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I am setting up a Cafe Press and Zazzle store now and it is really tough to know whether or not to keep all that other "stuff" that these companies offer besides T-Shirts.
I mean, we all want to make money, and there is obviously no charge to put our designs on BUTTONS and POSTERS and FRAMES, and COASTERS, etc. But are any customers really buying that stuff?
What percentage of your sales come from people buying a stack of stickers or buttons, etc?
Personally, I like the idea, I just don't know if they dilute the "store" and distract from the shirts, or if they are a great source of revenue.
Stickers are the 2nd best sellers right below the "white t-shirt" + "dark t-shirt" - so, yep, people buy them. They also buy buttons, they are high on the list too. If I were you those are the two product types I wouldn't miss out.
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Adam - Buy-Tees.com Success is often a rebound of hard work - Fortune Cookie
Funny thing about these companies, they don't list products that don't sell. We have over 100 items and they all sell. Not to everyone, but they all sell. If you have good designs why not offer them on other products. T shirts are just one of many ways of displaying images.
Sometimes I think it can be overkill. You can always offer just shirts , and then see if anyone mentions if they want more, and offer that. Also, think of what your customer would like.
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The original Thread Killah!™ Heavy Metal Art and more @ www.deathisgain.com
I think it all depends on what you want your store's identity to be and what you want your customers to see you as. At first I played around with some of the other products but I found my store was straying from my original vision, which was a t-shirt store, so I took them out.
I sell quite a few of the other "stuff". Of course t-shirts are my main products, with mugs coming in at a close 2nd, then buttons. I guess it really all depends on how you want to "push" the other "stuff". When I first started, I would bulk add descriptions in a section. Now I give the mugs, bears, buttons, etc their own descriptions. I found that helps a LOT with search engines. For example, instead of something generic like "this cute bear design is available on t-shirts, mugs, etc", I'll write a description for that particular product.
I have made a lot more sales by having all the other "stuff" readily available. Someone may like a bear design on a t-shirt but they also see it's available on a mug and they buy it. A lot of customers are buying "now", they don't want to have to send an email to a shop keeper and request it be added to an item, then wait for that. They want to buy NOW.
I was only interested in t-shirt sales, but I took a chance and put a bunch of other things in my store as well. You never know what people might purchase with your design on it. I'm always pleasantly surprised.
one of the most common sayings at the cafepress forums is "you never know what the customer wants/is looking for". I have sold a design with a hand holding a telephone receiver on a tile. If I wouldn't have set it up I wouldn't have sold it.
does anyone really buy all that other stuff? 
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