Hi guys.

I'm looking for economical sources of product merchandizing. By that I mean, TShirts, Balloons, Hats, Badges, Stickers etc.

I need some logo items later this year, but havent found anywhere economical for a small run (dont need THAT many items).

Anyone spotted a cool place for such a beast that ships to the UK (or is in the uk).

Ta.

http://www.cafepress.com/

Everything. And a series can be as small as one item :)

I'm not a big fan of Cafepress' expensive system.

Though I never used them,

http://coshops.com

Some of their items require minimum sales levels for a 6 month period, but others do not.

You could get mugs, mousepads, and white T-shirts with no minimum.

Here's the price difference:

Mugs:
Co-shops: 5.50
Cafrepress: 10.99

Mousepads:
Co-shops: 4.50
Cafepress: 10.99

T-shirts:
Co-shops: 9.00
Cafrepress: 13.99


Both offer free and premium sites...
Cafrepress charges 7.00/month
Coshops charges a flat fee of 150 or 500 dollars (depending on what you want to do).

On the otherhand, cafrepress does not offer value t-shirts... but im not to sure the quality of those would be as good.

The other alternatives is contact a real t-shirt printing company and get them done in bulk and try to sell from your own site. You'd make much more money per sale that way. (If I recall, you should be able to get them shipped to your door for about 2 dollars per shirt).

-Joseph Lieberman

Cafepress is expensive but it's simple and fun if you want to grab a very small number of personalised items for your own use. My other half made up this cute butterfly design and got us shirts and a mug and such, just because. (Yes, matching couple clothes! Hee hee.)

I wouldn't go with them if you were wanting a stock of shirts to hand out or sell at an event, though - I would expect there to be cheaper local options. And no Customs in the way.

Yeah, cafepress are an option.

Most of the places Ive seen so far want all sorts of colour seperations and such.

I also only want a handful of items too.

I know there is a place similar to cafepress in the uk, but dont know what its called :)

Well coshops.com seems to rule...
I don't really see why people consider cafépress..
Am I missing something, that make them better somehow? :confused:

No minimum sales requirements is a good reason (although, after looking at the page, it appears there's a level without any). And no out of pocket costs.

Personally I would stay away from Cafe Press. They're expensive, and produce products of questionable quality. I've found that it's better to go through a local place whenever you can because they're more willing to work with you. We have our polo shirts, pens, and windbreakers made at a place here in town, and while they're a bit pricier than other places, they're extremely helpful and willing to work with you. And the ability to go to them and say "We need 3 shirts by Tuesday" without getting ripped off is nice.

Anyway, I like doing stuff like promotional materials closer to home whenever possible.

Cafepress is a risk-free way to try out selling merchandise. If you find you have significant sales, then you get out of one-off sales and you know... hire a screenprinter to make 500 t-shirts, handle the hassle of color separations and getting things print-ready, talk to busy guys on the phone who are reluctant to give you a quote, etc.

You won't find a one-off publisher with per-item costs comparable to a traditional publisher. But of course, the low costs are only available after you commit to a large quantity of items. With one-off publishing you pay for convenience and risk avoidance. None of my game-related products on Cafepress have reached the threshold where it is economical to make the switch, although a few have come close. I've talked to two other game companies that have had the same experience, so I tend to think that it is pretty tough to make money from game-related merchandise. I consider Cafepress my testbed for merchandising ideas. It has also been useful for providing prizes in contests, which are good for building the fan community.

http://www.cafeshops.com/drod_store

-Erik