2009/9/14 Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com:
2009/9/14 WereSpielChequers werespielchequers@googlemail.com:
I'm not a fan of merchandising as part of a charities function. But if it is done it should have the saving grace of having a sufficient markup to help finance the organisation.
It's not a matter of being a fan or not - merchandising is not part of our function, it can only legally be done for the purposes of raising funds. Raising funds by attracting more members is a possibility, but I'm sceptical that it would raise enough funds to be worth the risk of unsold stock. If there is significant risk (which, without a profit margin to help absorb losses, there would be) then it would have to be done through a trading subsidiary, anyway (without the risk it would fall under the small trading exemption so could be done directly), and that will incur admin costs.
It's REALLY EASY for a charity to end up with boxes of T-shirts under the bed.
The conditions WMF have put on merchandise, as described here, sound basically onerous and no different to "no, you can't do it at all."
- d.