[Chapters-l] Trickets - revenue idea

[Richard Hill]

An announcement to the IA Summit said:

The IA Summit store at CafePress.com is up and running.  You can visit at:

http://www.cafepress.com/iasummit

We will be promoting these items by including a postcard or business card in
the conference materials pointing attendees to CafePress to purchase IA
Summit merchandise.  

In addition, we're purchasing a sampling of items to display on the
registration table so people can have a look at the treasures available to
them online.  We'll sell the samples or give them away as door prizes. 

In the meantime, feel free to buy your own t-shirt, button, etc., to wear at
the Summit.

I'm hoping to add a few more items to the store in the next couple of days.
Probably a tote bag and perhaps a BBQ apron.  If you see any other items in
the CafePress array that you think would benefit from an IA Summit brand let
me know and I'll try to get them in the store.

Happy shopping!
Evette L. Mezger
-----------
Thinking this might be a good idea for Chapters -- or for SIGs for SIG Rush
and such, I asked Evette what was involved in getting this going.  She said:

" Setting up the store on CafePress was incredibly easy.  I set up an
account on the site and then used their application to set up the store.  It
is all form based so you just choose a name for the store, add an
introductory blurb, and upload a logo to customize the storefront.  Then you
chose the products, add descriptions (I used the CafePress product
descriptions) and upload files with the artwork.  The cost for setting up an
account and a store is free.

We are using the CafePress base price for our items, meaning that the price
covers all of the CafePress production, fulfillment and e-commerce costs.
If we charged above their base price, we could make a profit on the
merchandise.  For example, our t-shirt is priced at $13.99 which covers all
CafePress costs.  If we charged $20 for the t-shirt we would receive the
difference.  I don't know if the higher pricing structure would incur any
set-up or admin fees, however.

It's quite a little application and the merchandise isn't bad looking.  So
far I have a t-shirt, coffee mug and a mouse pad.

As far as other "costs," I spent several hours creating artwork for the
merchandise.  CafePress provides templates to assist in this process.  The
artwork was originally created by Dave Ballantine and I have been adapting
it for flyers, merchandise, etc.

Dick
_____
Richard B. Hill
Executive Director
American Society for Information Science and Technology
1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite 510
Silver Spring, MD  20910
Fax: (301) 495-0810
Voice: (301) 495-0900