It seems that there is a desire from folks to be able to buy "official" Drupal products of various sorts. CafePress works OK, but doesn't really work great outside the US (too expensive).
This is a request to compile a list of such product shops, make a list of pros and cons, and recommend 2 - 3. Please edit this wiki directly.
- monthly cost of running shop
- typical margin / profit per item
- types of products available (e.g. t-shirts, pins, etc.)
- countries supported / typical shipping costs to different countries
- other basics we should find out from each store?
CafePress
- http://www.cafepress.com (http://www.cafepress.com/drupal currently owned by Boris Mann, about $5 profit per year, no promotion)
Goodstorm
- http://www.goodstorm.com (http://www.goodstorm.com/stores/drupal currently owned by Kieran Lal, , no promotion) free to setup, margin determined by shop owner, only shirts available, runs on Drupal
BorisMann: I reset the "drupal" user password...we'll see who gets email :P
Zazzle
- http://www.zazzle.com : Very cool interface, lots of products (including mugs, calendars, all kinds of t-shirts, mouspads etc...) problem is base price of shirts is very high (much higher than goodstorm, maybe on par with cafepress) -Gregoryheller
I've heard good things about them, but haven't used them before.
Printfection
- BorisMann: I set up an account at http://www.printfection.com/drupal
Pros:
- can bulk order products for quantity discounts
Spreadshirt
- http://www.spreadshirt.net/ (Europe) - http://www.spreadshirt.com/ (US)
- free to set up
- free to set prices
- lots of products
- customization via a flash interface
- seems to be able to ship from US or from Europe (different shipping rates on spreadshirt.com and .net), which reduces the location problem
Ethical Threads.
(A Fair Trade apparel company. EthicalThreads.co.uk)
Pros:
- Based in the UK.
- Very positive concept that's community related.
- Wholesale prices are available.
Cons:
- Base price is more expensive than other t-shirt suppliers.
- They don't have a roll-your-own shop add-on.
Notes
I would check out the discussions at these sites:
http://www.squidoo.com/cafepress_alternative/
http://ask.metafilter.com/38765/Selling-custom-tshirts-alternatives-to-C...
Is it an idea to consider in-country Drupal shops?
In other words, shipping merchandise from cafepress to a Drupaller outside the USA is expensive and carries extra charges that doesn't benefit Drupal. Why not encourage in-country Drupal merch. shops e.g. Drupal France, Drupal Romania, Drupal UK etcetera. to sit alongside the in-country Drupal sites. Or alternatively, as a starting point, setup a USA and European shop instead of just one shop covers all. (Dublin Drupaller)
GregoryHeller: this sounds like a really good idea, particularly because of the shipping cost (and language) issues.
merchandising ideas & designs
Submit ideas and designs for merchandise on this thread:
http://groups.drupal.org/node/4480