4.04.2008

A Ribbon for Gus

A very insightful post by Gus Van Horn has reminded me of a spoof a friend of mine made in 2004 when the onslaught of "Support the..." ribbons was reaching new heights. You may remember when the floodgates opened right around the last election, with the 10 inch tall magnets on the trunk of every third car? They started as the traditional yellow ribbon in support of the troops. Then it was breast cancer, AIDS, homelessness, gay rights, and on and on and on.

I highly recommend Gus' post. It digs much deeper into the phenomenon than I ever thought to go. I simply had an immediate scorn for the silliness of it all, but I never went further than that. As a tribute to Gus, I present a ribbon he can wear proudly:


5 comments:

Jenn Casey said...

You should turn that into a CafePress item--I bet it would sell!

C. August said...

Actually, we had talked about something like that, and I believe he even looked into how much it would cost to print on cheap magnets, but nothing ever came of it. I don't think the CafePress idea ever occured to us.

Have you used CafePress? Or do you know of anyone who actually made money from it?

Lynne said...

I use Cafe Press all the time - without extra cost (or profit for that matter). Whenever I have an occasion, or I find something someone said as very amusing, I make a shirt, or mug, or whatever... It's easy and fun.

When a group of my friends bought a bunch of items that I designed, I took the $2 per item mark-up and bought them all Christmas presents (from my shops, of course) with the "profits", so it was good to be able to do that.

The direct printing option for clothing is best. I have had buttons made, but have no experience with the magnets.

Once, someone I actually didn't know bought one of my "STOP Plate Tectonics" shirts - that was quite a thrill! Other than that, my experience has been limited to fun with friends. I do think if you wanted to, you could easily get your shop out there.

Good luck and keep us posted.

C. August said...

Thanks for the info about CafePress. It's something I've wondered about, just from curiosity.

So are you saying that the $2 markup, which I'm guessing is standard, is not true profit that you can then use as you wish? Is it "CafePress credit" or something?

Just curious, though. I'm not planning on becoming a car magnet magnate.

BTW, I'd buy a "STOP Plate Tectonics".

Lynne said...

You can decide on your own mark-up, either percentage or flat rate.
They pay you 60 days after the end of the month in which any purchases were made (to clear their 30 day guarantee) in increments of $25 (which you decide) starting with a minimum of $25.

Sadly, 3.125 x 2.125 in. is the size of the only magnets that they appear to offer. You're asking for a lot of tailgating with magnets that size!

There are lots of other local personalization shops that do the same thing, but you'd have to outlay the cash and store the stuff.