Daniel P.B.Smith wrote:
I agree - CafePress is expensive. But as you state, there really aren't any known good alternatives that are cheaper.
Random thought- you think ThinkGeek would be interested in some sort of a deal?
I don't see any point in worrying about it or trying to optimize anything.
Indeed the difference isn't worthit unless the sales volume is really high.
If the point is to create public awareness of Wikipedia, its presence on the Internet (and frequency of appearance in Google search results) is probably a (pause for serious numeric estimation) million times more effective than wearing T-shirts. If the point is to support Wikipedia, why on earth would I buy a $20 T-shirt worth $10 in order to give Wikipedia $5, as opposed to a) donating $20 via PayPal (same cost to me, four times the benefit to WIkipedia) or b) donating $5 via PayPal (same benefit to Wikipedia, one quarter the cost to me)?
One needs to consider the reasons why a person would buy such an item. Most of the time it would show an existing committment. There are times and places where the advertising value would be there. If I gave a WP mug to the librarian at my son's school I might get a certain message across. :-)
IIRC PayPal fees are 30c. + 3%. Thus to send $1.00 it costs 33c; to send $10.00 it costs 60c.for the merchan
(But what do I know? I was raised by a mom who never allowed advertising within the sphere of her personal space. No containers of cream were ever placed on the table; the cream was always poured first into a pitcher. The idea of staring at Elsie, the Borden cow on the breakfast table was anathema to her. No bumper stickers on the Smith family car!)
She must have been a stay-at-home mom to be doing this. :-)
Before he became a teenager my son tended to be the first family member up in the morning. When he was a very young pre-schooler a full 4-litre milk jug was too much for him to handle so enough milk would be put into a small pitcher so that he could have his morning cereal. Perhaps the cereal itself was put into a bowl the night before. (Parents remember such things.) As some kids grow up they fix their own breakfasts, and cereal boxes become the best read literature in the house.
Ec