Business Logos On Shirts, Mugs and More! Build Your Own Store FREE at CafePress
Written: Jun 17 '02 (Updated Jun 17 '02)
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Warning!: Long Review Ahead!
Have you ever wanted to create your own logos and sell t-shirts, bags, etc? Now you can! I’ve been working on a website and wanted to set up an “Online Gift Store” until they had their own line of items. With CafePress.com we were able to create an online store for no start-up cost as well as not having to buy t-shirts, hats, etc. and have our logo printed on them. If you have a business and want professional looking items to sell or want to put your artwork, graphics, etc. on items to sell-this is the place to check out.
Learning the Ropes
I suggest going to the CafePress.com site and check out their main page. Here you will find all of the basic information you’ll need to make a decision or get started. They also give links to other stores that people have built to help you learn what a ‘good store’ contains. They also offer a lot of help throughout the process. I would say I spent a total of 10 hours getting the site completely ready for use. In any other situation I would have spent many hours just finding the t-shirts to buy in bulk so this is quite a time saver. You can take a lot of time and make an extravagant store or make it simple and be done in less than an hour. You do not need any HTML skills to run a store!
Setting Up
All you need to get your store running is a name, some personal information and a few logos or graphics (that you own the rights to!). You will upload the pictures but make sure you read about size and quality so that you don’t wonder why it’s rejecting your pictures. Remember that CafePress.com offers help to you and your customers once you get your store set up and as you are setting it up. So don’t be afraid to email as they’ve always been really helpful. Once you get images loaded you can pick an item (i.e. t-shirt) and add a description and place the logo as you’d like. You can pick the logo size and where it is placed (i.e. front of shirt, back of shirt, on the pocket, etc.) on most of the items. After that, you’re done! You can add as many items to your store as you’d like. Usually they have around 10 available for you to chose from and use.
How Much?
You probably think it would cost quite a bit to get your logos on frisbees and mugs, have them shipped out to your customers, and not have to deal with returns. But, there is no start up costs whatsoever. You can create your entire store and nothing will EVER come out of your pocket. The way that CafePress.com makes their money is by making the your product when someone orders it and then charging the base price. I’ll talk more about that later. Just remember that you can set up a store completely free and never worry about paying CafePress.com.
This is extremely good for start-up businesses and getting your name out. You want to create t-shirts to sell or give away since it’s basically free advertising. Spending money to purchase the shirts and then have the logo designed and placed on the shirt can just about break a small business! With CafePress.com you can buy your own products at the base price and sell them in a regular store or give out at your own will if you’d like.
Base Prices
Base prices are what CafePress.com keeps when you sell an item. For example the base price of a t-shirt is $13.99, so if you want to make a profit you’d set the price to an amount higher than that. For a $1 per t-shirt profit you would set the sale price at $14.99. Some other base prices are; $10.99 for a 12oz. mug, $10.99 for a mousepad, and $18.99 for long sleeve t-shirt. Granted the prices aren’t that cheap, but remember they are handling everything! There are many more products to chose from and they often have ‘limited’ items which are available for a certain period of time and will disappear when they are no longer available. For example they had a box of chocolates and teddy bears for Valentines Day.
Buying Products
One of my friends set up a store for her online web design business and we both wanted to know the quality of the items. I bought a mug from her store to test the waters. Shipping speed and quality were both impressive. Shipping cost was in the $4 range for standard priority shipping. I received the item in a normal amount of time; I think around 4 days. I was VERY impressed by the image on the mug. It was nothing like a sticker and seemed extremely professional. She is a great designer and has a wonderful logo and I did not think it would be this picture perfect! I washed it in the dishwasher multiple times and nothing faded, disappeared, etc.
You don’t need to worry about shipping or taking payments whatsoever. You and your customers will be able to buy with American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa, Check Cards and money orders. I believe I saw something about paying by check and mailing your order in so that is also an option. You will be credited in your account the amount that you make on each sale and you will be paid within 45 days of the month you earned it as long as you made more than $10. Remember that if you don’t earn $10 in 6 months they will take whatever you have had away. I personally think this is a stupid policy but, it earns them money so I doubt it will change any time soon.
Overall
I think CafePress.com is extremely user friendly for both setting up shop and buying. Whether you are planning to buy from a store or sell your own logo items I feel extremely comfortable telling you to go for it. You really have nothing to lose but the few minutes of time it takes to set up the store. If you are unhappy...abandon ship!
Recommended:
Yes
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jro26
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