What: Minted, a retailer of elegant stationery, encourages greeting card artists to enter contests to sell their designs.

Expected pay: NA

Husl$core: $$$

Commissions & fees: NA

Where: Nationwide

Requirements: 18 +, or 13 and have parental permission to use the site

Review:

Minted has an interesting proposition for artists. It challenges them to enter greeting card challenge, where they can win as much as $3,500 for first-place. If you win any prize — not just the top prize — you also get a free store on Minted where you can sell this design and others. 

If you happen to be a first- or even second-place winner, this can be a good deal. You get both a generous upfront payment and royalties of 3% to 6% on every future sale. But you’re not guaranteed a generous prize. In fact, you could win as little as $100. Although you would still get a store and earn royalties on sales, there’s no guarantee that you’ll sell anything.

And Minted’s terms do not allow you to sell that same design anywhere else. This policy is in stark contrast to other print-on-demand sites, such as Zazzle, Society6 and RedBubble, which do not restrict your ability to sell your designs anywhere you want. 

Minted justifies the policy by saying that it takes risk by providing upfront payments. But you have no control over the size of the payment you receive. The amount you get upfront depends on where you place in the competition. The bottom line: You risk not being able to sell a design you like elsewhere for an uncertain reward.

Although Minted clearly does brisk sales, we give this just an average Husl$core because of the site’s rights grab. 

What their designers say: (From Glassdoor)

Several designs of mine appear on Minted, but I’ve yet to be paid for my design sales. I have still not been paid for sales that I made in June, and was told I would be paid within 90 days of the quarter the design was posted for sale online. In the freelance world for designers, this is really not acceptable. Read the fine print when entering a competition, and be wary of this company.