Melissa Boyd
I respectfully beg to differ on this.
I run an internet store, and can say from experience that the cost and
hassle of manufacturing and stocking clothing is considerable. You always
end up with too many leftover sizes and styles. It is really expensive to
invest up-front in printed clothing, pay the credit card processing fees,
set up an online store that can accept orders, hire people to pack and ship
stuff, and deal with customer phone calls, complaints, size exchanges,
returns, damaged merchandise, stuff lost in the mail, etc etc.
In fact, I have looked at the Cafepress pricing and think it's a real
bargain. It makes it EASY to sell stuff with your logo, whereas otherwise
the organization is liable to not do it at all because it is so much work
and so expensive.
Melissa
On 12/21/07, Rick C Johnson wrote:
>
> > ...it means we all can get cool OBRA stuff online with no hassle.
>
>
> I feel compelled to say "and have to share the proceeds with anonymous
> people". There's no reason OBRA can't offer this kind of stuff at a
> higher level of quality and lower cost by keeping it all local. I know
> people who do exactly this from their home - screen and emulsion
> printing on T-shirts, hats, flags, coffee cups and sell it online. It's
> not rocket science and we should be supporting people like them.
>
> Rick
>
> Melissa Boyd wrote:
>
> > Regarding option #3: OBRA "stuff":
> >
> > I'd suggest that OBRA set up a CafePress store. Go to
> > www.cafepress.com to sign up. You just
> > upload your graphics, pick the products you want to offer them on, set
> > your prices, and they do all the rest. They take orders, handle
> > payments & credit cards, deal with customers, print the stuff, and
> > ship it. Then, each month they send you $$. Easy! Just put a link to
> > your CafePress store on the OBRA website.
> >
> > This is also a good fundraiser for individual teams, events, and
> > groups like Cross Crusade or Psychocross. And, it means we all can get
> > cool OBRA stuff online with no hassle.
> >
> > Melissa
> >
> >
> > On 12/21/07, *Seth Hosmer* > > wrote:
> >
> > There have been several good ideas outlined already about raising
> > money for OBRA, why don't we use a combination of these? I would
> > propose:
> > 1. Raising membership fees for the 2009 season. OBRA membership
> > is amazingly inexpensive for what we get. But without adequate
> > funds, the organization we all love and count on may find itself
> > in this situation again. I would propose that the current annual
> > membership of $20 should be at least tripled...$60 is still a
> > bargain. Annual membership fees are stable stream of income that
> > the organization can use.
> > 2. Add a surcharge to spring races to pay for signs. I don't
> > know what it would need to be, but if everybody paid an extra $5
> > per race start that would raise a lot of extra money in a hurry,
> > and prices could go back down after the signs are paid off. Don't
> > complain about the $5, especially those that willingly throw away
> > $5 at races when they don't pre-register.
> > 3. OBRA "stuff": Calendar, T-shirts, stickers, things like
> > that. T-shirts can be made easily/quickly for maybe $5 or less,
> > and I am sure somebody on the list "knows somebody". You could
> > make an OBRA T-shirt with the OBRA logo on the front and some
> > sponsors on the back (sponsors also pay in to be on the shirt,
> > maybe making the shirts free for OBRA).
> >
> > We all need to find a way to pitch in, whether it be a donation
> > when we renew our OBRA membership, to willingly pay a little more
> > to race.
> >
> > Seth Hosmer
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