shirts mugs, prints, posters etc

[Tac00]

how does the whole print,mug,shirt thing work? im just curious but any of you out there that sell these like whats the whole process that goes into this?

[Faub]

The common method is to use a service that does it all for you, ala CafePress. But CafePress' quality is/was/maybe still is questionable.

You can go your own route and learn to print comics yourself, screen print shirts and paint mugs. The trade off is your time versus the quality of the product. You get more of the final profit but you put more into it initially.

http://sampler.comicgenesis.com/
Here I've collected the Comic Genesis samplers. Download one of the PDF files and print it out to see how comic spreads are set up.

[Pimpette]

Zazzle has a pretty good reputation too.

[Tentoumushi]

I use http://www.deviantart.com but they don't do T-shirts. Mugs, canvas, gloss prints, puzzles, and mouse pads: yes. Clothing, no.

[Tac00]

deviant seems complicated tho

[Darkdetective]

Do you have to be 18 to use this stuff?

[Dr Neo Lao]

For exact terms and conditions you'll need to read the TOS and EULA etc on each website, but whenever money is changing hands, the usual method is via credit card (though other options are becoming available) so being over 18 is normally a reuirement.

If you plan on trying to do anything that involves money with your comic, you should do two things: first - do your homework. That means spending a lot of time reading a lot of fine print [1]. second, get a feel to see if there is a demand for what you want to sell. There's no point in getting a great deal on getting 100 t-shirts made up if nobody ever buys them.

Remember that on-line, there are lots of extra costs such as shipping and packaging to consider. Selling a t-shirt for $6 might be well and good, but if it's going to cost you another $2 to box it up and then another $3 to mail it (and that's not counting international sales) then that's gone over the magic $10 mark. And the tax man gets a cut as well, don't forget about him.

[1] Remember - the large print giveth and the fine print taketh away. Example - if you put ads on your site, you may think that you're getting an easy $5 a month, but if the company placing the ad only sends a check once you've made $20, then you'll be waiting a while. READ THE FINE PRINT! ALWAYS

[Tac00]

does anyone use zazzle tho. if so whats the catch because i know theres a catch. yea i guess i will have to do my homework haha

[Pimpette]

I've got a zazzle store.
Haven't bought anything from it yet (still putting up designs) but it seems to be basically the same as Cafepress, which I have ordered from. Basically, you upload an image and select what merch you want to put it on. Add a markup to the original price (however much you like, but watch it, too large of a markup and stuff gets expensive), and it goes into your store. Then anyone can pick it out and buy it - the site's company will handle the printing, shipping, etc, and send you however much your markup was.
Cafepress is decent - I've bought a few things from them, and can say this: their clothing is crappy but their other stuff is pretty good. I've got two mugs, a clock, and a pillow - have had all of these for a few years now, and after multiple washes (well, not the clock) they are all still in excellent shape.

[Tac00]

which one would you say is better to sell stuff with?

and should i worry about people stealing my ideas if i put characters or somthing on it.

[Pimpette]

which one would you say is better to sell stuff with?
and should i worry about people stealing my ideas if i put characters or somthing on it.

I switched from Cafepress to Zazzle because I heard their clothing was of much higher quality - otherwise they seem to have the same sort of selection when it comes to merchandise (although their many different mug styles lured me in too).
If I had the time right now I'd do some price comparisons - but I mean, you can do that yourself.

As for people stealing your ideas... If anyone is going to steal your crap, they can do it just as easily from a webcomic or legitimate comic book as they could from merchandise. I wouldn't worry about it. =/

[Jekkal]

I don't plan on much merchandising while I'm still technically in my first year.

And if I go that route, I think I'd rather do posters first. Although t-shirts would be interesting, I have entirely too many as is (and I suspect so would my likely fans).

[Tac00]

you know i dont really think of it as making money. i think of it as 2 things

1. whering clothes with your charaters has to be a great feeling.

2. and since your not spedning money to host these things you could just leave em there for whoever. but the great thing to me is not how much money but just the thought that somone would want to buy a shirt with my drawings on it.

its a great feeling

[Pimpette]

you know i dont really think of it as making money. i think of it as 2 things

1. whering clothes with your charaters has to be a great feeling.

2. and since your not spedning money to host these things you could just leave em there for whoever. but the great thing to me is not how much money but just the thought that somone would want to buy a shirt with my drawings on it.

its a great feeling

Agreed!
Hell, most of the reason I set up my store(s) in the first place was simply so I could buy my own stuff.

[Boozeathon4billion]

I set up a CafePress account and later found out that if you want to create multiple designs on the same kind of shirt/mug/hat/etc, then you have to pay for the premium account. Which is lame.

Zazzle on the other hand lets you make as many of whatever you want without any extra cost. Their quality also has a better reputation right now and Google just dropped a bunch of money into it, so its getting some spotlight from bigger companies. It's interface is also a little easier than CafePress... so I'd suggest Zazzle unless you are planning on dropping the extra cash to get a premium store with CafePress (which I'm definitely not down with).

And yeah... merch isn't just about making money. It's about real world advertising. If you can wear something promoting your own stuff and get some friends to do the same, people will ask about it. Plus, it feels awesome.

[Tac00]

well so far so good guys. the zazzle things been working out. but im making another page so i can put my stuff. but does anyone who uses zazzle know which link i use to put it on my page? like is it a flash panel what is it?