Tell me about CafePress...

I’ve got two sites that I manage, one for news and one for games, and I’m thinking that a brand extension using CafePress might be a good idea for both. Can anyone tell me about CafePress, how it works and whether it is E-Z to use and convenient?

I have no direct experience of them, but have known several entrepreneurs who used them. My impressions:

  1. They’re honest.

  2. They’re overpriced – but since the idea is to market ‘souvenir’ stuff, the people who want it will pay it. (If you’re a real Lois McMatter Bujold fan, having a coffee cup that’s labelled “property of Barrayaran Imperial Security”, complete with horus-eye logo, is worth $15.95.) And you the entrepreneur get a fair cut.

  3. You don’t make a whole lot through them, as a rule. But it’s a ‘free’ source of income for minimal effort on your part.

  4. Promotion is strictly in your ballpark. They do, however, give you a webpage template for displaying and promoting your merchandise.

Hope someone else with more direct experience can comment on this.

Alternatively you can try out Zazzle. (zazzle.com)

I used Cafepress a few times, mostly to buy things I made for myself… weird t-shirts, mugs, whatever, that nobody would get :stuck_out_tongue:

They’re great! Easy to use but expensive. Pretty much what Polycarp said.

The only difficult part is the graphics editing… you should probably know a little Photoshop or know a graphic designer or the final product is gonna look like crap.

Also, I think back then they did not have black t-shirt and Zazzle did… everything else seemed pretty much the same.