Lulu Direct

When I press the option to associate one of my books with lulu app, the full list of books doesn't show up. If I put the whole title, the book doesn't show up. The paperback cover takes too much time to process as well, because of the size requirements. There should be a format that integrates the front image and allows to add text to the back image. This would allow a much faster process. The advantage for me with Lulu is the creation of hardcover books. Not many platforms allow me this. I wanted to sell hardcovers through this app, but it's just too complicated to create the hardcover cover, and then go through a system that doesn't work properly. I don't even really know how much I am paying per sale, because that price shown includes production only, and not shipping. P.S. I am not trying to do more with the app that it was designed for. Unless you mean accelerating what already exists and expect the full list of books to appear in the search engine. As for my last email it was meant to improve your business, and has nothing to do with this review. It's disappointing when help is transformed as a justification to nullify an argument.

Lulu is by far the best and nicest company I've ever worked with. They continuously put authors' and book-publishers' needs and concerns at the top of their list. The book quality is perfect and the process is smooth and easy. The results are great and the integration with Shopify works without a glitch. And, if you have any questions or doubts Lulu personel is the nicest, most helpful people there is, while at the same time being very good at what they do! We have never had any problems with Lulu whatsoever. The few times our customers have complained is when books have not arrived – which is never Lulu's fault (but UPS's). And even at those times, Lulu has been very helpful. I would recommend Lulu to absolutely everyone! You will not find a better company.

I use Lulu xPress for about two years now. It worked well until several months ago and it became a disaster. Apparently there is 0 quality assurance made at the printing facilities. I have numerous copies of my book delivered with pages empty of content. The support is always helpful and sends a replacement, but in last several weeks I had several clients who received faulty product even on second and THIRD attempt. Unfortunately it damages my relationship, since I really look unprofessional when customer receives a faulty product, then the replacement arrives faulty again and the next one again. It also affects my income since I have to refund such customers. I asked for clarifications when such issues can be fixed but didn't receive concrete answers. If you have an alternative consider avoiding Lulu.

LOVE IT! awesome books, great customer service, couldn't ask for a better app. been using the service for over a year now and my customers and wholesale accounts are all happy, and best of all no need for inventory any more!

Recommended. The app works well. So far, all orders have been fulfulled properly. There have been one or two minor problems which customer service have handled well and promptly. In general customer service is excellent. [EDIT - over one year later, customer service continues to be excellent]

There are some downsides to consider before using the app:

- Orders to some locations seem to arrive very slowly... some took around three weeks. Need to let customers know about this, especially if they are expecting Amazon fulfillment times. Customers see the shipping time when they order, but this doesn't include production time to actually print the book, so from their point of view the book often arrives later than scheduled.

- There is basically no functionality for looking through your own orders and gathering data, even just how much you've actually given Lulu. You have to email them to ask for a csv file (which they do provide promptly). In general the app is very poor for looking at data, looking at past orders etc. Searching for past orders is glitchy.

- More costly than manually ordering from Lulu or making a bulk order. They add a fulfillment charge for orders through Lulu Direct.

However I am glad I am using the app, despite these limitations

Have tried multiple times to get this app working and all I have to show for it is a lot of frustration and wasted time. Absolutely the WORST app experience I've had so far. Incredibly disappointed, expected much better from such a major company.

This app is a relatively simple and economical way for a small organization such as ours, to print and ship its books on demand. The customer service rep assigned to us has been amazing--so helpful in providing information and supporting us through any challenges we faced along the way.

I am a new author and I have used this app only once. I had a problem connecting the app to my online store. I communicated with Kristen, and she walked me through the process to connect the app to my store. I appreciated the great assistance that I received. My orders can now be automatically fulfilled by LULU Direct. I am looking forward to using this app again in the future.

We used to handle our own warehousing and shipping of books. Lulu's xPress app has changed all of that. Now, orders simply flow through our site to Lulu, who prints (white label) and ships the orders as they come in. It is truly a game changer for us. We can now focus much more time on building our business, as the time spent fulfilling orders is no longer necessary. We have also found that Lulu's customer service team is outstanding. Inquiries are always answered the same day, and usually within the hour. We could not be happier with our decision to implement the Lulu XPress app on our e-commerce site.

I am new to the Lulu xPress app, and I have had more than 100 orders go thru the app in the past 2 weeks. The problem is, I can only see my most recent 20 orders within the Lulu app, if I try to click beyond the first 2 pages - it does not show the rest. I am not able to access the status, tracking or customer information for those orders via the app and this is a potential nightmare waiting to happen during the holiday season.