celticsblog shirts

[dark_lord]

just out of curiosity, how are the sales for the cleticsblog gear going?  they have been available for a little while now, so i was curious to how sales have been.

[cdif911]

I'll be honest, I like them, but they're a little overpriced - not sure if thats consistent with other things on cafe-press or not - I'd buy one (especially sleeveless) if it was more in the 10-15 range vs. 22 bucks plus shipping

[celticmaestro]

yeah curious to see the sales results on these too

[Bob Day]

It was two months ago yesterday that we opened the store. In those two months, out of a total membership of over 5,000, we've had exactly seven people buy a piece of CelticsBlog merchandise. Seven. Five of those were made in the last two weeks of April. The other two were made last September and October before the store was opened and related to sample product we don't sell that was sort of purchased on a fluke. There were no sales in May and have been none in June. So five people have bought something since the store was opened.

So far to date, including the two sample product sales last year, we've made a whopping total of $51.24 over our CafePress costs. That amounts to less than 7% of just our current monthly machine costs for two months and doesn't include other expenses which in total run higher than our server costs. Not counting the two sample sales from last years, but just counting sales since the store was opened in April, we've made a total of $39.74 over CafePress costs. That is about 5% of our machine costs for two months. So still as always, CelticsBlog is paid for out of pocket.

[Bahku]

I think this would be a great time for us to support this blog that has done so much to increase our enjoyment of this team we love so much. I know that, for me, this place has become a sort of refuge, where I can come each day and discuss this truly awesome team and amazing season we've had. I've made some really good friends here, and actually believe I'm a richer human being for this experience.

We don't hesitate to shell out bucks for game tickets, or Celtics merchandise ... why isn't it just as important to give back to this blog, which is one of the most objective and respectful Celtic sites on the web? When I get time later on today, I'm going to peruse the store and buy some gifts for my family, (and maybe something for myself, too  ).

I'd like to challenge everyone else to do the same, and give back to this place we love by spreading the word a bit and investing a few bucks in a great cause! I know that I personally have given to far less worthy causes, or causes that I cared much less for, and this seems to be good quality merchandise. Anyway, I have no financial interest in this, so I hope that excludes me from the solicitation clause! (I hope!) 

What better time to say thank you?

[cdif911]

It was two months ago yesterday that we opened the store. In those two months, out of a total membership of over 5,000, we've had exactly seven people buy a piece of CelticsBlog merchandise. Seven. Five of those were made in the last two weeks of April. The other two were made last September and October before the store was opened and related to sample product we don't sell that was sort of purchased on a fluke. There were no sales in May and have been none in June. So five people have bought something since the store was opened.

So far to date, including the two sample product sales last year, we've made a whopping total of $51.24 over our CafePress costs. That amounts to less than 7% of just our current monthly machine costs for two months and doesn't include other expenses which in total run higher than our server costs. Not counting the two sample sales from last years, but just counting sales since the store was opened in April, we've made a total of $39.74 over CafePress costs. That is about 5% of our machine costs for two months. So still as always, CelticsBlog is paid for out of pocket.

I don't know if this is out of line to ask (or the right forum to do so) but I'm curious about how much the advertising on the site covers expenses.  I am so glad there are no pop ups on here, and the banners are minimal (I even think I clicked on one once on purpose!) but I would like to know if you feel you're getting value from the ads

[dark_lord]

i would have thought the sales would have been a little better than they are. 

[Chief]

I don't know what your profit per $22 shirt sold is but if you could afford to lower the price, maybe $15, I'd bet your overall profits would be 25x what they are now. Especially if the Celtics win the title.

[Cman]

I just bought a celticsblog hat -- looking forward to wearing it with pride!

I did have a little trouble initially with cafepress. I tried to add the hat to the cart, but when I checked the cart it was empty.  I ended up creating an account with cafe press and that seemed to solve the problem.  Maybe others have had problems trying to purchase items, and that has contributed to the low sales?  Then again, maybe I am tired after the end of a long day and not clicking on the right things....

[StartOrien]

effective thursday-saturday, you'll have another purchase for a tshirt via this guy

[bleedingreen]

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back


if they looked like this they'd be sellin like hot cakes.

[Bob Day]

I don't know what your profit per $22 shirt sold is but if you could afford to lower the price, maybe $15, I'd bet your overall profits would be 25x what they are now. Especially if the Celtics win the title.

I don't think you understand, Chief. Those $22 t-shirts cost us way more than the $15 you are suggesting we sell them for.

[Bob Day]

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back


if they looked like this they'd be sellin like hot cakes.

Unfortunately, if they looked like that we would be in court being sued by the NBA. We are not allowed to use any images of players, their names or, even their jersey numbers or nicknames on any merchandise without permission from the NBA. We are not allowed to use the letters "NBA" either. We've already been through this with them. We had to pull out half of the product we had in the store.

[Jeff]

I think years ago everyone said they wanted t-shirts as kind of a grass roots thing - I made the mistake of waiting for someone that wanted to do them wholesale for us but it never panned out.

I think people forgot about them over time.  Then we did this great CelticsBlog Shop and kind of dumped it on everyone (my fault for not building it up more) and I think people maybe thought we sold out or something - but really CafePress just makes it easy to set up a shop if you know what you're doing (like Bob) for very little overhead.

as usual, trust me, nobody's getting rich off this stuff - we've got the prices as far down as they'll go and the profits go to making the site run smoothly

[Bob Day]

Let me clarify my previous post...

We are not allowed to use any images of players, their names or, even their jersey numbers or nicknames on any merchandise without permission from the NBA and they ain't givin' it.

NBA Merchandising wants the whole banana and are supported by both team ownership and the players union.