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Ping the World

Monday, November 13, 2006

Output Your Designs on Merchandise

I mentioned a while ago that I was trying out some microstock photography sites as a sales venue for my fractal art images. I have been looking for novel ways to give these images as gifts, especially with the holiday season coming up. My Canon i9900 colour inkjet printer does a surprisingly good job of printing my fractals for use as greeting cards or as framed prints, but I've been looking for something a little more out of the ordinary. A couple weeks ago, I found the solution.

CafePress.com allows you to upload your own designs for output on a wide variety of merchandise. From sheatshirts, caps, and t-shirts to mugs, mousepads, buttons, and more, there is no upfront cost to customize an item whether for your own use, as a gift, or to sell. This solution is ideal for artists, designers, or photographers who want to showcase their work or supplement their income. And it's a useful low-cost alternative for small organizations that don't have huge budgets for logowear.

The site allows you to set up a free online store and set your own pricing over a baseline figure that they establish. They print your designs on demand and handle order fulfillment, payment processing, shipping, and customer service. The free shop service does place limitations on the number of products you can customize (basically one of each item), but for only $6.95 per month (less for longer terms), you can upgrade to their premium shop option, which imposes no such limitations. I'm trying out the premium shop service for three months, with a store that I have called Fractalicious. If you like any of my designs, I'd be grateful for your support.

Even if you don't have a creative bone in your body, you may still want to check out some of the other shops at CafePress. From politics to the environment, from pets to popular culture, you're likely to find something among their extenstive inventory for even the most hard to please person on your list.

5 comments:

Donny said...

Wow, you have a very useful blog! Thank you for this post. I think you should be one of Google's (blogspot) "Blogs of Note". I'll login and recommend this blog right now.

Donny said...

I recommended your blog. Anyone else who wishes to do so may go to this page to do so. The very last option on the "vote for a feature" list is the option to recommend a "blog of note". Clicking that will bring up a box in which to enter a URL. I think this blog deserves nomination.

Pam said...

Thanks Donny! I appreciate your support. It makes my day to hear feedback like this :-)

Anonymous said...

I was looking at cafepress, I've been thinking of starting up an account, but I looked there and the prices are really steep. Are you making any money at all?

Pam said...

Not one red cent. Only customer has been myself, for Xmas gifts.