Stores Guide

Stores Guide

• Why sell with Contrado?

  
  

  Contrado is an aspirational fashion, home, and lifestyle brand; together with talented designers we've been turning their creative visions into high quality products, since 2002. All our products are handmade to order in our West London factory. Our facility encompasses all our printing, garment sewing and product manufacturing teams; this makes us a unique resource for makers and means your orders are produced to an excellent standard, usually within a couple of days. Our design, product development, customer service, marketing and production teams are all under one roof, so it’s quick and easy for us to communicate and keep you informed about what’s going on.

  Our online platform showcases our product range of well over 200 products and this is where shoppers and collectors will discover your brand and artwork. You have complete control over the store build and product design process, whilst receiving advice and instruction from one of our expert Artist Relations’ consultants. We already distribute internationally, reach a global market, and have nine language territories to sell your work. We curate our marketplace to ensure visitors get the best designs and artwork and so you don’t feel like a drop in the ocean.

• How does it work?

  You design your products online and build your own branded online store. We help you market your collections and we handle payments through our checkout. We then produce and ship your designs; most products are ready to ship directly to your customers within 48 hours.

• How do I sign up?

  Fill out the form on this page to create your account. You’ll get a verification email and once you verify your account, you’re ready to go!

• How do I get paid?

  We pay our artists through PayPal, within 14 days of successful delivery of an order.

• How much commission will I earn?

  When you make a sale through your Contrado store, you'll earn at least 20% of the ex VAT sale price. You set the price, so if you charge a little more, you'll earn a higher percentage of the sale price.

  
  

  You will also earn another 1% commission for every 25 products with descriptions that achieve a green score in overall content quality, up to a maximum of 25%.

   
  How you can increase your commission: 
  
  
  If you use our content quality checker you will be able to receive rewards. To determine if you have a good score, you must ensure that the metre graphic points to green. Once you achieve a green score you will unlock the following benefits. Firstly, you will receive 1% extra commission for every 25 product descriptions with a green score, up to 25%. You also get 1 more product to design. And lastly, your products will be indexed on Google and other search engines, which would not be the case normally.

• Do I still make a commission on discounted products?

  In short, yes. We do run promotions either temporarily or permanently on a product so it's sold for a lower price, which usually results in a higher amount of sales. This will result in a slightly lower commission, but should also increase your sales, so it won't massively impact your total profit.

• Who owns the copyright of imagery I upload?

  The copyright to your intellectual property remains yours. You must be the originator of any image you upload to Contrado. If you use an image you do not own the copyright of, Contrado reserves the right to remove your products & stores.

• I have an established website, can I sell through there?

  Yes of course, if you prefer to drive traffic and sales through an alternative store front, we'd love to help. We can ship in bulk to you or directly to your customer.

• Do you offer wholesale pricing?

  Yes, as a seller you get exclusive access to our wholesale discounts. If you want to sell at an event or want to get the best price per unit and carry stock; our wholesale system will help.

• Can I use my designs elsewhere?

  Yes, we have a non-exclusive licence agreement with our creatives, which means you’re free to use your work elsewhere.

• Google Indexed Products

  To be indexed on Google means that your products will show up in search results. This can drive more traffic to your site and help make more sales. Please note: For your products to be indexed on Google you will need to have achieved a green score in your product descriptions, they will not be indexed automatically. Google indexing takes time, so do not be alarmed if you cannot find your page once completed. 

• What business and marketing support do you offer?

  We offer a broad range of support to our creatives. We understand every artist and each brand is different; we have many experts on hands to offer advice tailored to your approach. Whether you want to drive sales online, take your products to markets and exhibitions, or offer one-off bespoke pieces for your client base: we’re here to help you maximise your success.

• Do you offer white labelling or private labelling?

  Yes, with most of our products you can choose whether you want to upload your own label or have no label at all, rather than have the Contrado label. To set up your brand name and logo, visit our branding section. You can even create a personalised thank you message for further branding.
  
  Please be aware that the image you upload for your label will apply to the whole product and all of its options. Due to this we would advise not including information like sizing on your label image.

• Do I get a discount?

  Of course! Our creatives receive between 20% and 40% discount on most of their orders, depending on which products they are ordering and how many.

• What does the future hold for Contrado?

  Many exciting and beautiful things. We're planning to maintain our recent, rapid growth and broaden our range of services and products. The best is yet to come!

• How do you produce my work so quickly?

  
  One of the great assets you get with us is our ability to work quickly and efficiently. All our manufacturing is in one place and that means no sending of your work to 3rd parties, no supply chain delays, and a far higher ability to maintain QC standards. It also means we can manage our own workflow well. Generally, our products are made and dispatched within a couple of days. Please note: because we work quickly you must be certain that what you have published for sale, or have submitted for print is exactly as you want it to look. There is little or no opportunity to edit it once a buyer has bought the design or you’ve placed your order. We will print what you’ve designed on screen; please double check everything and make sure it is perfect! If you edit an existing product this will affect following sales, so if a customer bought one design before, then you tweak the same product in your design account, the newer version will be the next one for sale. That means you need to consider consistency, though it’s best to get it right first time. Fabric samples and test pieces help you refine the design, you can also speak to Artist Relations for advice.

• Contrado account page

  Here you can add and edit your personal and business details.

  • The most important information to add is your PayPal email address, so we can pay you. Do this through ‘update details’, under ‘my business details’. With PayPal we can set up payments to send automatically to your account, weekly, within 14 days of successful delivery. We’ll also need your address to process payments and to know where to send wholesale orders.
  • ‘My products’ is where you build and edit your designs; it’s a catalogue of your products.
  • ‘My purchases’ will display a history of your own orders.
  • The ‘wholesale’ tab explains our wholesale system and what discounts you’ll receive as a #contradocreative.
  • Go to ‘my stores’ to create and edit your stores.
  • The ‘sales’ tab shows your sales and commissions reports.
  • ‘Failed submissions’ will tell you what you need to do to make a design ready for sale. If you aren’t sure why your design has been stopped by our automatic checks, this is the first place to look.
  • Watch out for competitions and opportunities in the ‘contests’ tab.
  • For further personalisation, our 'Branding' tab offers the opportunity to change your brand name and logo, as well as add a thank you message.

• Choosing a product to sell

  
  

  We make over 200 products, so you’re spoilt for choice. These choices need careful consideration.

  Go to ‘my products’ and click ‘create products’.

  • Use the search bar to search for a specific product.
  • You can find product information on our product pages through the navigation bar.
  • Make sure you plan your collections and choose products at a range of price points to cater for different customers, with different budgets.
  • Choose a product that suits your design. Choose products which fit your brand.
  • We showcase our artists' designs throughout the website, choose a range of products to increase your visibility in the marketplace.

• How to use the design interface

  Our online design interface gives you a huge amount of control over the product design, which means you can design more freely. 

  • Each product will have a different set of options: materials, sizing, trim colours etc. The options you choose here will be the default on the product page. When you add your product to your store you can choose which options are open to customers.
  • Designs need to cover the template, but also consider different sizes have slightly different proportions. You don’t need to design each size individually, customers can choose a size and our system will rescale your design.
  • Our system will check the files you upload and flag any quality issues so there is little chance of a low-quality file going to print. Click here to read more about preparing your artwork.
  • You can use the designs interface to resize, repeat, and layer images.
  • Use the ‘edit’ button to set the exact size of an image file.
  • Please take note of the bleed information.
  • Please be aware lining up sections of products is not 100% accurate, there is always a few mm margin for error. Please design with this in mind.
  • Ensure your design covers the template and there are no small white spaces.
  • If you want to leave the background of a section white, set the background colour to #ffffff
  • If you want two identical sections to look the same, use the copy side tab when you go to 'add image'.
  • The preview is a great tool for giving an impression of how your product will look once printed. However, it is not an exact mock up, printed products may vary slightly from the preview. See more about how your design will print here.

• Editing your Contrado store

  
  

  Head to 'my stores' to create edit your store front.

  • When you choose your store URL when creating your store: only input the URL extension, not the full web address. 
  • Add your logo, 130 x 130 px
  • Add your banner, 2700 x 720 px
  • Edit your store title and descriptions.
  • Edit your ‘about me’ section; add your profile picture and web links.
  • Add, sort and edit collections; add products to your store.
  • The titles and descriptions are very important, not just for human readers, but essential to get listed in search engines which will help SEO driven traffic. For help, see the ‘writing titles and descriptions for your store’ section.

• Adding and editing collections

  • Sorting your products into collections is a great way to group similar designs.
  • Using collections makes your store more user friendly and allows customers to find products they love.
  • The collection titles and descriptions are vital, not just for customers, but to help you sell via SEO marketing as well. For help, see the ‘writing titles and descriptions for your store’ section.

• Posting products for sale

  
  

  The product page is a very important page, it is often where customers decide to make a purchase. You can control the price, title, description and product options here.

  
  

  • When you add the product to your store you set the price and can see how much commission you’ll earn. The minimum price is the retail price of our on-demand print service, and minimum commission is20%.
  • Don’t undervalue yourself; if you add a premium to the price you’ll significantly increase your earnings. If you increase the price, you earn a higher percent of commission. People make the decision to buy based on the quality of the product and your design more than the price. 
  • You can choose the product options that you want customers to be able to choose. Tick a box if you do not want them to have a choice for an option.
  • The product titles and descriptions are essential so shoppers clearly understand what they are seeing, and to help with search marketing. See the ‘writing titles and descriptions for your store’ section for help.
  • Please be aware whilst you are logged in, prices in your store will update to display your wholesale price; your customers will still see the retail price you set.
  • You are limited to the number of products you can have in your store. We want to encourage considered product design and artwork which is tailored to the unique templates of each product. Initially you will be limited to just 10 products in your store, this is so we can feedback quickly and amendments will be quick and easy whilst you get the hang of our website. If you reach your product limit and want to add more products, please contact Artist Relations.

• What is the Product Mockup Generator and how does it work?

  Our Product Mockup Generator streamlines designing for you. After you’ve designed a product to add to your store, you’ll get to a page where you can set pricing, write product descriptions and add your design to any of our other 450+ products. Simply click ‘Add’ for the products you’d like to add and they will instantly be generated with the same design.
  
  After you add a product, click ‘Review’ to edit the design. Here, you can select or change the background colour, pattern repeat style, and change the size of your design. You can also view each panel of the product if it has multiple panels. When you’re finished, just click ‘Confirm Design’ and it will be added to your store.
  
  By using our Product Mockup Generator, you can design hundreds of products at once and add them to a collection in your store.

• How can I unlock more products to design?

  Initially, the number of products you can design is limited. This is due to our standard of quality not quantity. You will receive an extra product for every product description with a green score on the meter.

• Design available options

  Before posting some products for sale, you’ll need to check, tweak and confirm designs for each size option.

  • Click ‘design available options’ to review and edit different sizing options. You’ll then be prompted to edit a save sizing for each design before you can post the product for sale.
  • Currently designs are automatically resized to larger and smaller items, which can cause cropping or some designs to shift. This feature solves these problems and means your customers will get the as products you’ve designed, no matter their sizing.

• Checking a design in 'Design Errors'

  
  

  Our system checks your products' designs when you add them to your store. If it’s not ready for sale, check the ‘Design Errors’ tab to find out why. Below are a few common issues:

  • If your design doesn’t fully cover the print template then you will need to correct this. If you want to leave the background of a section white, set the background colour to #ffffff
  • If you haven’t designed a section, your will need to complete the design, again, set the background colour to #ffffff if you want a blank white section.
  • If any of the images you upload are not high enough quality to print at the size you’ve specified then you’ll need to resize the image or upload a larger file. 
  Find all the details on design errors here.

• Selling fabrics and pattern designs

  
  

  Our pattern design system makes it easy for you to upload a single tile and create seamless patterns across fabrics and other products. Your customers can then choose the fabric type, set the size and purchase from you.

  • Go to my products and select the fabric tab to create a pattern to post for sale. If you want to buy a piece of fabric at a set size, use the ‘design to buy’ tool.
  • Ensure the artwork you upload will repeat seamlessly, you’ll be able to preview the repeat in our pattern design interface.
  • Once you’ve uploaded the motif, set the tile size and how the pattern should repeat.
  • When you add the pattern to your store you can pick which products the pattern will be available on and add the artwork title, and description.
  • You can’t set the price of patterns at the moment, as they will appear across many products of at various price points. You will receive a fixed rate of commission at 20% of the ex VAT sale price.

• Writing titles and descriptions that sell

  We want you to be successful, and that means you need sales. Not only will your description improve your chances of making sales, you will also earn up to 25% commission. So lets make it happen by ensuring your on page information works, that it sells and informs, persuades and entices readers to buy your amazing product and designs. By writing strong product descriptions that receive a green score on the meter, you will unlock:

  • 1% extra commission for every 25 product descriptions with a green score on the meter, up to 25%.
  • 1 more product to design
  • Products indexed on Google and other search engines.(They are not indexed automatically.)

  The titles and descriptions throughout your Contrado store are really important, as they are read, not just by potential customers but also by the search engines. Please note: Your products will require a green score in the descriptions to be indexed and will not be indexed in search engines automatically. The search engines 'robots' will crawl and read your pages to work out if the content is worthy of listing in their search results. You need to help your store be discovered by customers searching to buy products. You do that by writing good titles and copy.

  This section will help you be a copywriting wizard.

  Content quality

  Look for a green light next to your product. Our traffic light system analyses your content for grammar, spelling, readability, active voice, duplicate content, title, and description quality. If you’ve got a red or yellow light, review these elements of your content. Once you get a green light, keep going!

  Use keywords in your product title

  Organize your titles with the product name first, then the description. This is the best way to optimise your sales. For example: Silk Cushion Geometric Lines. Have a bit of fun with the description and let your customers know how unique your product is. Search engines, like Google, look for keywords and key phrases on web-pages. If you want customers to find your bomber jacket you need to include a keyword like ‘bomber jacket’ in the product title and description. Key phrases are better than keywords. Using strings of descriptive keywords will help your product be found. In the above example, ‘silk cushion’ will get your page higher up the results than ‘cushion’ and ‘silk cushion floral’ is even better.

  Different products need different copy

  It sounds obvious but don’t copy and paste. Search engines will ignore sites which have many pages with the same words duplicated. This means any descriptions that have been borrowed from other product pages (even your own) will flag up as duplicated copy. The simple solution is to write unique descriptions for each product, while this seems time-consuming, it can really help sales. Copywriting can be a joy - find your creative urge, it's your baby, so tell people how the product is worthy with your design. Take it in stages you’ll quickly get it. Boil it down, polish it, and go back and revise again. The best person to tell the world about your designs is you, so make the effort here - it is worth it.

  Content volume matters

  Not too much, not too little. You have about 70-150 words to sell your product. Search engines will skip your page if there isn’t enough copy to satisfy it so utilise all your space. Make sure to describe the product features, your design, the look & feel of the product if you’ve sampled it, and why a customer should buy your product over another. Don’t sell yourself short; you’ve got a quality product with a quality design. All you have to do is tell the world!

  Use your own voice

  These are your products and your store: you are the best person to speak about your work. Use your natural tone of voice but don’t use slang or nonsense words. Sentences with less than 20 words are considered the most readable. Be confident, descriptive, and informative. Utilise active voice instead of passive. Don’t mention any contact information or website links. Triple check your spelling and grammar. Mistakes are the easiest way to lose a sale.

  Try some role-play

  Imagine you are a customer searching for your product. What would you search in Google to find it? This role playing is the best way to think of appropriate key terms.

  Don’t go too crazy

  You only need two to tango. Only use two key terms per product page, make sure they are relevant to the product. Key terms should appear in the descriptions as well as the title. They only need to appear once or twice, so don’t stuff the descriptions with the same terms, and take care to write as naturally as you can. One key term is too lonely and three’s a crowd.

• Wholesale pricing

  For full information about wholesale accounts see here.

  As a Contrado Creative you get access to our exclusive wholesale pricing. It’s all automated and means you can order you own pieces for discounted prices, whether you’re looking for a few samples to take to a photoshoot; supplying a client or retailer; or taking your products to sell at a market, pop up or exhibition.

  • Discounts increase in tiers, based on the number of products in the order.
  • 1 - 10 products: 20% discount
  • 11 - 20 products: 25% discount
  • 21 - 50 products: 35% discount
  • 51+ products: 40% discount
  • You can mix and match any number of designs, sizes, and products; you don’t need to order 10 of the same items to qualify for the next tier.
  • When you’re logged in to your seller’s account discounts will automatically apply when you add your products to your basket.
  • If you’ve added a premium to the prices of products in your store this won’t be visible to you when you’re logged in to your account. You won’t pay the premium, but customers will.
  • A few products are not included in the wholesale discount system: items under £15, espadrilles and suitcases.
  • For large orders production times can be extended. Please contact Artist Relations before placing your order if you have a specific deadline.
  • Fabrics are included in the wholesale system, we offer a 20% discount on all fabric orders (excluding samples and swatches).
  • Items such as large furniture and suitcases do not count towards the above tiers, they are discounted at a flat rate due to the cost of shipping. You’ll receive 20% discount on an order of a single and multiple items. You can contact us for a full list of these.
  
  

• Promoting your store

  
  

  The best person to tell the world about your artwork is you. We promote our artists through many digital marketing channels, SEO, PPC, social, influencers and PR. There are many channels available through which you can spread the word about your store and sell your products:

  • Social media is a fantastic communications tool and it has transformed the world, how we interact with brands and how we shop. Utilise it. It’s a free media platform where you can talk directly to consumers and receive feedback on your work. It’s not easy to sell through social media, though you can simultaneously advertise, make announcements, network, receive feedback, get inspired and much more. You can pay to boost your reach on most social platforms now; this can be useful and is worth experimenting with; if you don’t see conversion you may want to refine your approach before investing more. For more advice on best practices for social media get in touch with your Artist Relations consultant or go to our blog.
  • We support and advise on SEO and it’s woven into the store building process. Writing good descriptions and titles will help you get found in search engines. Be descriptive, think about what customers will search for to find your products and regularly update the written copy in your store to maximise your reach. See more advice here.
  • PPC is closely linked to SEO marketing. We have a team of expert marketers running PPC campaigns for all our artists product pages. We wouldn’t advise running PPC campaigns for your Contrado products as we’ll be competing and bidding prices will rise. If you are keen to run your own PPC campaigns please contact Artist Relations first.
  • Add a link to your website, if you have one, so your fans can easily find your store. 
  • There are many traditional approaches to selling your products which we can support with too. Whether you want to supply other retailers, sell your goods at markets or other events, sell through your own online shop or other marketplaces; we can advise and help you make the most of these opportunities. Wholesale pricing also helps in many of these situations.
  • The bestselling and most successful artists plan their approaches carefully and reach customers through multiple digital and real-world channels. Finding what works for you and your brand is key. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you want any further advice.

• How will your product look?

  The digital preview in the design interface is a fantastic tool to get an impression of how your product will come out. However, they are not exact representations of the finished piece and the product may vary slightly.

  Please ensure the artwork you upload is as you want it to print. Any glitches or errors in your file may not be picked up when you print your product or a customer orders it. Designers are responsible for checking the artwork they upload to the products they design.

  We try our best to reflect these variations in our product preview so that customers have the best idea of how the finished product will look and we always strive to achieve colours most true to your artwork. Materials of particular note that will affect the colours of your print are:

  • China (e.g. china plates, mugs)
  • Metal (e.g. tin boxes, lighters)
  • Cotton (e.g. T-shirts, dresses)

  Please also read important information on colour variations here.

  If you’re unsure which fabrics to choose, or offer for a product, it’s highly recommended that before ordering any full products that you order samples of your artwork on these fabrics.

• Further questions

  
  If you have any further questions, which aren't answered by this guide, then please don't hesitate to get in touch with Artist Relations:

  
  
  creatives@contrado.co.uk
  
  
  You can also speak with our customer service team on live chat on this website, or find more contact details through the contact us page.