards sold was 700. only 6% was given for commission.

Hi Beverly,
This was the same order, there were about 30 different cards in the order.

We were involved in this order as well.
Thanks Shaun,
Jay and Susan

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Shaun_131054 GCU Administrator artist Posts: 2482	Re: Comission changed from 7.5% to 6%? Reply #5 - Aug 24^th, 2017, 5:34pm Hi Everyone, The commissions for this order have been updated to reflect the 7.5% earning. You'll see this in your Earnings report. Sorry again for the trouble here. Shaun
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Christine_336442

GCU Newbies

Posts: 3

Re: Comission changed from 7.5% to 6%?
Reply #6 - Sep 3^rd, 2017, 5:01am

Hello
When I first started on GCU the commissions were higher and made this venture worthwhile. It is SO little now that it is discouraging. We all know the artwork makes the sale. It should be just a bit higher. I really don't even think about selling cards here anymore because the commission is so small. It doesn't pay off for all the work you have to do to create a card. My time goes to another creative site where my compensation is more. If the commission were to go up JUST A BIT MORE. I may put more time in listing more cards. There has been a drastic drop in artist commission at GCU in the past few years! Any sign of bringing back the value for artist to work here?

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Doreen_137017

Gold Member
artist

Posts: 5273

Re: Comission changed from 7.5% to 6%?
Reply #7 - Sep 3^rd, 2017, 9:01am

Hi Christine - Just to make sure you have the whole picture - AND - to make sure newbies are not discouraged, let me clarify somethings on this subject.

In the POD world of today, artists have to be businessmen and women in addition to artists. The days of dumping hundreds of designs on a POD site and expecting to be paid with no other effort, are gone. These changes GCU made years ago was to remain competitive - AND more importantly - to have OUR CARDS indexed and found in SEO.

EVERY print-on-demand site is changing and making more demands on the artists in order to survive and grow with the ever-changing world of selling on the internet.

1. Not uploading new work weekly to any POD storefront will drop your SEO rating for external search engines. If you wish to increase sales, you must keep fresh new content in your storefront at least once a week - daily is better.

2. Looks like you have under 50 cards in your store. That lowers the odds significantly that customers will find your cards because fifty in a sea of 100K plus cards will not stand out on their own. Another reason to build up your offerings in your store.

3- Strong meta-tag data for each card is critical for success. GCU has given us a great tool, the Uniqueness Factor check for our Card Descriptions (Artist Notes). If that indicator shows red, Google will not even index those cards - in other words - they will not be offered in external searches.

4- Premium offerings at GCU mean artists that meet or exceed the threshold, each quarter, will double their earnings - earning the full premium earnings (100%).

Artists should be inspired to perform, and should want to challenge themselves to reach this level to receive Premium Earnings rather than turn their back on their cards in the hope that GCU will change their mind.

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Christine_336442

GCU Newbies

Posts: 3

Re: Comission changed from 7.5% to 6%?
Reply #8 - Sep 3^rd, 2017, 12:49pm

Hi Doreen,
Thanks for your reply and I certainly understand all the points you make. However, I still find creating cards time consuming and the commissions are too low. Actually, I was the 7th artist on the GCU site
(back in 2004-not sure of the exact year but it was several years ago). I had been making a bit more in commissions years ago. I had several email transactions with Mindy at the time. She was wonderful and very knowledgeable about all the workings at GCU.
Then it happened, many cards were returned to me for edits and some of those cards sold 250 in number to one customer.
Back in the year I started on GCU, I asked how quality control was implemented as I was concerned about quality of print. I never did get that resolved as no one could tell me what that process was. I understand it was probably different people. And the present review process is very much improved. That step had been very much needed. As you report, changes implemented for improvement are a good business practice.

I took all my cards down about 3 years ago. I had 1600 cards on GCU and many sold very well. Everyday I would receive at least one email and sometimes a few emails reporting cards sold at GCU...at that time I would make between 54 cents and 78 cents per card. Recently, last year, I started to put a few more cards up. Today, I make about 15 cents per card. I understand the workings of SEO, and adding more cards to survive in the multitudes of online offerings but I find that those 15 cent per card sales don't motivate me to work daily on creating cards. However, I thank you for your time and expertise in explaining the artists' commissions and encouraging me to work harder.
Will continue to add more cards to see if that makes the difference I am looking for.
Sincerely,
Christine Quimby

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