Which T-shirt design for November-December?

nekokami · 11-16-2008, 04:16 PM

Ouch. I just got billed again for the cafepress store. (My fault, I forgot to convert it to a "Basic" shop before I got billed!)

Anyway, to keep this from happening again, I need to cut the shop down to one item at a time. So, for each month (or whenever I think of it/feel like it/get asked to by raving fans) I'll have a poll to see what the design will be. Hence this thread.

RWood · 11-16-2008, 05:36 PM

What are your sales figures by design? Have some designs peaked and are now at the end of their life cycle (like the election items for example.) Are certain designes still gaining in popularity? Are there steady sellers?

Since you want to cut back and reacted with an "Ouch" when you say the monthly bill, I feel safe to assume that the store did not make enough last month (or for the last two months) to pay for the maintenance fees.

I would suggest alternating between "Classic Neko" designs and new Neko designs with each being active for one to two months before changing. Thus for the first period you might have "You Cannot Resist the Ineffable Silliness" for one month followed by a new design that we have never seen before for two months. (One if sales are disappointing.) Then another month of "Classic Neko" such as "What's the difference between a duck?" followed by two months of another new Neko Design.

For the "Classic Neko" you could also add additional touches such so that they could be distinguished from the original offerings thus inspiring those that purchased the first offerings to reorder the newer versions. For example, when first offered "The blue one next to the fish" was offered in three parts -- a full logo, a blue button, and a multicolored fish with no lettering. Since you would be offering only one design at a time you could now offer a multicolored fish with a blue dot already integrated to the design.

Acataloger · 11-16-2008, 08:23 PM

I think you should promote your t-shirts - how about a sticky or banner that says Support Mobileread with a link to Cafepress. Now that I no longer need to promote my presidential candidate, I am buying a Mobileread shirt right now!

montsnmags · 11-16-2008, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acataloger

I think you should promote your t-shirts - how about a sticky or banner that says Support Mobileread with a link to Cafepress. Now that I no longer need to promote my presidential candidate, I am buying a Mobileread shirt right now!

Well, technically, it's not a "MobileRead" tshirt, though MR's hosting (protected by Section 230) of the Ministry for Unutterable Silliness is something every current-and-future Minister is most grateful for (at least, they are if they know what's good for them).

Thus, buying one of the Ministry tshirts (as against MobileRead tshirts) you are not actually supporting MobileRead, except through the nuanced implicity of encouraging the open-armed Ministry's communal and addictive behaviour and its continual re-emphasis of the pleasures and friendliness of MobileRead. We aim to please and, at times, are pleased to aim.

Feel most welcome to join the Ministry. Vote early, vote often, vote "Yes" on Preparation H. Whatever floats your boat. It makes no real difference in an autocratic monarchy.

Cheers,
High Gibbonate

nekokami · 11-17-2008, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWood

What are your sales figures by design? Have some designs peaked and are now at the end of their life cycle (like the election items for example.) Are certain designes still gaining in popularity? Are there steady sellers?

Since you want to cut back and reacted with an "Ouch" when you say the monthly bill, I feel safe to assume that the store did not make enough last month (or for the last two months) to pay for the maintenance fees.

I would suggest alternating between "Classic Neko" designs and new Neko designs with each being active for one to two months before changing. Thus for the first period you might have "You Cannot Resist the Ineffable Silliness" for one month followed by a new design that we have never seen before for two months. (One if sales are disappointing.) Then another month of "Classic Neko" such as "What's the difference between a duck?" followed by two months of another new Neko Design.

Sales of all designs have been... how shall I say this delicately... nearly non-existent. This isn't a money-making venture, so that's ok, but since margins don't even cover the $6/month fee to keep the "premium" shop open, it's time to cut back.

Here's the breakdown of sales by pattern:
blue one - 8
madness - 6
sscmdb - 4
breakfast - 2
llama - 2
frak - 2
emotifaction - 2
silliness - 2

I'm leaning toward "the blue one next to the fish", but maybe the fact that it's had the most sales means that everyone who wants one has one.

Also, to be fair, Queen Zelda did most of the designs. Particularly that beautiful fish.

BookishDreamer · 11-17-2008, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nekokami

Here's the breakdown of sales by pattern:
blue one - 8
madness - 6
sscmdb - 4
breakfast - 2
llama - 2
frak - 2
emotifaction - 2
silliness - 2

Anybody else notice the even numbers?

Dreamer

zelda_pinwheel · 11-17-2008, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nekokami

I'm leaning toward "the blue one next to the fish", but maybe the fact that it's had the most sales means that everyone who wants one has one.

i don't have one yet !!! but i also can't afford to buy any more t-shirts this month (recent plane ticket and very near future computer upgrade are eating all my money for the next... quite a while). thus i have not voted this month.

Quote:

Also, to be fair, Queen Zelda did most of the designs. Particularly that beautiful fish.

aw ! thanks for the credit. i was happy to do it for the secret thrill of knowing that people in all parts of the world* (theoretically, at least) are running around in t-shirts that say "join adorable madness" and "the blue one next to the fish" and ":emotifaction:" and getting funny looks wherever they go.

*including me, by the way.

pshrynk · 11-17-2008, 02:50 PM

Wait... it's $6 to keep the site going?

zelda_pinwheel · 11-17-2008, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pshrynk

Wait... it's $6 to keep the site going?

if it's a "multi item" shop, as i understand it. but if you have only one design it's free. thus the idea to rotate the designs and have only one per month or two. i could have misunderstood. neko, correct me if i'm wrong.

nekokami · 11-17-2008, 03:42 PM

Yes, exactly. If six people bought things per month, I'd just keep the shop as-is, because expenses would be covered. (Well, 12 people if they all bought buttons, because I just couldn't see putting $1 markup on a button.) But things haven't worked out that way, ergo the decision to scale back.

I suppose if someone else finds the very existence of the shop amusing enough to pay the $6/mo tab, we could work something out. That someone would then be able to buy any item at the base price, meaning $1 off the list price, of course.

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there for whom $6/month is an amount too small to bother worrying about, but sadly, I'm not one of them.

RWood · 11-17-2008, 08:03 PM

So with nine (9) classic designs (there were two versions of the "the blue one next to the fish"), you are set for most of the next year. Even if you only rotated the top sellers (blue one, madness, and sscmdb) you would have a lot of room for new designs such as "SCHUMS, its what's for breakfast" or one showing a sixteen Zelda avatars in a 4x4 grid.

Since only 28 items have been ordered since its inception, I agree that cutting back to one item at a time seems like the wise thing to do.

zelda_pinwheel · 11-17-2008, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWood

"SHUMS, its what's for breakfast"

/zelda adds yet another t-shirt to her "to buy" list.

UncleDuke · 11-17-2008, 10:53 PM

shums? what's a shum?

zelda_pinwheel · 11-18-2008, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UncleDuke

shums? what's a shum?

ah, sweet innocence... would that i could return to that happier time when i, too, was ignorant of the nefarious existence of the SHUMS... (cue ominous music...)

do a search for "shums" to learn all about their history, or just start here and here.

pshrynk · 11-18-2008, 09:03 AM

I think we need a Vera and Harv's Panama Vacation T, completre with the Goose, Vivaldi, the squid, and of course, the blue one next to the fish.

It could be used as the cover when the e-book gets published by Tor.

View Poll Results: Which Design would you like to see on Ministry products for the rest of Nov & Dec 08?
Don't Frak with the Fairy	0	0%
Llama for Neko	0	0%
You Cannot Resist the Ineffable Silliness	0	0%
What's the difference between a duck?	1	11.11%
SSCMDB	1	11.11%
The Blue One, Next to the Fish	4	44.44%
Breakfast First, Then Zany Carters!	2	22.22%
Join Adorable Madness	0	0%
:emotifaction:	0	0%
pshrynk and Patricia '04 Retro-Chronic Campaign (Montsnmags Party) [new]	1	11.11%
Voters: 9. You may not vote on this poll

11-16-2008, 04:16 PM	#1
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	Which T-shirt design for November-December? Ouch. I just got billed again for the cafepress store. (My fault, I forgot to convert it to a "Basic" shop before I got billed!) Anyway, to keep this from happening again, I need to cut the shop down to one item at a time. So, for each month (or whenever I think of it/feel like it/get asked to by raving fans) I'll have a poll to see what the design will be. Hence this thread.

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11-16-2008, 05:36 PM	#2
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	What are your sales figures by design? Have some designs peaked and are now at the end of their life cycle (like the election items for example.) Are certain designes still gaining in popularity? Are there steady sellers? Since you want to cut back and reacted with an "Ouch" when you say the monthly bill, I feel safe to assume that the store did not make enough last month (or for the last two months) to pay for the maintenance fees. I would suggest alternating between "Classic Neko" designs and new Neko designs with each being active for one to two months before changing. Thus for the first period you might have "You Cannot Resist the Ineffable Silliness" for one month followed by a new design that we have never seen before for two months. (One if sales are disappointing.) Then another month of "Classic Neko" such as "What's the difference between a duck?" followed by two months of another new Neko Design. For the "Classic Neko" you could also add additional touches such so that they could be distinguished from the original offerings thus inspiring those that purchased the first offerings to reorder the newer versions. For example, when first offered "The blue one next to the fish" was offered in three parts -- a full logo, a blue button, and a multicolored fish with no lettering. Since you would be offering only one design at a time you could now offer a multicolored fish with a blue dot already integrated to the design.

11-16-2008, 08:23 PM	#3
Acataloger Retired library cataloger Posts: 59 Karma: 127416 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Florida Panhandle Device: PRS-T2 ; Kindle Paperwhite Manga; Fire HD 10; Huawei Honor 8	I think you should promote your t-shirts - how about a sticky or banner that says Support Mobileread with a link to Cafepress. Now that I no longer need to promote my presidential candidate, I am buying a Mobileread shirt right now!

11-17-2008, 02:50 PM	#8
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	Wait... it's $6 to keep the site going?

11-17-2008, 03:42 PM	#10
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	Yes, exactly. If six people bought things per month, I'd just keep the shop as-is, because expenses would be covered. (Well, 12 people if they all bought buttons, because I just couldn't see putting $1 markup on a button.) But things haven't worked out that way, ergo the decision to scale back. I suppose if someone else finds the very existence of the shop amusing enough to pay the $6/mo tab, we could work something out. That someone would then be able to buy any item at the base price, meaning $1 off the list price, of course. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there for whom $6/month is an amount too small to bother worrying about, but sadly, I'm not one of them.

11-17-2008, 08:03 PM	#11
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	So with nine (9) classic designs (there were two versions of the "the blue one next to the fish"), you are set for most of the next year. Even if you only rotated the top sellers (blue one, madness, and sscmdb) you would have a lot of room for new designs such as "SCHUMS, its what's for breakfast" or one showing a sixteen Zelda avatars in a 4x4 grid. Since only 28 items have been ordered since its inception, I agree that cutting back to one item at a time seems like the wise thing to do.

11-17-2008, 10:53 PM	#13
UncleDuke books & doughnuts Posts: 882 Karma: 37857 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: usa Device: sony reader, kindle2	shums? what's a shum?

11-18-2008, 09:03 AM	#15
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	I think we need a Vera and Harv's Panama Vacation T, completre with the Goose, Vivaldi, the squid, and of course, the blue one next to the fish. It could be used as the cover when the e-book gets published by Tor.

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