Question:
My question is, if a customer gets a refund due to something that was not our fault (such as shipping problems, poor print quality, etc.) do we still lose our commission?

Anwser:
CafePress sends out replacements to make orders 'right' and customers happy. They'd rather do that than lose a sale completely, and have you lose your commission.

"Commission" is after 30 days when it's safely yours.

"Potential" is what is currently CP's money.

30 days is the maturing period for commissions BECAUSE it protects you from losing money. It's not your profit till after 30 days.

Customers return for a multitude of reasons, the least of which is something that is a "fault."

How would any other company operate if they didn't handle it this way??

You're not paying anything. 30+ days it becomes your profit. Until then, as per the service agreement, it's only potential and still belongs to CafePress to risk as part of possible returns. You'd be paying a LOT more if it weren't for CafePress having this mechanism built-in.

CafePress reports that returns are less than 1%.
In the years I've been with CP and sold plenty - I've never had a single return. I've had mistakes that they sent replacements for - but commission (aka money after 30 days) remained intact.


TheTShirtZone
"Are you blipfishing in there?!"
The Art of Daniel Mowry