Yeah. I think it's fine for sales that they truly generate through their own market place, but I am not so happy with them "stealing sales" by directly marketing to people who are active members and would normally have gone through the links I provided, if they weren't contacted by CafePress directly. To you guys, it's all the same cost (technically, they charge $0.01 more), but in the end, they take 60% of what normally would go to the Beardie Stuff Store account.
VERY thoughtful of them. *sigh* No wonder they've been losing a ton of their store owners. They've made a number of changes that have boosted their profits by effectively taking it from the store owners. In some ways, it isn't as bad (such as changing the payment structure for sales made through THEIR side of the site). But other changes are also annoying. They determine pricing of products on their side. In September, they were selling calendars at $15. That undercuts what I could POSSIBLY sell them at, because the base price (effectively my "cost") is $15! I guess they were trying to stir up calendar interest or something. I half tempted to just turn off allowing any of the Beardie Stuff Store items to show on their "Marketplace". But I'll have to review the reports to see if they generate significant revenue or not, versus what I think they may be taking away from direct sales. I may also need to start reviewing alternative providers that treat stores better than CafePress has been doing lately.