FreeCAD
Freecad Merch / Webshop
I mean why not, I'd wear it especially on fairs. (mostly to piss off the Solidworks and Autodesk Vars :) )_ Blender example: https://store.blender.org/ There are complete companies who can do this for someone, but they will probably take a big chunk of money from it. I am not sure who Blender uses, I assume they do not print there own t-shirts. I also have no experience with merch, so cannot really help in that direction. But maybe start with a sticker until the workflow flows. The book from issue 9 is also merch I realize, but I was more thinking about the stickers and t-shirts.
I have done a bit of research in the past... here is what i had gathered:
FreeCAD web shop
Purpose: Organise a web shop that sells FreeCAD swag
Why?
- People are asking for it, people want swag!
- It might be fun to organise and run
- It might give marginal gains for FreeCAD
- It helps campaigns for ex. when a new release comes out
Problems
- Shipping costs are super high, much higher than the product
- Treat unhappy customers (refund policy, etc)
How
- The following estimates assume it is based in Brussels, logistics ran by Yorik and Manu, with admin help by whoever interested. Other production points can be easily added (USA? China?), to reduce sending costs and carbon footprint
- All sold items are always also downloadable for free (t-shirt/print material, manual,...)
- The FreeCAD donation is always settable/adjustable by the user (15% is just the recommended default)
- VAT in Belgium is 21% over the final selling price, which we must collect
- All different costs (production, sending, FreeCAD donation and VAT) should be detailed to the user, but the total price is always what users should see
What to sell
These are the basic items available on the web shop:
| Item | Production cost | Packaging cost | Sending cost ( Europe / Worldwide ) | 15% donation to FreeCAD | Total with 21% VAT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-shirt (weight 150g) |  |
10 EUR | 0.1 EUR | 10 EUR / 46 EUR | 3 EUR / 8 EUR | 28 EUR / 77 EUR |
| Mug |  |
|||||
| Stickers |  |
0.1 EUR | ||||
| Manual |  |
|||||
| 3D-printed logo/key ring | ||||||
| Sponsor | ||||||
| Donation |
Cost estimations
-
T-shirt: 10 EUR / piece (t-shirt + print + shipping) from https://www.shirts-bedrukken.be
-
T-shirt envelopes: > 0.1 EUR / piece from https://www.bol.com/be/nl/p/50-x-ondoorzichtige-plastic-envelop-webshopzakken-verzendzakken-a4-24x32-5cm/9300000051424509/?s2a=
-
Sending costs: 150g 20x10x1cm from Belgium to Germany
- Bpost https://www.bpost.be/en/price-calculator-result/137/79 16 EUR
- DPD https://versturen.dpd.com/en/send/send-your-parcel-now 10 EUR
- UPS https://wwwapps.ups.com/ctc/request?loc=en_BE 10 EUR
- DHL https://mydhl.express.dhl/be/en/shipment.html 35 EUR
- PostNL https://jouw.postnl.nl/#!/versturen/details 10 EUR
- Fedex https://www.fedex.com/en-be/online/rating.html 55 EUR
-
Sending costs: 150g 20x10x1cm from Belgium to Brazil
- Bpost https://www.bpost.be/en/price-calculator-result/169/79 46 EUR
- DPD not available outside Europe
- UPS https://wwwapps.ups.com/ctc/request?loc=en_BE 60 EUR
- DHL https://mydhl.express.dhl/be/en/shipment.html 81 EUR
- PostNL https://onlineverzendservice.be/ 48 EUR
- Fedex https://www.fedex.com/en-be/online/rating.html 127 EUR
-
Other examples:
- Blender shop: T-shirt 26 EUR + 8 EUR shipping
- Hellotux: T-shirt 29 EUR + 8 EUR shipping
- Myspreadshop: T-shirt 22 USD + 5 USD shipping (USA only)
Drop shipping?
Another web shop produces and ships the product (t-shirts, mugs,...). The shipping costs reduce dramatically. Need to check platforms, rates, product availability, etc.
- What is drop shipping? https://squareup.com/us/en/townsquare/what-is-drop-shipping
- https://www.printful.com
Web platform
Available open-source webshop platforms:
- https://www.opencart.com
- https://www.odoo.com/app/ecommerce
Honestly, i kind of gave up because the maintenance and shipping costs seem pretty high. But let's reactivate the subject!
I think if you have to do it all yourself and you don't already have a web-shop running it might be better to do dropshipping. I once tried to make a web-shop for myself but that totally sucked, had to use paypal and when I changed my mobile number I could not log in to pay-pall anymore. They have zero support, just glad I had no money in that account as I could never login again. The complete process was annoying!
Could also buy some merch shirts + stickers and give away to devs post some photo's and see people reactions. It is a nice way to do some experience with the merch and give some devs a nice present. It seems like a t-shirt can go in post package since blender only charges for postal package (€4,6).
We can also brainstorm about more expensive stuff too offset the delivery costs. I could make the Freecad logo on my cnc but not sure if someone wants too pay around 100 euro for a Freecad logo. (which it will probably cost.) Although using CNC or laser isn't the stupidest idea since due to the cam workbench we have a network of CNC machines over the world. 3D printing is also an option but personally I feel 3D prints feel a bit cheap and 3D printers are pretty saturated by now.
We should also can make a poster, which is not expensive but I just though about it.
Another non-profit I work with has used Cafe Press in the past (though it has been many years, we didn't sell enough to make it worth the maintenance efforts): https://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/sell/index.aspx?area=openashop&page=openashop
I think that Amazon offers a service named "fulfilled by Amazon" (FBA) which includes a very cheap shipping.
