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mercykatze · 10 months ago

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I have some more questions! What’s the most popular forms of merchandise you guys sell, what’s your favourite, what else have you seen around, and if you were to branch out into more stuff, what would you try? :-)

I know from my own observations that some common stuff is pins, stickers, prints, keychains- but I’ve seen some obscure things such as patterned fabrics, comics/zines, sculptures, figurines, sticker hoarder books (which seem to be on the rise) plushies, etc.

clove wrote another nice long piece that summarised all my thoughts too so i'll put all that below

TLDR

most popular by quantity - badges most popular by profits - keychain or prints favourite to sell - zines best starter merch - anything you can make at home! things I'd like to do next - sticker books, pens, embroidery dream merch - plushies

every piece of merch has their ups and downs, and I find that some forms that I never have luck with selling fly off other people's tables and vice versa. it's all about finding your niche and what flows well with your style and business model.

for context for others, this is a summary my experience selling at large weekend long pop culture cons in Australia. this is going to be different for online sales, or for stalls at smaller events aimed at different audiences. adjust your stock accordingly. any prices I mention are in AUD

here's my thoughts

prints

always have prints. even if you haven't made much proper print worthy art, get some finished art printed up to put on the wall. I don't understand people that don't do this! prints have THE biggest cost to profit ratio (costs about $0.50-$3 to print and $5-30 to sell) and it makes your display eye catching from a distance, showing people what you're all about. I honestly haven't worked out the exact science to what makes a print a good seller, and sometimes prints I think will be a hit get zero sales. however, when they are hits I've sold upwards of 30 copies of it! find a local print shop for best service. i get 4-8 copies for most prints to start off

keychains

always a hit but the problem with keychains is the market is very competitive and saturated, so you really have to keep up with the trends. when I started selling at cons I handmade keychains with inkjet shrink film in the oven. these days everything is holo and glow in the dark and has fancy clasps. I think how you go about this depends on your art style and business model. i prefer the simple ones! it matches my very simple cartoony style. for your basic keychains, production price is about $3-5 and standard sell price is $15-20. I sell mine for $10 as most of the fandoms I draw for have young teen audiences and I want them to be able to afford it. I always accidentally understock but I'd recc 5-15 pieces per design with vograces low moq

enamel pins

high risk high reward! the sucky thing about enamel pins is the high moq if you're starting out. this is an investment you might want to wait to get into when you've found your niche. shipping is expensive too cause of the weight. i avoid fandoms and current trends if I can help it so I'm not left with a ton of stock when the hype fades. usual minimum order quantity is 50, and after you factor shipping from the manu in each pins cost averages to $2-5 depending on complexity. my sell price is $10 which is honestly too low but I haven't been bothered to check what other ppl sell theirs for lmao.

stickers

I'm mad about this one cause officeworks stopped stocking the only brand of sticker paper I trust. I know there's more brands out there but they're very expensive and some smudge so I've been ordering stickers since. if you can, print and cut your own stickers. either way production cost is usually 10-50c a sticker and I still sell them for $1 each but will likely increase that to $2 soon. this is solely cause stickers are on the table for the main purpose of people getting rid of their loose change, or for people who want to support us in exchange for having a nice chat with them. it is perfectly respectable to price your stickers from $3-5 for basic ones, and higher if they're large or there is something special about them! I sell about 50-200 stickers total per con, but I couldn't tell you what that boils down to per design cause it varies greatly

badges

BUY A BADGE PRESS. they cost like $90 from ebay last i checked and you will make that back instantly. you can print designs on your printer at home quickly and on demand. you can put anything on badges. they're an awesome space filler. fandom art, personal art, funny catch phrases, goofy edits, pronouns… i also recently learnt about cold laminate holo vinyl plastic to put on top which has changed the game. idk the exacts but the cost per piece for at home badge production is maybe? 10c? I sell them $2 for a 32mm small and $3 for a 54mm large. I sell 200-300 badges a con. buy a badge maker.

zines

zines are a talkpiece and a way to connect with other artists. they're your way of spreading your passion to the world. make zines. sell zines. trade zines. I print them at home on printer paper and sell them $2-5 each. there are dedicated zine collectors who make the rounds at cons, and zines (like the stickers!) are often purchased by ppl who like you and want to support you but aren't into your pricier or fandomy stuff. I never bring leftover zines home from a con cause I've always sold / handed out them all. biggest downside is they are hard to display once you have a lot !!

bookmarks

okay seller. people like them and they're cheap. I just don't like displaying them or making them and i just dont think many people read books these days but if I have spare room on the table or wall I'll put them up. I sell for $2-4 each. they usually sell (even when I don't have any displayed. somehow). ive had some people tell me they consider them mini-prints cause they cant afford actual prints. good cheap merch option when starting out and a table filler. not my jam.

notebooks

the thing about notebooks is… my demographic doesn't want to buy notebooks. I think they would be a hit if you drew nature or animals or ghibli stuff etc. I ran a kickstarter a couple years back but was unable to fulfil the orders (bad planning, my fault. a friend is dealing with it now) so I have somewhere close to 300 notebooks in my house. I've tried selling the excess at cons but i only make sales if I severely underprice them. might be a good slow seller if you only buy 10 at a time, not 300

notepads

sell worse than notebooks! no clue why! I love them and they're cheap! I think maybe people overlook them and don't realise what they are. sad.

pillows

great seller for me !!! however this is one of the ones where, by observstion, I make more sales from than others who sell the same product do. theyre the custom printed pillows from vograce, for context. production cost is high, about $10 a pillow I think. I originally sold them for $25 but raised it to $30 when I realised how much stuffing cost. surely you can buy cheaper stuffing online but I always end up running to spotlight or lincraft the week before the con and spending $70 on it. I can sell 10-30 pillows a con but I think I'm an outlier there. start with low quantities when you don't know what your niche is yet

lanyards

I love them! mine sold moderately okay but it's one of the things I took joy in making, yknow :) cost was about $2 per and I sold them for $12. sold about 10

tote bags

not a great seller at all, unfortunately!! perhaps it's cause the only ones I've made so far have had my ocs on them. they are another merch item I adore though so I don't mind having them as a slow seller. I also give them out to people who spend over a certain amount. costs are very variable

lanyard keychains

technically a keychain but different in my head. it has a mini lanyard and also acrylic keychains on it. I sell these at rat shows for $20 each and they sell fast. slower mover at cons tho

pencil cases

they sell okay. they cost about $2-4 to make each and I sell them for about $8-12. slow seller for me

temporary tattoos

I've only sold these at one con so far so I haven't gotten a good read on the vibes. they are so cool though :) please take into account skin colours because I didn't (fsr I thought they'd be opaque) and even on my pale skin you can see discolouration. next time I make designs they will be lineart only, cause I really don't want to have to explain to someone they shouldn't buy it cause their skin is too dark and it will come out shit. think I sold them for $4 each

commissions

hugely variable by con, and hugely variable by artist. I do "sketch page" commissions which is an a5 page of me just drawing mini doodles with a ballpoint pen and poscas whatever stuff comes into my head based on the prompt / character until the page is full. this sets me apart from other artists (though please don't worry about overstepping if you also want to try this) and harnesses the elements of my style that people like the most. it also means I can do little bits and pieces between serving people. other artists will do one large sketch, or a full inked drawing, or ipad comms, or just take commission requests for after the cons. I can't really speak to the success of those methods because I've never really asked. I charge $20 for a page of doodles and can get anywhere from 3 to 25 requests over a weekend. I originally charged $10 a page (i thought after are all, they're just silly doodles) but was so overbooked I spent the entire con with my head down and had a queue so long I was turning people away. don't undercut yourself here!! usual issues with undervaluing your comms aside, you want some time to enjoy the con too :) if you're overrun, raise the price point next time to cut down the demand.

lucky dips

people love lucky dips! it's psychology! these are especially successful for ppl with higher priced merch to make a good multi-buy bargain, or mainstream fandoms where every option is a good choice (pokemon, ghibli, animal crossing). I don't see a big point in us in particular making lucky dips, especially since the content of our table is Highly varied. I would recommend it if all of your stuff was in a similar category. the times we have made lucky dips before was to get rid of excess discontinued stock cheap, and once we had a "gender lucky dip" which included a set of random pronoun badges and pride stickers. it was silly and people had a laugh :)

and I'm so sorry that this is so long as is, but I'm trusting that you're still reading because this is valuable insight and well you asked. (honestly I'm considering I should write up an official guide thanks to you. I enjoy writing about my experiences, insights and and you're right that this info is hard to find!)

but since you asked and since I want to answer, here's my thoughts on stuff we don't sell

washi tape - don't like the idea for my own business model. I love the concept but for a small quantity the cost per production is higher than I would like it to be for what I'd want to sell it for. as I've said, my audience is mostly teens who usually have low funds. I would feel awful pricing such a small item at such a high price!! I personally would like to charge $5 for it, but they are usually sold for about $10-15 (rightfully so!)

standees - not for me, I don't believe my style would suit it. leave that to the anime artists.

patterned fabrics - this costs a lot more than you'd think, tbh. would be best to buy in bulk or if your niche was craft based. if I ever had a plan for how to execute this, I would. but as of now I don't.

comics - this is the dreaaammm. biggest problem is the time for creation. people do go around cons though just to collect original works. do this for yourself if anything, not to sell at a con

sticker hoarder books - at the most recent con I've sold at, many people were disappointed to find my notebooks weren't sticker books. big market for it right now.

sculptures/figurines/handmade plushies - this isnt something i would personally make (skill issue, literally), but its high risk high reward to me. you really need to value your own time and work, so these would r often priced high. means you only have to sell a couple to profit, but if they don't sell. ouch.

manufactured plushies - would LOVE to do this. would require lots of research but it's the dream to me. I'm not in the stage of life to work on this, too much on my plate elsewhere

ceramics- jay bought me a hand painted ceramic dish with tamagotchi characters on it :) I think it cost a lot of money. it was so cool.

embroidered stuff - another thing I would love to get into when I have less going on. oh to have an embroidery machine and time to make things with it

rugs - people love rugs right now theyre all the rage. I love them at least. I would love to make some :)

mouse pads - would try these one day. sounds fun

wooden pins / charms - inevitably will do one day. they personally have less appeal to me than enamel pins and acrylic charms tho. less versatile

fake video game boxes - ok this is just a personal idea / project but I had started editing the box art for a fake total drama ds game then skinned all my wife's ds game boxes to make and sell them. I gotta look more into the logistics and also this isn't a thing yet lol

earrings - pretty popular right now! I wouldn't make them bc my ears are hyper sensitive and it'd make me too sad

jewellery in general - more risky than earrings. I've seen this go badly for ppl before lol

pens / pencils - I would love to make and sell these!!

socks - I like to consider what stuff I personally like buying, and I love fun sock designs !!

fridge magnets - you can get printer magnet paper to print from home. good beginner merch

greeting cards - I think this is a good idea. depends on audience. probs not the best for me personally

I could probably go on forever about other various small ideas and niche things so I'll stop here. hope you enjoyed my ramblings :)

#this is almost novel length but we hope you find it helpful!#or at least enjoyable to read #merch ref

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celestriakle · 2 years ago

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I posted 2,331 times in 2022

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I tagged 2,053 of my posts in 2022

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My Top Posts in 2022:

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1 note - Posted April 1, 2022

Every night you dream that you talk to a genie, when you wake up you can't remember what you wished for. One morning you wake up with a giant crab pincer replacing your right arm. What do you do?

I recognize carcinization has begun and look forward to evolving to my true form.

2 notes - Posted September 7, 2022

Farewell Sweet Crabs 👋 🦀

When I remember my crab friends I'll think of:

the turning of the tides

2 notes - Posted July 24, 2022

hi! just a quick question, have you listened to limetown? seeing the podcasts you liked in your pinned post, i think you might enjoy it! you have awesome taste in podcasts btw!

Thank you!!

Not yet! It's been on my to-listen list pretty much since I started listening to podcasts though. I've been really moseying to getting around to it since there was the long hiatus+I heard the ending wasn't great. Idk if that's true though, so I'm still planning on giving it a shot!

3 notes - Posted June 28, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hi! I found your at from a zine modding advice compilation doc. I am planning to make a zine, but I have no experience modding. I was wondering if I could get your advice on how to make realistic/fulfillable plans as a newbie?

Hi there! I'm in a zine mod advice doc? 0: I had no idea, could you send me a link? I'm curious!

So, I ran my zine solo and it was my first time running any sort of project like this. It was saddlestitched 30-40 pages (I don't remember exactly; this was several years ago) and we did merch: an enamel pin, a sticker sheet, a die-cut sticker, and two holographic prints. In the end, we made enough money to cover our costs and pay out $6 (approximately) to each contributor, but did not raise enough money to offer complimentary copies of the physical zine/merch. I was aiming to have enough for complimentary copies, which is why I'd call the project a semi-success.

This got long! But here's pretty much all the advice I got:

Know your audience. Is it a fandom zine? How big is the fandom? Original content zines will struggle more to gain interest. How big is YOUR platform, specifically? As lead, the onus is on you to get the word out at the start to attract contributors and potential buyers. Try to gauge how many copies you might sell from this. Lean conservative on your estimate and base your plan on that. (This is where interest checks come in!)

Pick your vendors. Familiarize yourself with the terminology they use. Compare and contrast prices and services using the sales estimate you devised in the last step. How long does shipping take? What is the policy if products come out defective? There are always going to be some defective products when producing en masse. Check reviews. Have you bought zines yourself? Contact the creators of zines you like and ask them which vendors they're using for their assorted products. (I had a great experience with mixam.) Don't forget to look into acquiring packaging and shipping costs (domestic and international)!

Decide how you're going to sell the zine. Kickstarter's great if you're using a vendor that has a set MOQ (minimum order quantity) or if you want to guarantee to be able to provide a certain level of compensation for your contributors, but it also takes a fee and means that, if you don't get enough orders, you have to start the campaign all over again. Bigcartel has more flexibility in terms of sales windows and such, but it's difficult to customize like kickstarter. Also, if you're using bigcartel and don't sell enough, you're on the hook for either refunding or fulfilling all the preorders you do get. You'll also need a stripe and paypal business account.

Make a budget. So you have an estimate of how many you think you'll sell. You know how much your vendors cost. You've accounted for your incidentals (kickstarter fee, packaging, gas to get to the post office, etc). Refer to other zines for what typical prices for your products are and set your prices based on that. (Analyzing what other zines are doing is generally a good idea.) What's the absolute minimum number of sales you need to cover costs? (Fewer orders usually increases production cost.) How many sales do you need to make to compensate your contributors? What will you do if there's excess money? What if it's not enough to split it among your contributors evenly? ($40 is a lot for one person, but it's basically nothing split 30 ways.) Are you going to make stretch goals?

Make a timeline. Interest check, contributor apps, concept submissions (you'll want to know what people are doing before they start working), periodic WIP checks to make sure everyone's on task (there will always be a few people who need to drop out), preorder period, manufacture time, shipping timeline. People will want to know what to expect, especially contributors. Ensure the contributors have plenty of time to work, since, chances are, they're effectively donating their time and effort. Keep in mind major holidays and school schedules; people will need more time if those are happening. Give yourself plenty of pillow space for unforseen issues, so you can stick to this timeline as much as possible throughout the process.

Have the full plan written out for your contributors before they arrive. Be clear and concise. Timeline, expectations in terms of content and behavior, instructions, how you're going to fulfill the zine, expected compensation. Not everyone knows how to prepare an image for print, so include that in your instructions. You're gonna want a discord for this. I also used google forms to manage check-ins and other such things.

Be involved, and COMMUNICATE. Talk to your contributors outside of check-ins. You're their hypeman! Hype them up! Make sure your passion's there for all to see! Nothing, and I mean nothing, kills a project faster than a disinterested/aloof leader. You'll also want to communicate any issues to contributors and buyers asap. It's not embarrassing; people will be patient (mostly) as long as they have communication. Silence is upsetting.

Consider marketing. I've written this as if you're going solo, but these next few bullets is why people usually run zines as a team. Once the contributor team is assembled, that's when you need to hit the bricks. There's a lot of waiting time and you need to gain a potential audience and keep them interested. Marketing is a weak point of mine, so I don't have much advice, but it's critical for the success of a zine. Contributors can advertise a little, but the bulk of that's on you. You'll want an account dedicated to the zine, I can say that much.

Is graphic design your passion? Even if a contributor is designing the cover, what will be on the inner page? The back cover? Do you have any writers contributing fic? That will need formatting. (Do you know how many words fit on a page? It's different depending on the size of the book.) You'll need to make some sort of credits page, or will you put credit information on the same page as each contribution? Quality graphic design can make or break marketing attempts.

Double check your contributors' work. There are going to make mistakes. Most people aren't used to preparing things for print. Having room for bleed (edges of an image that may be cut off during the printing process, or hidden when bound into a book) was a particular issue in my zine. Even if all this is written in your instructions, you'll get files with not enough bleed room, or in RBG (files must be in CMYK for print), or in too low a resolution (300 dpi minimum). Any issues need to be caught, corrected, and all the files compiled for submission to the printer.

Don't forget postage. I mentioned this briefly earlier, but don't forget to account for packaging and shipping in your budget and time. Things like pins can make a slim package too thick and change the postage class. You'll need room in your house to hold the product. You'll want to pack things to ensure nothing's dented or bent. I highly recommend against having a shipping mod, unless it's someone you know and trust very much. I've seen too many projects fall apart because a shipping mod ghosted or stole all the materials or similar issues.

Have a backup plan. What will you do if you only get five people wanting to be contributors? What if you don't sell enough to cover your costs? What if you get bad product? What if you don't hit the MOQ of your chosen vendor, or if they announce a spontaneous price change before you get your order in? Have answers!

Be confident. If you're not used to leadership, it can be weird to have everyone looking to you, but if you've prepared, then there's no reason to be nervous. The people you work with will respond to your energy, so put out those good vibes.

I enjoyed making my zine very much, but also, it was still very much work! I discovered I hate marketing and graphic design, and love the technical bits of arranging the vendors and budgeting and handling the materials. I probably wouldn't go solo again, but I'm glad I did it at least once because it taught me the ins and outs of every aspect. A lot of people, for their first zine, do digital only because, needless to say, physical product is complicated!

If you made it this far, congratulations. xD It felt nice laying out everything I learned; I hope it's just as useful for you to read.

Feel free to ask if you have any further questions!

82 notes - Posted July 13, 2022

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