Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Can I sell my items with bulk discount?

A. Yes, basically, it works the same way as our store. The more customers buy of your product in the same order, the cheaper each will become for them. The bulk discounts will be automatically calculated and applied when you setup your item.

Q. How long will it take for my bulk order to be produced and shipped?

A. It depends on the shipping location and also the exact quantity. For complete details regarding our delivery and production times go to our shipping page.

Q. Does bulk pricing exclude any products?

A. We offer bulk discounts for most of our products on MPC unless otherwise stated.

Q. Does it cost me anything to open my shop at MPC MarketPlace?

A. No. It's completely free of charge. All we charge is a 5% handling fee on your product sales earnings and product base price.

Q. How much can I make at MPC MarketPlace?

A. The markup percentage you set above our base price (up to 250%) is yours to keep (minus our 5% handling fee from product sales earnings).

Q. Do I pay for the products in advance, before selling them?

A. No. Designers are totally free from any charge to post a product for sale at MPC MarketPlace. Once your product is sold and paid for, you will receive the royalty you set as a markup (minus handling fee) and MPC retains the base price.

Q. How do I get paid?

A. MPC will transfer your earnings to your PayPal account or can send to you a Hong Kong cheque written from a Hong Kong bank in Hong Kong Dollars (HKD), the equivalent of your earnings in USD. We recommend using PayPal as a form of receiving payment from us. (Note: Your domestic bank will usually charge you for depositing/cashing an international cheque).

Q. Can I get my royalties directly deposited into my bank account?

A. This option is not available at the moment. We can only transfer your royalties via PayPal or cheque. As a result, when opening your shop at MPC, be sure to enter your PayPal email address where you'd like to receive your royalty payments.

Q. When do I get paid?

A. After an order is placed for your item, you will see a record of this in your sales performance report and is marked 'PENDING'. After around 15-40 days this status will change to 'LOCKED' which means this sales commission is eligible for payment. This time period is required to cater for possible customer cancelations, returns, etc which will mean no sale therefore, no commission. The record will be marked as 'CANCELED' or removed from the list. On the 1st of each month, we will calculate your commission total and if it is equal or over the amount of 100, it will be paid on or around the 20th of that month to your chosen method to receive payment.

Q. What if I can't reach the threshold?

A. Due to associated costs in processing payments, the threshold must be reached before any pending amount can be paid out. Unfortunately, there are no exceptions.

Q. What are the meanings of the commission statuses?

A.

Q. I have made a sale but never received a payment

A. Please note that if your accumulated accrued royalties do not add up to the payment threshold of 100 by the first of each month, your royalties will not be paid immediately, but will be carried over to your next months earnings. MPC will transfer you earnings amount via PayPal in around the 20th of the month. Cheque payments will take longer and is not sent via registered post. If you would like to have it registered, please let us know and we will arrange proceedings.

Q. Can I get paid in a currency other than USD?

A. Unfortunately not at this moment in time. At this point we can only pay you your sales commissions in US Dollars.

Q. How does the Shop Performance Bonus work?

A. Apart from the earning per sale that you get as a result from orders of your items, you can also earn a Shop Performance Bonus. This is an additional bonus from us to you if you make over a certain amount of sales per month from the products in your shop space. If you have more than one shop space with us, each shop space will perform individually and cannot be accumulated together to earn the shop performance bonus. You may check your shop sales record by logging into your account reports section anytime. When your shop makes accumulated earnings of 1000 or above in any 1 month period (resets on the 1st of each month), MPC will reward you with an extra 3.5% bonus commission. This will be calculated automatically so you don't need to inform us. The more you sell, the more you earn, so get promoting!

Q. Do you notify the IRS of the royalties I earn?

A. No. Since we are based in Hong Kong, we will not notify the IRS or any other governing body of your residing country of the royalty amount you have earned from us as a result of selling on MPC MarketPlace. What you earn will be strictly your own responsibility and you will have to take necessary steps to report your income to your own country's authorities.

Q. How do I check if I've made a sale?

A. You can keep track of your sales by logging into your account, click on "Reports and status" and check your sales report in the chosen timeframe to see what you've sold.

Q. Where can I find an order report to see all of my sales?

A. You can just simply sign in to your account to view all of your sales, click on "Reports and status" at MarketPlace. You can find your order report by selecting the sales timeframe.

Q. Why isn't my sale showing up in my account yet?

A. Sales are automatically posted in your sales report once an order is made on your product. To view these orders, sign in to your account, click on the "Reports and Status". Please note that orders for items sold from your shop will remain under the pending status until the order is shipped and completed, after which it will be change to a locked status.

Q. What is my Shop Space URL?

A. Your Shop Space URL is the end part of your web address for your online shop that you setup on our MarketPlace e.g. https://www.makeplayingcards.com/sell/your-shop-space-name.html. You can set this up once only and cannot be changed afterwards. Replace any spaces between words with hyphens and try to use between 3-5 words to make up a meaningful shop name. Some examples "black-jet-playing-cards", "destroyers-game-card-company" etc. After you have this setup and some designs added to your shop, then you can promote your shop by sharing this URL to the public.

Q. Can I customize my MPC shop?

A. Not at this moment. Designers are currently unable to customize their shop at MPC MarketPlace but we are working on adding this feature in.

Q. I do not live in the United States, can I still set up a shop to sell my products?

A. Yes. Wherever you are, you can now set up your own shop on MPC MarketPlace and your customers can order your items from all over the world as well. We ship orders worldwide.

Q. What is the URL for my shop?

A. Everyone has a unique URL for their shop space. Check your shop URL by signing into your account, enter the MarketPlace and click on "Shop Space Address" under "Promote Your Shop" on the right hand side menu area.

Q. How do I change my Shop name?

A. You can change your shop name by clicking on the "Shop Space setup" link on the right hand side menu area. We would however advise you to refrain from changing it frequently.

Q. Can I transfer my shop to another user?

A. We currently do not offer the ability to transfer your shop to another user. The other option would be to close down your current shop and restart a shop with other account. However, all of your products, description and details will need to be re-added and written up again.

Q. How do I close my shop?

A. To close your shop, goto "Shop Space Address" under "Promote Your Shop" on the right hand side menu area and there is an option there to delete your shop. Please be reminded that all designs that you once uploaded to us will be removed after your shop is deleted. You are required to upload everything again yourself if you wish to reopen another online shop.

Q. How do I create a product with my design?

A. You can create a product with your designs by using MPC's easy-to-use online builder. Just choose the product that you wish to add your design to to sell and follow the screen prompts to submit your design.

Q. Can I use images from my website on products?

A. Yes. You can upload any images on your web site to create MPC products as long as your have full copyright ownership of those images.

Q. Are there any limitations on the number of designs/products that I can sell?

A. No. We have no limits on the number of designs/products that you wish to sell on our MarketPlace. We'd say, the more the merrier and of course, the more you will earn. Bring it on!

Q. Can all of the products in a section have the same name and description?

A. Sure, all products certainly can have the same name and description. However, your product name is recommended to be unique to differentiate your product from others. Make it stand out and use unique keywords and describe it in detail using your own words. This will in turn make it more searchable on search engines such as Google and Yahoo but this is another section which we will talk about to help you maximize your chances of sales success.

Q. How do I add a design?

A. You can create a product with your design by using MPC's easy-to-use online builder. Just choose the item that you wish to add your design onto and follow the screen prompts to submit your design to us.

Q. What images and text can I upload and add?

A. You can upload any artwork/images as long as you have full copyright ownership of them. Please ensure that you do not infringe on any copyrighted material and that all your uploaded images are your own original work. You cannot upload images that you created using elements of someone else's work. Any copying of images or text from an external source which doesn't 100% belong to you is strictly forbidden. If in doubt, please do not upload to MPC. You as the designer will bear full responsibility of all the images and text that you upload and add into our system. Please note that MPC reserves all rights to disapprove any design submissions at any time and if at any point we find any violation of copyrighted material or terms as set by MPC, we will close down your shop without notice.

Q. What about ownership of my uploaded images?

A. All images and files that you upload to MPC will still belong to you and you will still have full ownership rights of them. MPC acts as a service provider only and have no ownership to any files that you upload.

Q. Are there any limitations on the number of designs/products that I can sell?

A. No. We have no limits on the number of designs/products that you wish to sell on our MarketPlace. We'd say, the more the merrier and of course, the more you will earn. Bring it on!

Q. Can designs have the same name and description?

A. Sure, all designs certainly can have the same name and description. However, we would highly recommended it to be unique to differentiate your design from others. Make it stand out and use unique keywords and describe it in detail using your own words. This will in turn make it more searchable on search engines such as Google and Yahoo but this is another section which we will talk about to help you maximize your chances of sales success.

Q. How much can I sell my designs for?

A. You can sell your designs for up to 2.5 times our base price for that particular product by marking up by a percentage (up to 250%). The base price is the minimum price that we charge and keep. Anything above this base price is yours to earn (minus our handling charge). The final selling price will be the summation of our base price plus your markup percentage.

Q. What is a base price?

A. The base price is the minimum price that we charge for a particular product and keep which covers the cost of production, services, transaction costs and your online shop maintenance. When you've made a sale, you get the markup that you set above our base price (minus handling charge) and MPC retains the base price.

Q. Who pays for the shipping costs for an order?

A. The customer who placed the order pays for the shipping cost. They choose their preferred shipping method during checkout and our online system will calculate the exact amount. You can see the shipping costs and shipping times on our shipping page.

Q. Are there quantity discounts on bulk orders of my designs?

A. Yes, we offer bulk discounts when someone orders larger quantities of the same item. It works the same way as our main MPC shop and the quantity breaks for discounts are the same. Our base price decreases when quantities increase and the percentage mark up that you set for your design when you create your product is applied automatically for bulk discount.

Q. Can I create my own coupons to pass along to customers?

A. Designers cannot create their own coupon codes at this time. However, you can simply reduce your selling prices (by adjusting the mark up percentage) for a limited period to do a promotional sale in your shop.

Q. How can I change all of the prices of my designs at the same time?

A. Unfortunately, we do not offer the function to change the prices for all your products at the same time. They will have to be modified each individually. To change your prices, login, click on "My Designs" in MarketPlace, and then click on "edit" under your products. A product details box will pop up, click on "modify price" next to the current price, edit the markup percentage on the base price and apply. Finally click on "save".

MarketPlace offers several different shipping methods to meet your delivery needs. We calculate our shipping cost for each shipping method based on the type and quantity of items you order. Your shipping and handling charges are summarized at checkout and most packages in your order can be tracked via our carriers' websites.

To find out how much shipping is, proceed to checkout with the item(s) in your cart. The shipping cost for the order will be displayed in the "Select Shipping Option" section of the checkout page.

Your items may arrive in different shipments. Depending on the type, quantity and weight of items in your order, we may pack and ship them in different packages to ensure they arrive on time and undamaged. You will never be charged more for shipping and handling than what appears at checkout. Sign into your account to track your orders*.

*Tracking may not be available for some international destinations. MarketPlace does its best to ensure your delivery arrives on time. However, delivery dates are not guaranteed and there may be a number of unforeseen reasons why your items will arrive after the estimated arrival date. Large orders (100+ items), delivery to a P.O. Box or APO/FPO address, to Hawaii, Alaska, or other international destinations and issues with payment verification, shipping address, designs, or media may all delay delivery of your order.

Q. Why am I not getting any sales?

A. There could be a number of reasons for this but lack of exposure is likely the biggest cause. You need to setup your product properly in order for it to be found and indexed properly on our MPC MarketPlace and also on search engines such as Google and Yahoo. See the below steps on setting up your designs which can be found by clicking on the [edit] button under your designs.

1. Name: Use a good title which is unique to your product. Give it a name and be creative for example "Impressions Playing Cards" is better than "Impressions" or "My Cards". Keep it between 3-6 words.
2. Keywords: Think about what people might type in order to find your card design for example if you had a card design with a love theme you might use "Valentine Playing Cards", "I Love You Playing Cards" etc. Separate your keywords using commas. The more the better.
3. Category: Which category does your card project belong to? Choose up to 3 categories and we will list your design in those areas.
4. Selling Price: Mark up your selling price to whatever price you feel you can sell your cards design at. Make it reasonable as if you set it too high, it might be out of budget for your buyers. Whatever you markup here above our base price (which is in green) is yours to keep (minus a 5% handling charge).
5. Description: Write a good description about your cards design for example where you got the inspiration from, what's special about the design, what type of audience are the cards targeted towards, instructions to your card game if it is a game. Basically, everything about your cards should be written here and the more you write, the higher the audience reach. Make good use of the 300 words space you have here.
6. Image: You can upload your own image or use our default. We'd recommend you to upload your own edited image in order to attract shoppers.

Q. How do I promote my shop or designs?

A. Everyone who creates a design on our MarketPlace automatically gets a Shop Space with a unique URL which needs minimal setup including a shop image and description which you should ensure you take advantage of by writing a good description and upload a good image. Once you have this setup, you can use this unique URL to promote your Shop Space which will list all your designs. Post it onto your social media pages such as Facebook page, Tweet about it on Twitter, post it on forums and write about it on blogs. Give people your link and the more people who visit your shop, the higher chance of a sale.

Just remember, getting the word out is key to success. If no one knows about your shop and cool designs, then you can't expect to make any sales.

Q. How do I promote it on my website or blog?

A. We have built a very nifty little piece of work specifically for this purpose which you can find a link called "Embed widget" under "Promote Your Shop" found on the right hand side menu area. The tool automatically creates a piece of code that you can copy and paste onto your own blog or website which will list your designs for sale and link back to your designs on MarketPlace. You can choose the size of the thumbnails to show and also how many you want to show. It's very powerful so we'd recommend you use it.

Q. Where can I find help and more detailed instructions?

A. For any further enquiries, please contact our support center.