Merchandise Questions
by Joey Manley
Here is a set of questions for those of you who sell, or who would like to sell, merchandise — self-published books, t-shirts, fluffy toys, PVC figures, bumper stickers, posters, prints, etc.
1. What vendors do you use?
2. What aspects of your relationship with your vendors would you like to see improved?
3. Who handles order fulfillment, and are you happy with the way that works? Specifically, what aspects of the order fulfillment process please/displease you?
4. Generally, how much do you make from merchandise vs. other revenues (like advertising)?
5. Are there types of merchandise you’d like to make available (like PVC figures, say, or fluffy toys, or bedsheets, or pajamas, or whatever else) that you haven’t found a good vendor for, or that you’re afraid you wouldn’t sell enough copies of?
6. If it were possible to sell merchandise through WCN which would be manufactured on a one-off basis (like print-on-demand, except for all kinds of items, not just books) and make more money per product than you make with CafePress, would you be interested in using such a service? Note that this would not necessarily be tied to hosting a comic on WCN.
Yes, I am asking these questions for a reason.
You can reply in the comments, or by email (joeymanley # gmail.com)
September 9th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Joey,
here are my answers.
I have only recently stared int he world of Webcomics, I did some self-publishing in the past that saw some critical success but made me no money. This comes at a time when I’m doing my best to figure ouit how to make some cash from my comics.
1. None. In the past Cold Cut and Diamond when I was publishing. Local Retailers.
2.N/A
3.Me (theoretically).
5.Zip. Zero, Nada. Wanna change that, though.
6. Yes I would.
Thanks for the post!
Joel Zain Rivers
Creator of “Lester Severe” and “Brokenhearted in Bakersfield”
September 9th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
If you don’t mind merchandising filth, I would certainly bring it up to my collabs who are in charge of merchandising their individual series.
September 9th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Looks interesting.
1: none
2: n/a
3: n/a
4: n/a
5: haven’t thought much about it, but any you mentioned–yes.
6:Yes, interested. Certain details come to mind–how would it work for a Canadian cartoonist? Currency, transborder, etc.
September 9th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
1. Indy Planet
2. Nothing
3. Ka-Blam handles all printing needs while Indy Planet handles online distribution. I don’t have to do a thing other than supply my files for printing.
4. Nothing. I haven’t found an advertising model that has done anything for me yet.
5. I’m all for PVC figures but I haven’t really investigated it thoroughly.
6. Yes. I’m a big fan of having everything under one roof.
September 9th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
I’ve only ever made a book of my comic, so I can’t help much, but here’s what I’ve experienced so far:
1) Lulu
2) I’ve been very happy with Lulu thus far.
3) Lulu. I’ve found them to be very quick and I’m pleased with their work.
4) Very little. About $4.00 per book.
5) I’d love to do a t-shirt or two, though quality ones require runs and ones from places like cafepress don’t have good track records from what I’ve heard. PVC figures would be amazing, but I have no idea how to even go about such a thing.
6) Yes, definitely, and I don’t even see it as a problem to make it only for comics hosted here. Another reason to sign up!
Best of luck and thanks for continuing to improve an already great service!
-mike
September 10th, 2007 at 12:42 am
1. — None now, one of the best things you could offer would simply be a pointer to (or deal with) good, reliable vendors.
2-3-4 — NA
5. Haven’t found a good vendor for anything… bound (print on demand?) collections would be the item I’d be most interested in, followed by real basic stuff like shirts.
6. Naturally, yes, of course that sounds good.
I’ve currently lapsed back to basic (unpaid) status… something like this would be a real big incentive to come back (OK so I’m planning on going back to paid status anyway, but still).
September 10th, 2007 at 9:59 am
1. Ka-Blam for bulk poster prints, and a variety of local and national vendors for buttons and magnets.
2. Speed of delivery (to me).
3. I do all of the packing and shipping. I live near a post office and make 3-4 trips per week.
4. Advertising revenue is better than it udes to be now that Project Wonderful is in town, but it still can’t compare to striaght-up merch sales.
5. I’d sell figures, plushies, bobbleheads, the whole nine yards if I had the means and demand, but there’s no economical means to sell them reasonably with less than a 5,000 piece order, and I’m not dumb or rich enough to do that.
6. It would all depend on the base cost – nobody should have to spend half a paycheck on a stuffed animal. I’d be more likely to buy a couple dozen at a bulk rate and distribute myself than doing the Cafepress one-off route.
September 10th, 2007 at 10:04 am
1. Ka-Blam for bulk poster prints, and a variety of local and national vendors for buttons and magnets.
2. Speed of delivery (to me).
3. I do all of the packing and shipping. I live near a post office and make 3-4 trips per week.
4. Advertising revenue is better than it used to be now that Project Wonderful is in town, but it still can’t compare to straight-up merch sales.
5. I’d sell figures, plushies, bobbleheads, the whole nine yards if I had the means and demand, but there’s no economical means to sell them reasonably with less than a 5,000 piece order, and I’m not dumb or rich enough to do that.
6. It would all depend on the base cost – nobody should have to spend half a paycheck on a stuffed animal. I’d be more likely to buy a couple dozen at a bulk rate and distribute myself than doing the Cafepress one-off route.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
1. What vendors do you use?
Lulu.com
2. What aspects of your relationship with your vendors would you like to see improved?
Better UK support. Better pricing.
3. Who handles order fulfillment, and are you happy with the way that works? Specifically, what aspects of the order fulfillment process please/displease you?
They do it all. It’s good, but still ships to the UK from the US for colour books. (That’s right, “colour” books, bastard Firefox spell-checker, not “color”, underline me all you want.)
4. Generally, how much do you make from merchandise vs. other revenues (like advertising)?
Very little at the moment, due to trying to keep the costs viable.
5. Are there types of merchandise you’d like to make available (like PVC figures, say, or fluffy toys, or bedsheets, or pajamas, or whatever else) that you haven’t found a good vendor for, or that you’re afraid you wouldn’t sell enough copies of?
All of the above. Bedsheets especially.
6. If it were possible to sell merchandise through WCN which would be manufactured on a one-off basis (like print-on-demand, except for all kinds of items, not just books) and make more money per product than you make with CafePress, would you be interested in using such a service? Note that this would not necessarily be tied to hosting a comic on WCN.
Of course. If it worked the same way, without setup fees.
September 11th, 2007 at 4:24 am
1. Spreadshirt, But after I get the second collection of Templar out the door, I’ll be trying to take control of that, too. Print a full run, sell at cons, that sorta thing.
2. Spreadshirt is pretty satisfactory, honestly. My only complaint is the drag on payouts, they’re spaced quarterly instead of just sending you what you’ve earned when your account’s reached a magic number, like GoogleAds.
3. Again, Spreadshirt is pretty satisfactory. They have good customer service, fix problems very quickly, and their prices are approaching fair. I’ll be ditching them all the same when I get more money to work with, though. Like print-on-demand books, the profit margin for print-on-demand shirts is kinda crummy.
4. I consider Templar’s print edition merchandise, and I make the vast majority of my money from it. GoogleAds is no slouch, but it can’t compare. I squat a button on Questionable Content through Project Wonderful, so my advertising on that is always in the red.
5. I would fall to the floor senseless in a swoon of bliss if I could get:
- Decent quality Templar figurines or plushes, in small runs. (Maybe in a few years?)
- Limited edition Templar maquettes. (I know, I know, let me dream)
- Embroidered patches featuring Templar’s subcultures.
This is the sort of stuff I can imagine myself very interested in if Templar’s traffic rises a bit more, and I have a minimum of three books out.
6. It all depends on the quality of the merchandise. I wouldn’t want to peddle low-quality stuff. I would be willing to pay a reasonable extra fee, if it would ensure sturdy, good-looking merch I could sell with confidence.
September 11th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
I’m just beginning, but I’ll answer these questions, for help purposes
1. Q: What vendors do you use?
A: None
2. Q: What aspects of your relationship with your vendors would you like to see improved?
A: N/A
3. Q: Who handles order fulfillment, and are you happy with the way that works? Specifically, what aspects of the order fulfillment process please/displease you?
A: N/A
4. Q: Generally, how much do you make from merchandise vs. other revenues (like advertising)?
A: N/A
5. Q: Are there types of merchandise you’d like to make available (like PVC figures, say, or fluffy toys, or bedsheets, or pajamas, or whatever else) that you haven’t found a good vendor for, or that you’re afraid you wouldn’t sell enough copies of?
A: Some figures would be good, or some plush toys….Posters and stickers are great too.
6. Q: If it were possible to sell merchandise through WCN which would be manufactured on a one-off basis (like print-on-demand, except for all kinds of items, not just books) and make more money per product than you make with CafePress, would you be interested in using such a service? Note that this would not necessarily be tied to hosting a comic on WCN.
Of course, then there’s manufacturing costs….and I might be the one who ends paying more than I can handle ):
A: Most certainly I’d be interested!
September 11th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Not sure how much my input will help, since I’m a n00b, but here goes…
1. CafePress. I am also considering using Printfection (in ADDITION to CP) so that I can have more designs available, without having to pay a monthly fee.
2. More profit-per-sale, of course!
3. CafePress handles it, and I like it that way (it requires no babysitting from me). I like the make-when-ordered aspect, because I don’t have to keep any stock on hand, hoping like mad that I can sell it.
4. I’ve made a total of $3.00, from mechandising AND advertising (like I said: n00b). I’m trying to sell out, but nobody’s buying.
5. Heck yeah; I’d love to take another try at selling my Jingoistic Bacon Ribbon- I quit selling them because I had to make them each by hand. Blech.
6. Of course!! One reason I haven’t done much in the way of merchandising is because posting to WCN is easy; making/ promoting/ selling merchandise is not as easy.
September 12th, 2007 at 10:51 am
We have done reviews of a few of the major companies that let you buy and sell t-shirts on their site at selltees.com and t-shirttalk.com including Cafepress, Zazzle, Printfection, and Spreadshirt.
Matt
September 12th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
1. What vendors do you use? Ka-Blam for POD. Used Lulu a couple times but cost wise it’s not profitable for me. I have used Cafe Press for some shirts.
2. What aspects of your relationship with your vendors would you like to see improved? Probably response time to questions. Better pricing of course. More of a selection of products to use.
3. Who handles order fulfillment, and are you happy with the way that works? Specifically, what aspects of the order fulfillment process please/displease you? Personally I like my orders to be fully automated. It’s usually much faster that way and less mistakes are made it seems like to me.
4. Generally, how much do you make from merchandise vs. other revenues (like advertising)? Project Wonderful ad profit was decent at first but now virtually only pennies a day at my site. Pretty much the bulk of my $ comes from print now.
5. Are there types of merchandise you’d like to make available (like PVC figures, say, or fluffy toys, or bedsheets, or pajamas, or whatever else) that you haven’t found a good vendor for, or that you’re afraid you wouldn’t sell enough copies of? PVC figures would be cool but even cooler would be action figures.
6. If it were possible to sell merchandise through WCN which would be manufactured on a one-off basis (like print-on-demand, except for all kinds of items, not just books) and make more money per product than you make with CafePress, would you be interested in using such a service? Note that this would not necessarily be tied to hosting a comic on WCN. Sure!
September 14th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Great, Joey!
I´ve been on the net for one and a half year now, my master plan is: as soon as the Knights of Dor are finished, I´ll take some time to make spinoffs. That´ll be in the beginning of the year 2008.
1. What vendors? Answer: None! I´ve sniffed on Lulu and Cafepress, but haven´t had the time to try them on yet.
4. Generally, how much do you make from merchandise vs. other revenues (like advertising)? Answer: The google ad on top of my page: very little. I haven´t tried any other thingies.
5. Are there types of merchandise you’d like to make available (like PVC figures, say, or fluffy toys, or bedsheets, or pajamas, or whatever else) that you haven’t found a good vendor for, or that you’re afraid you wouldn’t sell enough copies of?
Answer: Figurines would be very fun to have, both Pvc and plush. Coffee cups too. T-shirts, yes. Games! Cards! Books!
6. If it were possible to sell merchandise through WCN which would be manufactured on a one-off basis (like print-on-demand, except for all kinds of items, not just books) and make more money per product than you make with CafePress, would you be interested in using such a service? Note that this would not necessarily be tied to hosting a comic on WCN.
Answer: Bring it on, baby!
September 20th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
I’m probably a bit late to be any help here, but here are my answers anyhoo:
1. I shipped a few books through diamond and a handful through bookstores around the UK, but mostly all my merchandise is sold through my website
2. N/A
3. My t-shirts are shipped through topatoco, and while they do occasionally mix up an order they are pretty good. My books were shipped by the guy at Soaring Penguin (who handled the printing) and he always gets them shipped ok so I’ve no complaints.
4. Almost all the income for the comic comes from merchandise – advertising generates very little.
5. I did investigate soft toys for a while, but it turned out you had to get them done in a batch of at least 500 and I just wasn’t sure there was a market for that. I like to do PVC figures too, but I think that would be an even more risky venture.
6. For the oddities like soft toys that would be pretty cool – I don’t know how you could do that and still make a profit though!
September 24th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
1. Since I mostly self publish my art and individual comic chapters, I have serveral vendors. But for what you are wondering, I will say that I use CafePress, LuLu, and Art.com for anything I don’t do myself.
2. Considering that I have free accounts, I can’t complain too much about royalties. After all, they have their expenses to pay too. However, sometimes I do wonder if my share shouldn’t be higher – I have expenses too. Also, the payout time. I understand their reasonings here too, but it’s hard to wait so long. Some of their agreements are very restrictive too. If I can’t advertise my website on their site but they want me to advertise their site on mine, who’s losing here? Me.
3. CafePress -quality is an issue, but it seems to be improving. Art.com and LuLu – they do all the work, so it’s easy for me.
4. Very little.
5. Don’t feel I’m at that level yet. Maybe someday.
6. Possibly. It would be interesting to see the terms. Maybe would simplify things.
September 27th, 2007 at 2:33 am
1. What vendors do you use?
Etsy. Planning on using comixpress. Random Forums.
2. What aspects of your relationship with your vendors would you like to see improved?
Speed maybe? That’s asking too much though. I understand what they are doing and the level of speed they complete these tasks are really good already in my opinion.
3. Who handles order fulfillment, and are you happy with the way that works? Specifically, what aspects of the order fulfillment process please/displease you?
Haven’t used comixpress yet but their system fits my purposes.
4. Generally, how much do you make from merchandise vs. other revenues (like advertising)?
Not enough to be worth mentioning.
5. Are there types of merchandise you’d like to make available (like PVC figures, say, or fluffy toys, or bedsheets, or pajamas, or whatever else) that you haven’t found a good vendor for, or that you’re afraid you wouldn’t sell enough copies of?
PVC figures and fluffy toys, I can sculpt the figures and pattern out the toys myself but I don’t really have the time to mass produce them. A casting/molding service that’s cheaper than other companies would be cool. But then molds break around 20-25 casts(at least the type I use) so for this service to be workable, there’d need to be metal molds. I haven’t looked in much about metal molds but I can’t help but feel that they are probably really expensive. I don’t mind assembling/painting the figures myself really, so a casting/molding service would be best for me. But really I think these services already charge very reasonable prices, I can’t imagine going any cheaper…=/
6. If it were possible to sell merchandise through WCN which would be manufactured on a one-off basis (like print-on-demand, except for all kinds of items, not just books) and make more money per product than you make with CafePress, would you be interested in using such a service? Note that this would not necessarily be tied to hosting a comic on WCN.
Yes, I would be really interested. Especially if these services involve pvc figures and stuffed animals for lower prices since I’m having a hard time finding a cheaper source for it other than self-production. T-shirts would be interesting and I’d definitely use the service but that heavily depends on how customizable the t-shirt is and what type of print. Because there are restrictions on cuts and other things on many company t-shirts that I find limiting.
October 9th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
[...] Merchandise Questions from TalkAboutComics Blog [...]
October 15th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
1. What vendors do you use?
At the moment I use Cafepress. They’re rather pricey, I think, and their quality is fair. The main thing I like is that they offer so many different kinds of items. For posters and prints, I’m going to start using Digibug. Their quality is vastly superior to anything I’ve seen. I mean professional photographic print quality. They can resize an 8×10 300 dpi print to a 16×20 luster or gloss poster and it looks
gorgeous. They also do mouse pads (which look awesome) and a huge assortment of other items. And their costs are very reasonable, better than Cafepress. I may use Ka-Blam for color trade paperbacks. The quality is decent and they’re much much cheaper than Lulu. I’m seriously thinking of using Wowio for digital downloads.
2. What aspects of your relationship with your vendors would you like to see improved?
I’d like to see more affordable costs, especially with color books (if that’s even possible yet.) An important thing to me is giving the creator plenty of stats, and a good user interface. It should be easy to work with, see all the orders people or I have made, and track their progress.
3. Who handles order fulfillment, and are you happy with the way that works? Specifically, what aspects of the order fulfillment process please/displease you?
Right now I haven’t really had anybody order anything yet. All the above mentioned vendors I go through handle order fulfillment. Digibug has a limited stats interface, and Ka-Blam I’m waiting for their upgrade to version 2.0. I’d like reasonable shipping costs, as Cafepress is rather pricey even for mini buttons. And again, have good stats and being able to track where an order is in the process is important to me.
4. Generally, how much do you make from merchandise vs. other revenues (like advertising)?
At the moment I make little from advertising (just Google Ads, I’m still waiting for a Project Wonderful Ad box). I’ve only had one person try to order a print so far, and it got screwed up and had to be refunded because of some computer glitch with the API. So I haven’t made anything yet.
5. Are there types of merchandise you’d like to make available (like PVC figures, say, or fluffy toys, or bedsheets, or pajamas, or whatever else) that you haven’t found a good vendor for, or that you’re afraid you wouldn’t sell enough copies of?
I’d love to see a vendor that made “print on demand” plushies. Or at least one who’d make a limited and affordable small run. Don’t know if I’d actually sell any at this point yet. PVC figures would be cool in limited small run quantities.
6. If it were possible to sell merchandise through WCN which would be manufactured on a one-off basis (like print-on-demand, except for all kinds of items, not just books) and make more money per product than you make with CafePress, would you be interested in using such a service? Note that this would not necessarily be tied to hosting a comic on WCN.
I’d try it. If the quality were good and the costs weren’t too high, I’d love it.
November 5th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
1. Lebonfon printing in Canada for comics, Jakprints in Cleveland for t-shirts and other merch. Great prices, great service.
2. No complaints. A wider range of product options would be nice, but no real complaints.
3. Our books are distributed by Diamond and Biblio, which buys them by the box, not by the copy. The system works great – if a distributor needs books, I just shoot the warehouse an email and tell them how many cases to ship, and the shipping and handling is part of my monthly bill from the printer. The books get shipped strait from the printers warehouse to the distributors, I never touch them books in person.
I personally handle all fulfillment of sales on the website _ pick the orders, pack them and ship them. I don’t like that It cuts into time I could be using making more comics or promoting my work, or that I have to store a ton of comics and shirts and posters in my own house. It’s a pain sometimes, especially when I get an international order and have to fill out customs forms and wait in line at the post office to ship it out, but in the end with the money we make on direct sales it’s totally worth it. I should just get an intern.
4. All our money comes from merchandise sales. We don’t advertise at all or sell ads of any sort – too much hassle and personally I think advertising is really tacky.
5. Toys of some sort, definately. Boardgames. Cheap calendars. I know we could sell a sh*tload of toys, we just have no clue where to start or how to do it without spending a ton of money up-front.
6. Maybe, depending on the cost ratios. It’s been my experience that the profits margins from print-on-demand don’t really make it worth the effort, at least for me. I much prefer printing and distributing the old fashioned way – selling chunks of hundreds and thousands at once instead of one-potato-two-potato.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
1. Brenner Printing for comic printing. Etsy for original artwork sales. Tony Shenton for our books/zines distribution. We print and do distribution for our apparel ourselves. (Same for 1″ buttons.)
2. Our relationship with our vendors is pretty solid. No necessary changes. Though I do wish Diamond was more responsive to independent publishers; but what can you do, you know?
3. We do our own order-fulfillment across the board. So, no issues there.
4. Comic-related merchandise and apparel is about 20% of our annual income. Advertising is <1%. (Not really worth mentioning.) And filling custom orders for other artists at ModButtons.com is the other 79%.
5. PVC/action figures and stuffed toys are both on my list of future merchandise. I would love to make a handful of each, regardless of the fear of low sales, just for the fun of it. However, finding a vendor for either items – especially for small runs – is difficult. Calendars…
6. If the profit margin was appropriate, I would definitely consider a POD service for toys. I think that could be stellar.
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:56 pm
1. Lulu
2. Pricing! Currently my 132 page colour book will cost GBP 21 before adding any profit!
3. Lulu
4. Minimal amount due to high cost
5. If you could find a way to do POD action figures, you would win.
6. Definitely.