4 ms·

That’s revenue from merchandise sale. What are the margins on that?

by ugh 16y ago

arn 16y ago
not sure. FYI, xkcd also makes (or made in 2008) it's money on merchandise. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/media/26link.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/media/26link.html “People are generally surprised that we make a living from it,” Mr. Munroe said. Without being specific, he said that the sales of xkcd merchandise support the two of them “reasonably well.” He said they sell thousands of T-shirts a month, either of panels from his strip or in their style, as well as posters.
- antidaily 16y ago
  Login required on that link. Any specific numbers available?
- mildweed 16y ago
  Even Yogurt knew where the real money was: Merchandising. The Oatmeal the Flamethrower
  - dasil003 16y ago
    I want a The Oatmeal the Flamethrower t-shirt.
joshklein 16y ago
As a broad rule, typically 20% - 30% retail markup on fashion merchandise.
- jaybol 16y ago
  For many t-shirt brands, typical cost to produce is $3-5 or so, with wholesale to stores at $9-12, retail at $18-24
thirdstation 16y ago
Licensing is where you make your money. Check out this NYT article from 1987 about upheaval in the comic syndication business. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE0DF1738F937A25755C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE0DF1738F... (sorry for the long link) Reads like many of the "publishing will die" stories circulating today. States back then that merchandising accounted for 50% of revenue.
replicatorblog 16y ago
I'm surprised more startups don't consider selling merchandise or some simple physical product. The margins can be pretty healthy and the value proposition is pretty simple. I think the recent spate of successes on KickStarter will tip people in this direction. If you can make something novel, ala AirBNB's Obama O's cereal it seems like an easier path to ramen than AdWords.
- philwelch 16y ago
  I think The Oatmeal started as a marketing campaign for an online dating site. Some of the older comics still have links to it. Merchandising seems questionable, though. Consider: You have a business, and you're going to sell merchandise to promote your business. Now you have two businesses.
  - ekidd 16y ago
    This is a perfectly valid strategy for a small business or a bootstrapped startup. For example, try to figure out how many different businesses 37signals is in. I'm aware of online software, books, training and advertising, and there's probably a couple of others. As they put it: "Sell your byproducts." This strategy probably doesn't make sense for a funded startup, however.
    - spitfire 16y ago
      Jobs board too.

That’s revenue from merchandise sale. What are the margins on that?

by ugh 16y ago

That’s revenue from merchandise sale. What are the margins on that?

arn 16y ago

not sure. FYI, xkcd also makes (or made in 2008) it's money on merchandise. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/media/26link.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/media/26link.html “People are generally surprised that we make a living from it,” Mr. Munroe said. Without being specific, he said that the sales of xkcd merchandise support the two of them “reasonably well.” He said they sell thousands of T-shirts a month, either of panels from his strip or in their style, as well as posters.

antidaily 16y ago
Login required on that link. Any specific numbers available?
mildweed 16y ago
Even Yogurt knew where the real money was: Merchandising. The Oatmeal the Flamethrower
- dasil003 16y ago
  I want a The Oatmeal the Flamethrower t-shirt.

joshklein 16y ago

As a broad rule, typically 20% - 30% retail markup on fashion merchandise.

jaybol 16y ago
For many t-shirt brands, typical cost to produce is $3-5 or so, with wholesale to stores at $9-12, retail at $18-24

thirdstation 16y ago

Licensing is where you make your money. Check out this NYT article from 1987 about upheaval in the comic syndication business. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE0DF1738F937A25755C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE0DF1738F... (sorry for the long link) Reads like many of the "publishing will die" stories circulating today. States back then that merchandising accounted for 50% of revenue.

replicatorblog 16y ago

I'm surprised more startups don't consider selling merchandise or some simple physical product. The margins can be pretty healthy and the value proposition is pretty simple. I think the recent spate of successes on KickStarter will tip people in this direction. If you can make something novel, ala AirBNB's Obama O's cereal it seems like an easier path to ramen than AdWords.

philwelch 16y ago
I think The Oatmeal started as a marketing campaign for an online dating site. Some of the older comics still have links to it. Merchandising seems questionable, though. Consider: You have a business, and you're going to sell merchandise to promote your business. Now you have two businesses.
- ekidd 16y ago
  This is a perfectly valid strategy for a small business or a bootstrapped startup. For example, try to figure out how many different businesses 37signals is in. I'm aware of online software, books, training and advertising, and there's probably a couple of others. As they put it: "Sell your byproducts." This strategy probably doesn't make sense for a funded startup, however.
  - spitfire 16y ago
    Jobs board too.