This is a page for me to post ideas and concepts for future Topless Topics branded merchandise I hope to be able to produce, like t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.!
Right now the biggest roadblocks are cost and production, aka-
Cost: while there are print-on-demand services that charge the content creator a base price that you can then add on whatever profit you hope to make, these production sites are very expensive, with base prices like $20+ for a t-shirt, meaning I’d have to charge an arm and a leg from you guys to make even a dollar or so profit!
Not only that, but I would have no way to ensure production quality–the sale would be entirely between you and the seller creating the branded product, so if they do a poor job of producing the desired merch, it reflects badly on me and leaves the customer dissatisfied, even though it’s entirely out of my control!
So rather than go with that option, I’ve been holding out hoping to mass-order the desired products myself (for considerably less than $20 a shirt) then deal with shipping, etc. on my end, so I can 1. inspect the product to make sure it’s not a piece of crap, 2. send the product directly to you, the customer and 3. actually make it worth the financial incentive of selling branded merchandise, with the goal of helping Topless Topics grow!
However, that still leaves the second roadblock I’m still trying to figure out how best to address-
Production: Even assuming I’m able to amass the lump sum required to make a mass-order purchase, I still need to figure out which mass-production company gives the best compromise between quality and cost. There is a dizzying selection of companies offering mass-order branded merchandise, but as with all retail and especially online, it’s anyone’s guess how reliable the seller actually is, both in quality and timeliness.
So while I can easily google “branded t-shirt mass resellers,” it’s a lot different figuring out which company would be the most reliable, and if we’re talking about a several-hundred-dollar order here, I don’t want to accidentally throw the money at what turns out to be a giant sweatshop churning out garbage products.
So, until I can safely and securely choose a quality production company so I can then ascertain the necessary cost to buy a bulk order from them, I’m just going to post vague ideas of the kind of merchandise I hope to one day make available to the Topless Topics community.