Zazzle Review

Tuesday, March 28th

2023 Calendar Store Reviews

Zazzle

• Cost: Starting from $12.99

Zazzle is one of the first DIY print shops to hit the market, way back in 2005. They feature the work of independent Designers and Makers, while still giving you the chance to create your own projects from scratch.

Overwhelming options

Zazzle offers a somewhat overwhelming blend of create-your-own and pre-made calendars from artists and photographers. The downside is that you might have a hard time sorting through all of your options - but the obvious upside is that you can get a truly unique calendar that you won't find on other retailers' sites.

Filters are your friend

However, aside from just browsing until you stumble across something you like, you'll probably have a hard time finding a ready-made calendar by subject or theme. You can filter the options by format, size, officially licensed, events and occasions, and a few other criteria - and that's where you might get some specifics that make sense to choose from, like Disney or "For Kids".

Odd search results

But even those results felt a little off. Should random people be allowed to buy a calendar featuring someone else's kids? And why would anyone want to buy a calendar that was more than four years old? It felt like we were looking at calendars people made for their own families and listed them hoping to make a little money for themselves. Most of these calendars are priced at $22 and up, which is on the expensive side compared to most commercially-produced designs.

Confusing customization process

How does Zazzle do with make-your-own calendar options? We found ourselves almost equally confused there. Zazzle doesn't have a dedicated page just for "Create Your Own" calendar designs. They're lumped in with all of the other calendars in their inventory, so you have to work your way through and figure out if the ones that catch your eye are templates you can use.

Start with a blank page

The first result in the calendar listings is a customizable option, a basic two-page small calendar design for $18.95 each. You're literally starting with a blank page with this design, adding your own images and selecting the holidays you want featured (US? US + Jewish?), culture (US? Canada? New Zealand?), grid transparency and so on.

Scroll down

You might have an easier time if you scroll down to the bottom of that calendar and look at "other designs you might like" - especially if you prefer a customized calendar without so much work on your part! We found one cute template there that included a birthday list and easy personalization options, but all of the layout and design was already done. That calendar was priced at $20.05 and had a rating of 4.8/5 stars from other Zazzle customers who used it as their template.

Why do we have to do that?

Another frustrating aspect of shopping on Zazzle is the fact that you have to create an account just to get a shipping cost estimate for your order. We would definitely prefer to have a calculator in the shopping cart or at least a ballpark estimate in their policies, rather than having to sign up for their site first. In other words, your shipping costs will entirely depend on what you order and you'll have to create a user account to find out.

Stellar satisfaction guarantee

On the other hand, one big advantage to buying a calendar from Zazzle is their stellar satisfaction guarantee. If you get your calendar and don't love it, you can return it for a replacement or refund within 30 days - even if it's a customized product. You'll have to pay for the return shipping costs, but it's still a great policy compared with many other calendar stores'.

Patience is the key

That return policy is one of the most significant factors in our ranking of Zazzle for buying calendars. Even though the site has a less-than-intuitive shopping process, the range of both ready-made and 100% customizable templates gives options to virtually every customer - so even if the outcome isn't what you hope for, you can easily get your money back. If you have the patience to sort through all of the options and to make any desired personalization, you'll probably come out with a calendar you love when buying from Zazzle.