It takes no capital to upload a nice copy of the IC logo to cafepress. If people buy, some money comes in, if they don't, it doesn't. There is no way to lose money, if you use a one-off place like cafepress. Not that I think it'll make more than a few dollars per month, but it is possible, and it is super-duper easy.
This.
With absolutely no risk and only taking a few minutes to set up, this is a major case of Peter Griffin going "come on... come on...!" Again, the focus isn't the profits, it's about letting those that desire to self-indulge in their love of Icrontic by buying some cool swag can do so.
The fact that it won't make a lot of profits for the company shouldn't be a reason NOT to do it if it A. Costs nothing to set up OR maintain, B. Cannot lose money, and C. Takes just a few minutes to do.
If the powers-that-be simply say "we just don't want to", that's fine and it's their prerogative to do as such. But I will strongly challenge excuses such as "too expensive" and "too involving" after what CB pointed out.
I don't really care about the merchandise, especially right now with too much "merchandise" in this crackerbox o' mine. I do know, however, that when it comes to computers these days, I need my hand held. Now, I ain't rich, on a fixed income as a matter o' fact, but I like to pay my way. Sometimes I can't, but I just transferred a bit into PayPal ans when that clears, you guys will have another subscriber.
The irony of this conversation is that I'm the only one who remembers that we DO have a Cafepress store that no one has ever purchased a single thing from.
PS: We don't need a quick $10 or even $100. We need sustainable income.
I'd like to support Icrontic anyway I can.. This is a great community, and I'd hate to see it go down because of money. Maybe we can all buy shares in Icrontic..
Yeah, making a living off merch is unlikely to happen (though, as was mentioned earlier, some webcomic authors seem to be doing it). Then again, money is money and as Bandrik pointed out, if there's no monetary risk, and little time investment required, I don't see the harm in selling merch. There's also other alternatives to Cafe Press which may have better quality merchandise. I know back in college I designed beer steins for the hall I was in in the dorms, they weren't what I would call spectacular but they weren't shit quality either. I still have mine in fact. That's just my opinion on merchandise though.
Anyway, as for the paid subscriptions, I'd like to point out that I didn't even know there was such a thing until this thread. In fact, a cursory look at the main site and it looks like it isn't mentioned anywhere aside from the Support page. Perhaps you could put the subscriptions out there a bit more? I figure you're trying to not be pushy with it, but seems to me that a subscription system won't do much good if people don't know about it.
I would be surprised if subscriptions brought in considerably more money than merch. The potential market is the same. That's why I think dismissing merch because of it's infrequent bursts of a dozen dollars or so is odd when that's roughly the price of subscriptions. Both methods together might start adding up to some usable funds, though.
Damn! You guys upped the subscription nearly 4x! I'll still spring for it, but since I'm lookin' to get the hell outta Dodge, I'll hold off on that purty price until I'm set up in a new place.
Damn! You guys upped the subscription nearly 4x! I'll still spring for it, but since I'm lookin' to get the hell outta Dodge, I'll hold off on that purty price until I'm set up in a new place.
Yep. I'll get it in, it's just a question of priorities. I'm gonna pack this thing up tonight and head to AZ for a look see. If I can't get this damned XP installed tonight, I'm going to need to stop on the way and let an "expert" handle it. $$$$ again.
Comments
This.
With absolutely no risk and only taking a few minutes to set up, this is a major case of Peter Griffin going "come on... come on...!" Again, the focus isn't the profits, it's about letting those that desire to self-indulge in their love of Icrontic by buying some cool swag can do so.
The fact that it won't make a lot of profits for the company shouldn't be a reason NOT to do it if it A. Costs nothing to set up OR maintain, B. Cannot lose money, and C. Takes just a few minutes to do.
If the powers-that-be simply say "we just don't want to", that's fine and it's their prerogative to do as such. But I will strongly challenge excuses such as "too expensive" and "too involving" after what CB pointed out.
see: Oktoberfest glasses. Extremely high quality.
Cafepress is, to be frank, shit ass quality.
It's not that we're never going to do merch. It's that when we DO merch, we're going to do it right.
Okay, THIS is an answer I will happily accept. Something good to look forward to? Sign me up. Thanks, Prime.
PS: We don't need a quick $10 or even $100. We need sustainable income.
I have never heard of this.
But I agree. Icrontic needs more than 13$ now and again..
Anyway, as for the paid subscriptions, I'd like to point out that I didn't even know there was such a thing until this thread. In fact, a cursory look at the main site and it looks like it isn't mentioned anywhere aside from the Support page. Perhaps you could put the subscriptions out there a bit more? I figure you're trying to not be pushy with it, but seems to me that a subscription system won't do much good if people don't know about it.
You gotta pay for quality!
My efforts are here: http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90332