Navigating your options online for getting a logo design can be a bit confusing. If you’re trying to host a logo contest, there are about a dozen that all seem the same on the surface. With a few specific differences, how you can be sure which one is right for you? We’re going to compare two of the top logo contest sites – 48hourslogo and DesignCrowd, to see how they differ and if one stands out over the other.
Started in 2010, 48hourslogo.com was created by a group of freelance designers. Since then, they have worked with over 15,000 businesses and entrepreneurs posting graphic design contests online. They boast about having “affordable logo designs done fast.”
DesignCrowd began in 2008 as an online marketplace for logo, web, print, and graphic design services. In that time they have gathered over 400,000 registered freelancers and design firms to participate in projects posted on their website. Their motto is “Custom Design. Online. Risk-free.”
For a guideline, we will be comparing both websites least expensive logo contest options along with the upgrades they offer. Since many business start on a budget, let’s take look at the cost.
The Price
Starting with 48hourslogo.com, the minimum price for a logo contest is $128. This is comprised of a $99 prize as the reward for the winning designer, and a $29 Listing Fee. Pretty straightforward. There are two payment options, either payment in full at the start of your contest, or you can pay the $29 Listing Fee to see what comes in while your contest is open. You would pay the remaining balance to select finalist or finish the contest. Using the minimum prize amount for your contest does limit the time you can accept entries to one or two days. You can access the pricing information easily from their homepage, just click the “Start A Project” or “$29 to Start” buttons to get to the Brief/Pricing page, no registration required.
When using DesignCrowd, their minimum logo contest is set at $247.20. What this includes is a $190 Package towards prize money for the winning designer, a $50 Listing Fee, and a $7.20 Transaction Fee. Payment is required in full and held in escrow until the contest is over. You are allowed to set your contest for two, five, ten, or fifteen days to accept entries. You must register with your email address though, in order to get to the pricing information options.
Overall, 48hourslogo is definitely more affordable than Designcrowd. The minimum cost of launching a logo contest at 48hourslogo is only about half of what’s required at Designcrowd.
The Upgrades
Both websites offer upgrades to your logo contest in order to attract more designers. One of the upgrade options is to have a private contest. This keeps your logo contest out of search engines and hides it from your competitors online. This option is offered through 48hourslogo for $30, and on DesignCrowd for $50. You might be able to reduce this price by using certain Design Crowd coupons.
If you would like to get your project featured higher on the list of contests that designers see, there is an upgrade to a Featured Contest available. It’s $19 for this option on 48hourslogo, and $35 on DesignCrowd. For extra attention, DesignCrowd offers an option that 48hourslogo does not – a Highlighted Job Brief for only $10. This highlights your job brief from among the others that it is listed with.
Another way to attract designers to your contest is through Invitations and offering Participation Pay. Invites, like you would expect, are a small monetary prize offered to specific designers that you choose for entering a submission in your contest. With 48hourslogo you can purchase unlimited invites at $5 each. Through DesignCrowd, you can purchase a package of three invites for a total of $150. The Participation Pays are awarded to whoever you choose. You can purchase these at $5 each on 48hourslogo, and award them anytime during your contest. With DesignCrowd, Participation Pays are $20 each, awarded at the end of your contest to the top three non-winning designers who meet DesignCrowds requirements. You might also consider offering custom personalized gifts as additional incentives to make your contest even more appealing to designers.
DesignCrowd offers more upgrade options than 48hourslogo and usually at higher costs. However, since these upgrades are usually pure profits for the website and very little goes to the actual designers, more upgrades translates to more profit margin for the website, and therefore don’t necessarily result in better designs.
The Refund
Refund Policy’s can be a bit specific based on how each site operates. Looking at 48hourslogo, if you purchase the Initial Payment Listing ($29 down) and you receive 10 or less submissions, you can request a full refund or re-list your project for free. If you have purchased the Guaranteed Listing option (paid in full at the start) and receive less than 20 submissions, you can request a full refund or re-list your project for free. In the event that you received more submissions that the limit, but are still unhappy with the results, you can purchase an option to re-list your contest for $19. There are also two upgrades to re-list your contest and invite four top designers ($39) or eight top designers ($59).
DesignCrown offers a 100% money back guarantee if you’re not satisfied with your results, but it does come with an asterisks. In the event that you request a refund, it is only eligible for the amount you offered as the prize to the designers, the listing fee and any upgrades are not included in the refund. If you opt for the Committed Payment, you waive your right to a refund. Going all in may seem risky, but they say it attracts more professional designers who only enter guaranteed contests.
Even though structured differently, but both refund policies are essentially the same. Only the contest prize can be refunded. But 48hourslogo’s option of not paying contest prize until the actual designs is very nice because you don’t even have to worried about requesting for a refund if you don’t like any of the designs you see.
The Numbers
At all the price points, 48hourslogo comes in less expensive than DesignCrowd for the lowest priced logo design contest. The trade off is time, if you go the inexpensive route with 48hourslogo you’ll be limited to one or two days, but you don’t have to pay in full up front either. DesignCrowd requires payment up front, but give you two days to two weeks for your project.
The old adage “you get what you pay for” comes to mind, but since art is subjective, I’ll let you be the judge of that. Both websites have portfolio pages where you can see previously completed logo contests. 48hourslogo allows you to search through them by category and industry. They also have a testimonial page that posts what their clients say about their experience after each contest. DesignCrowd shows all of their previous projects, sorted by category, but private projects are included with their images blocked out.
If you are a business owner working on time limit and within a budget, 48hourslogo will probably be the route to go for you. Both websites offer options to pay for higher prized contests. If you have more to work with in your budget, it will usually attract more designers. But bottom line, when the money’s counted, 48hourslogo comes out more affordable than DesignCrowd each time.