GCBC Cafe Press Store?

[headchange4u]

I sit here typing this message in my ultra-cool GCBC tshirt (thanks milowebailey), and I thought to myself, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool to have some more GCBC swag."

It got me thinking about a GCBC Cafe Press store.

Cafe Press, if you are not familiar with it, is a website that allows you to upload your own artwork to be used for over 80 different kinds of items like tshirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs, water bottles , calendars, beer steins, underwear, stickers, bumper stickers, magnets, mouse pads, etc, etc.....

Basically you upload artwork, decide what items you want to carry in your store, and they make the items on demand, accept payments, and ship orders. Each item has a cost and the store owner decides how much markup they put on each item. At the end of the month Cafe Press sends a check for the difference. I've used CP before and it's about as no hassle as running an online store can get. Basic stores are free.

My thoughts were that a small markup could be added to items, maybe just a couple of bucks, and the money generated could go to help support the forum or be donated to Coffee Kids AND there would be a constant supply of GCBC branded merchandise available in just a few clicks of your mouse. Here's some info from the site:

Basic Shops

With our Basic Shop you have the ability to sell over 80 products in a simple one-page shop.

Again our Basic Shops are free of charge. You can open as many as you need. Basic Shops are the simple and easy way to start selling with CafePress.com.

At CafePress.com, you can create and sell a variety of customizable products with zero upfront costs and zero inventory investment.

You can sell

    * Merchandise you design including t-shirts, posters, mugs, bumper stickers and much more.
    * Books printed on-demand. Learn more
    * Audio and Data CDs.

What CafePress.com does

   1. Gives you a FREE online shop to promote your products
   2. Produces each item when ordered using our unique print-on-demand technology
   3. Handles all payment transactions including major credit cards
   4. Ships your products worldwide
   5. Manages all returns/exchanges
   6. Offers customer service via toll-free phone and email
   7. Sends you a monthly check for your earnings on sales!

All Shops Include the Following Services:

    * Ability to create and sell over 80 different products including apparel, books, music, CDs and more, produced by    CafePress.com
    * Reliable online shipping hosted on our servers
    * Secure checkout and credit card payment processing
    * Domestic and international shipping of your unique products
    * Phone and Email Shopkeeper Support
    * Phone and Email Customer Service Support
    * Ability to list products in the CafePress.com Marketplace which receives millions of unique visitors
    * Promotional Tools to help drive more traffic to your shop

Thoughts or comments?

 

[mp]

You certainly are an enterprising young man with lots of good ideas.

 

[John F]

Something like this is what I figured we would eventually do....only we haven't done it yet. 

[milowebailey]

after doing one t-shirt distro.... can't say I'll do another but I'm sure there is plenty of interest if someone else wants to do one.

[mp]

after doing one t-shirt distro.... can't say I'll do another but I'm sure there is plenty of interest if someone else wants to do one.

Those were might fine t-shirts too Larry!

 

[headchange4u]

after doing one t-shirt distro.... can't say I'll do another but I'm sure there is plenty of interest if someone else wants to do one.

I bet dealing with sizes color options can be a real headache.

[thejavaman]

after doing one t-shirt distro.... can't say I'll do another but I'm sure there is plenty of interest if someone else wants to do one.

I bet dealing with sizes color options can be a real headache.

I really like the idea, but I wouldn't want to be the one coordinating it either...  

If this does eventually become a reality, nothing makes me more hot under the collar than when I find an article of clothing I like and they don't have my size (3XLT in shirts).  What can I say, I'm a big guy (6'3", 250+ - working on that - see the Kefir and Kombucha threads  ) and I like my clothes a little loose fitting.  All I'm saying is, if this happens, I hope multiple size options will be available....

[headchange4u]

after doing one t-shirt distro.... can't say I'll do another but I'm sure there is plenty of interest if someone else wants to do one.

I bet dealing with sizes color options can be a real headache.

If this does eventually become a reality, nothing makes me more hot under the collar than when I find an article of clothing I like and they don't have my size (3XLT in shirts).  What can I say, I'm a big guy (6'3", 250+ - working on that - see the Kefir and Kombucha threads  ) and I like my clothes a little loose fitting.  All I'm saying is, if this happens, I hope multiple size options will be available....

They do have sizes up to 3XL.

I'll just put this out there. If we think the Cafe Press store is something that we would want to do I would be willing to maintain it. As I said, the whole Cafe Press thing is pretty easy. Once the artwork and logos have been uploaded, it's just a matter of deciding what items the store would carry. You can add or delete items on whim. Once all of that has been set up you basically don't have to do anything but collect a check. I would not want to be the one handling the monthly revenue checks, simply store upkeep.

[John F]

I would not want to be the one handling the monthly revenue checks, simply store upkeep.

I'd like to handle the money (but not the sore upkeep)   and think I know what we would do with it.

1) Pay the site expenses.
2) Use all the rest for fun stuff like prizes and contest/giveaways.

Looks like we will be doing something separate for Coffe Kids and if this site ever generated money I bet we could figure out how do do something fun here for all the members with the cash to up our "having fun doing it" measure.  

The hardest part would be coming up with a workable good logo we could make "official".

[headchange4u]

I would not want to be the one handling the monthly revenue checks, simply store upkeep.

I'd like to handle the money (but not the sore upkeep)   and think I know what we would do with it.

1) Pay the site expenses.
2) Use all the rest for fun stuff like prizes and contest/giveaways.

Looks like we will be doing something separate for Coffe Kids and if this site ever generated money I bet we could figure out how do do something fun here for all the members with the cash to up our "having fun doing it" measure.  

The hardest part would be coming up with a workable good logo we could make "official".

Cool. Let see what kind of logo we can come up with. We don't really have to limit things to one particular graphic but an "offical" logo would be nice. I kinda like what Larry put on the front of the tshirt which was a simple green coffee bean with GCBC placed on top. It would also be nice to have something circular that would allow placement of the the slogan "Split bags of Green Coffee and have fun doing it."

If anybody has any ideas or suggestions please post them. I have a friend who is a graphic artist. Maybe I can bribe him to do something with some beer or coffee.

[John F]

I have a friend who is a graphic artist. Maybe I can bribe him to do something with some beer or coffee.

That sounds like a good plan.

[headchange4u]

I've gotten in contact with the graphic artist and I'm trying to give him some basic idea of what we are looking for in a logo. I'm going to have to pay him a little something for his work so the less work he has to do the better.

I have a few ideas rolling around in my head. I think we would want something that would look good on a mug or on the front pocket of a shirt. Nothing too detailed.

Idea 1:

A coffee bean trailing flames. The bean would be green toward the front fading to a roasted color near the trailing flames.

Idea 2:

A burlap bag of coffee that is open and has beans spilling out.

Idea 3:

Something like what Larry used on the Tshirts, but with "Green Coffee" arching over the top of the bean and buying club "Buying Club" arching across the bottom instead of the "GCBC" on top of the bean.


If anyone else has any ideas please throw them out there.

[thejavaman]

Idea 1:

A coffee bean trailing flames. The bean would be green toward the front fading to a roasted color near the trailing flames.

Idea 2:

A burlap bag of coffee that is open and has beans spilling out.

Idea 3:

Something like what Larry used on the Tshirts, but with "Green Coffee" arching over the top of the bean and buying club "Buying Club" arching across the bottom instead of the "GCBC" on top of the bean.

I like all three ideas - seriously.  It's hard (at least for me) to definatively say, "yep, go with that one".  To be completely honest, I'd probably be content with whatever you (or the group as a whole) chooses as being the best fit.  I gotta be able to get 3 XLT size shirts though (with the "T" being the most important part of that equation).  

[Ringo]

Here is one.

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

I am partial to this one