new ideas for the shop?

[jiraya99]

I noticed the DO THE TON patches and i was thinking, there is a lot more we could to. it seems that that is the only thing on the DO THE TON shop website, what about handkerchiefs and the like? they would be easy to make and they could be used as a fund raiser product for the prostate cancer rides. I just think that the store could really grow and there could be more funds raised from just patches. there could even be t-shirts and the like. im just putting it out there. I could also make designs for them too, i have a couple years experience with photoshop and i took a few design courses. ill do it all for fun and in the name of charity. Who thinks this is a good idea? post ideas in the forum or PM me if you like.

Also, I'd like to hear some other ideas, don't hold back, no idea is stupid or ridiculous.

 

[904cafe]

i would be down for a shirt... a buff or handkerchief would be cool too. maybe even some hoodies... once you have a general design you could screen it to just about anything!

 

[jiraya99]

i think that lots could be done, as there's already a site and all. should i bother making any designs?

 

[woody1981]

The problem is the same as always... unless your willing to use something like cafe press (read shit), you are faced with the problem of production costs... things like t-shirts, hoodies, hats, stickers, etc... aren't cheap and you have that initial overhead to produce them. You have minimum order quantities, who is going to handle the inventory, shipping etc... its just kind of a pain in the ass. And getting people to pay for something in advance that they won't get for at least a month is going to take its toll if that idea arises... people want instant gratification.

I am a graphic designer (I work for an ad agency) and everyone wants to do designs... it just a matter of production and logistics that usually stops people from doing a cool online store front.

I worked in apparel for over a year and its not cheap to get a decent order going... trying to guess on sizes... running out of larges and having 3 dozen XLs left that you can't sell, sucks... trust me.

Considering minimums. Actual profit would be very low... way less then what people are just willing to donate to a cause alone. Even at $15 for a t-shirt... I doubt you will make even $5 profit each unit... and even to do that you will have to be up over the 48 to 96 or so mark for the quantity break you would need. Unless you print 1/c on shitty shirts... and no one wants that.

So if anyone wants to "donate" $500 - $1000 for an initial order and then handle the shipping/fulfillment... then step up... I'll support ya.

Naysayer of the day,
- Woody

P.S. jiraya99... this is in NO WAY intended to be directed at you... just my rant for the day. In fact, if you have cool ideas for designs, post them up... I'm sure everyone would like to see them... and maybe we can find uses around the site or something.

i think that lots could be done, as there's already a site and all. should i bother making any designs?

 

[Ease]

You can get t-shirts off cafepress. I have one it's actually pretty nice... faded a bit but i like it that way... oh. and it's white :-\

 

[Canuck Plumber]

I'd go for some Do The Ton coffee mugs. Or how about a Do The Ton Calender?

 

[jiraya99]

there are some great ideas going around now! I think in the near fututre this may work... start small. the do the ton calendar would be easy, we could hold a poll for best member bikes, and my dad works for a printing company, so we could at least print a prototype before shipping it off to get produced. i think handkerchiefs would be a good start too, does anyone know where we might be able to order some? if not, i have my ways of finding people.

I'm loving these ideas, I'd donate for this, once i get some cash :'(