ZAP! Creatives Custom Sticker Review
I offer only my opinion on my individual experience with the company, and in no way claim to offer a definitive review on what you may experience should you place an order with this company. My goal is to inform.
And we're back again with ZAP! Creatives, this time reviewing their custom die-cut stickers! This is the second review of this company that I have done, and I was eager to branch out to the other options that they had available on their website, if only to test the waters and see what the quality was like. The pictures they have on their website looked very promising however, so I couldn't help but get excited about ordering!
A little information regarding the stickers that I ordered this time around, just for clarification.
These stickers are custom designed, and custom die cut, which means that they are cut out based on the design itself, or what the person creating the stickers wants the outside edge to look like. These are heavyweight vinyl stickers, gloss coated with clear acrylic adhesive, and are claimed to be 'suitable for indoor and outdoor use with up to 4 years of outdoor durability', to quote the website.
Zap!'s score for their pricing I give a 4/5, simply due to the cost of the items, and the shipping fee that goes with it. As the company is located across the pond in the UK (England to be exact), the shipping cost is about ~$6.00 or so, varying on your location of course. This itself is not too terrible of a cost, and seems about average for ground shipping.
The cost of the stickers themselves totaled to about $95.00 (make sure you change the currency to your country's needed currency before checkout so you know how much it will be for you!). This cost is for 100, 10in x 10in stickers total, and 10 designs total, giving you 10 stickers per design, and includes a discount that they were offering at the time. Without the discount, this will cost about $112.00.
This cost, especially compared to other sticker companies such as Sticker Robot, or Stickeryou, is fairly decent! However, there may be other companies out there that are a better deal, as I have only just started delving in to the world of stickers, and is definitely more appealing when the discount is available.
Template Ease of Use/Website Navigation: 5 out of 5
The sticker portion for the website was quite easy to use. Keep in mind, however, that you might want to have a ruler handy for when you determine the best size for any stickers you decide to make, as there are no images to indicate about how large the area is that you'll be using for your images, and how large your final product will be when it's printed.
Another area to note, is that the original order comes with 1 design already. If you want additional designs for your order, you'll have to factor that in when you're ordering. For instance, if you want 10 designs total, you'll order 9 additional designs when making your order.
Probably one of the easiest templates that I have ever used for making an order from any company out there. It definitely is easier to use than the acrylic charm template that they have on their website! The tutorial is also really easy to understand and use, so there's little to no confusion when making your sticker designs, and if you have questions, their customer service representatives are very helpful.
Customer Service: 5 out of 5
To reiterate on the customer service, they are very helpful. I once again got Becky as my contact for my order, and she was just as stellar this time as she was the first time that I emailed her. Needless to say, I was ecstatic about having her email me, and made sure to have my files together (unlike last time) so I didn't have to do too much in the realm of back-and-forth emails involving file errors on my part. It was simple, Becky was nice as could be, and everything was done with a single email.
[for a more in-depth review involving my previous interaction with ZAP's customer service, and how great of an interaction I had the last time, see my ZAP! acrylic charm review here]
Shipping/Arrival: 5 out of 5
Very speedy shipping / turnaround time, especially in comparison to their acrylic charms order (for obvious reasons, but I was still very impressed at the difference in shipping times). I honestly didn't even expect them to be in my mailbox when I did get them, because of customs and it being closer to the holiday season, so their timely arrival was a pleasant surprise. I placed my order on November 3rd, and it arrived on November 30th. This included the extra two weeks that are allotted for you to create and send in your files, so production didn't actually begin on my images until about the 17th of November, so it only took 13 days or so for my images to be printed, shipped, pass through customs, and arrive at my mailbox!
Product and Packaging: 5 out of 5
Like the acrylic charms that I had previously ordered from ZAP!, my
stickers arrived in a bubble mailer envelope. I was slightly worried
about this, as I didn't want my stickers to be warped or damaged due to
the envelope, but thankfully they were all intact, and even managed to survive the rain that had started the day that they arrived.There were two packages of stickers (5 designs each) that were within the mailer, wrapped in bubble wrap and sealed with a sticker label. Within the bubble wrap package, each design was separated, and placed within their own ziploc bag.
Overall, I was extremely pleased with the packaging of my stickers. I felt that they were very secured, and despite my initial hesitation at the bubble mailer, I was very happy with how they were taken care of. The only complaint I really have in regards to the packaging is the tendency for the plastic of the ziploc bags to stick to the front of the stickers, as can be seen to the right. This wrinkling doesn't make that much of a difference really, but does leave a faint look of wrinkling on the image. It only really is visible if you're looking for it, though, and isn't a deal breaker for me personally. In fact, it was so faint, I couldn't even get a good image showing it!
The stickers themselves were of great quality, and were very vivid in color. I loved the crispness of the line work, and how it picked up every detail I had in my original files. I was absolutely pleased with the results, and couldn't have been happier with the outcome.
As far as the water resistance that was claimed on the website, they were when I sprayed the image down with a water bottle of mine (see image to the right). Whether they are water resistant long term, or whether they will weather the weather being on, say a car? That I do not know. *Overall Impression: 4.8 out of 5
Seriously, look in to ZAP!'s sticker line. I absolutely love these, and everyone who has bought one from me has loved them too. I haven't had anyone who has had issues with these, and will 100% be ordering from them again. The customer service was enough to make me want another order, but seeing the product just made me all the more set on buying again. Definitely recommend these, definitely will tell my friends about them, and they definitely will have me as a repeat customer.
* This was my initial impression of ZAP! Creatives at the time of its posting in 2016. Having worked with ZAP! for years, and having seen the website, file formatting, and overall customer service change throughout the years, I no longer feel that this reflects ZAP! in it's current state. Were I to review them again, which I likely will, their overall rating would be much lower, and I no longer will be doing business with them because of the issues I have had while working with them.
