# Question about sites like cafe press, zazzle, etc.



## Optiq (Oct 13, 2009)

I'm just curious.... how would an average Joe Schmoe know weather or not these sites actually sell their designs? Business people will want to see invoices.... your average person doesn't do stuff like that. I've seen people do allllll kinds of dirty things and find ways to write stuff off differently because there's just no way for anybody to ever know. They can count the transaction in their taxes.... but the government doesn't know every design they offer and unless they get audited nobody will ever care to look as long as the numbers are all matching up with what they owe them. These people know an average person's mindset, they know they'll post stuff and if they never get a check they'll just assume nobody bought their designs and eventually wither away from the site and never check back on anything. Unless it becomes soooooo big that it's everywhere they won't know it sold. Say the company sells 20,000 shirts with their designs world wide scattered over a year and a half...... that's not that many t-shirts on the scale of the whole world so how would they see it? But even if their cut is only $3 a shirt.... that's $60,000 they would be owed. All the agreements and whatnot make people feel comfortable, but seriously..... what can they do to see if these companies are lying to them or not? You would think big companies who can actually afford to pay people would do it, but sometimes they're the biggest crooks, all they would have to do is write it up as one of their own designs and unless they're busted somehow, nobody will ever do an investigation on them to find out. I'm an artist and I've fell victim to many tricks in the book and learned a lot from watching other people get screwed around, so I can't help but to think like this. Having 5 really good artists submit their designs that all do the same thing is $300,000 they can keep all to their self just by a telling a little lie nobody will ever discover.... so I don't think it's ridiculous to imagine someone doing that, that's a lot of money even if they are making a lot more on top of that, doing it to 20 artist is $1.2 million, there's THOUSANDS of artists out here jumping on these types of opportunities, so just 20 people isn't even a hand full. What do you guys think?


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Can you recap this novel into a one sentence question so we know what you are talking about?  Cuz right now i have no clue.


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## veedub3 (Mar 29, 2007)

splathead said:


> Can you recap this novel into a one sentence question so we know what you are talking about?  Cuz right now i have no clue.


Funny everything he has posted has been lengthy and after about line10, the lines start blurring together but I am thinking that he wants to know how POD sites prove to the designer/shop owner their true sales figures. After reading through it I think he has his mind made up about those types of sites and it would be best for him to steer clear since he thinks they can rip a person off with them never knowing it.


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## chobay (Aug 4, 2009)

That's what I gather as well. (Kinda) As much as I hate the PODs, I don't think they would risk withholding sales from shopkeepers. If word got out, not only would there be BIG lawsuits, but their reputation would be shattered forever..They rip you off in other ways i.e, low commissions, withholding your commissions until after "clearing" period, poor print quality, etc..


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