CafePress faithful … what are you doing or what will you be doing to get customers to your shops after June 1?

They are pissed off.

I support their right to be, but not necessarily their reasoning.

If someone told me, upload your art, and we will offer it on apparel and merch on our site, take orders, produce and ship the items, manage inventory, advertise heavily, maintain the site, get great search engine ranking – all at no cost to you — and give you 10% of the sale price, that would sound pretty cool.

The reason that people are angry, is that CafePress wants to take the “shop” that THEY promote, and make the prices consistent. It IS a good move for the consumer, which some may be forgetting is why “shops” exist.

Shopkeepers have a CHOICE. They can continue to offer their products at their own markup — often considerably higher than 10% — in their own shops, do their own advertising, make the same profit they are accustomed to. They can either stay in the Marketplace (CP’s “shop”) or OPT OUT if it is beneath them to make $2.50 commission on a $25 T-shirt.

There are many people who rely on their monthly CafePress check to make ends meet. For some, it is just fun money — something that would be missed, but not necessary. I feel bad for those who are looking at a potential 40% decrease in income from what they are accustomed, but also, question the ferocity of some of the backlash from angry shopkeepers.

There is a sense of entitlement — that CP is taking something from them that they rightfully earned — although they freely admit 90% of their sales are driven by the Marketplace and not their own shop promotion. Even as people are losing their jobs or having their hours cut, as “unsinkable” companies are closing doors, foreclosure is an epidemic and unemployment is high, some seem to feel that CafePress is reaching right into their pockets.

I look at it this way. CafePress has been handing you customers. Now that they are making changes that will benefit those customers, the shopkeepers are threatening mass exodus. (I urge you not to cut off your nose to spite your face.)

What does this mean for the “hobby” shopkeeper? The same as it means for the full-time T-shirt designer. Something you should have already been doing: have a Plan B. Something to fall back on. Diversify. Build a presence on Printfection, Zazzle or any other print-on-demand vendor site. Make a bulk purchase of your top-selling items and open a retail site of your own. What would you do if CP suddenly ceased to exist?

Be mad. Leave CafePress if you want to. But taking pot shots as you’re leaving? You’re just hurting those who choose to dig in their heels and promote their own shops.

Why I’m not jumping ship

If you look at it from the consumer POV, it makes sense. If I go to the CafePress Marketplace and search for a “Team Edward” T-shirt, I’m going to see somewhat similar designs but with a range of prices from $1 over base price to $10 over base price. Are these two Jr. Jersey shirts the same? Yes, but the price difference is confusing and frustrating to the shopper. I love the idea of having the shirt style offered at a fixed price, because then the buyer is going to be focused on the best DESIGN rather than the best DEAL, and that helps the better designers. It really does.

If you are only making $2 per shirt and you’re used to making $6 per shirt, look at it this way … you could triple your sales by appealing to those shoppers who would have bought a competitor’s (inferior) shirt because it was cheaper than yours.

Some people feel that this is putting their quality artwork on the same level as the Comic Sans text design quickly done in Paint. Personally, I think this is going to make the better designs vastly outsell the “cheap” ones. I never want to see a sloppily executed, misspelled offering in the search results. (As someone who has plenty of plain text designs out there, among others, it is going to make me work harder to compete with the excellent artists who remain at CafePress.)

If you simply must make $6 PER SHIRT, you can still do that. Opt out of the Marketplace. Promote your own shop. You can sell your shirt for whatever markup you want, from zero to $20 or more. This has not been taken away from you, but you will need to drive customers to your shop the way CP has been doing it for you … advertise, promote.

If your designs are good enough, they will sell.

Now available as framed wall art from Imagekind.

You can get the 60s, 70s, 90s and modern covers, too.

Nathan J Winograd has a lot to say about the Humane Society of the United States, and I’m pretty sure HSUS wouldn’t really appreciate it.

Another friend on Facebook shares 2007 tax information for the organization that is simply astounding. The amount of money made by HSUS — compared to the pennies it throws back to local humane societies that actually help animals is shocking — or it would be, if I didn’t already know what they’re all about.

Will share some stats once I become better acquainted with the 80 pages of government forms sent along … ahhh, tax time.

(You can be a friend on Facebook, too.)

We’re looking for photos of people wearing our T-shirts.

We don’t send a lot of mail, but if we have a great coupon code we’ll share it.

Hope to add contests soon as well!

Check out the All Horses blog to take a look at this problem.

Sportsmen Should Tell ‘American Idol’: No “Home Sweet Home” for HSUS [link]

Sportsmen have been contacting Fox Broadcasting since the release of our action alert yesterday about country music star Carrie Underwood’s rendition of “Home Sweet Home.”

According to Carrie Underwood’s official website and Sony Music’s country label, the song is going to be used each week on the hit television show when a contestant is voted off. The first airing of the song was last night, March 11.

Unfortunately, Underwood has made clear that a portion of the proceeds from subsequent sales of that song will go to benefit the largest anti-hunting organization in the nation, HSUS. This will give HSUS even more money to direct towards hunters, anglers, and trappers nationwide.

“Carrie Underwood has decided to use her talents to benefit an organization dedicated to destroying the rights of thousands of her fans,” said U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) senior vice president, Rick Story. “HSUS does not operate or oversee animal shelters; it is a radical organization that seeks to end hunting and other responsible uses of animals in America.”

Story said that sportsmen must send American Idol a strong message that its indirect support of HSUS, is not appreciated.

Sportsmen can make a difference. Companies such as Iams, General Mills, Accor Hotels, Pet Safe, Sears, Meijer Inc, and Ace Hardware ended relationships with HSUS after thousands of sportsmen levied strong protest.

The USSA will keep sportsmen informed of developments on this issue.

Take Action! Sportsmen are urged to contact key personnel at American Idol’s parent company, Fox Broadcasting and demand that Underwood’s song not be given a stage to raise money for HSUS.

Letters should be sent to:

Mr. Peter Liguori
Fox Broadcasting Company
Chairman of Entertainment
10201 West Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90064-2606

Phone calls should be directed to Fox Broadcasting at 310-369-3066.
Faxes should be sent to 310-369-1283.
Also, e-mail the show at askfox@fox.com.

More about HSUS and their animal rights agenda to follow.

Start with this: ActivistCash.com

Is Rosie wearing a CafePress Jr. Raglan T-shirt?

Honest.

And I’m certain I wasn’t the only person thinking that.

\m/