Here’s a potential seller I stole from BH’s post:
Is it available ‘life-size’? Probably expensive to post unless it flies into your hand ofc. 
2 Likes
If we print it ourselves it’s not really merch, it’s just a t-shirt we decide to print.
Also, if everyone prints locally, what does this
have to do with anything? Other than your location specifically, obviously?
Over 20$ for a single shirt.
Gia is confused.
1 Like
Just trying to bring balance. 
are we not just throwing out numbers here?
Taking into account personalization (distinct from customization1), shipping, and the small cut OGS might want to take, I can certainly imagine it being above $20. Unclear what considerations were taken into account by the <$20 estimate, if any.
1customization == OGS logo etc. Something we all buy. personalization == username etc. Something that is unique to each buyer. Presumably personalization eats into bulk discounts, but idk.
1 Like
Very quick look here: https://bulkcustomshirts.com/product/gildan-g500/
Says $13 per t-shirt (+ shipping?) for a bulk buy of 24-47 t-shirts. So if one person does that, then there’s shipping to each individual, say $3 per t-shirt. Plus, say, $3 (~20%) donation / royalties to OGS. Plus, say, $2 (~10%) commission to whoever takes the risk of the bulk buy. So $21 per t-shirt including shipping.
Issues:
-
All would have to be the same colour, same logo (one colour, one place), etc. so requires some agreement somewhere
-
Requires agreement from Anoek Re prices, logo, royalties, etc
-
Unclear what sizes to get so prob best to get interested parties to order & pay in advance
-
Cheaper quotes are probably available
1 Like
I think it makes more sense to use a print-on-demand service, rather than making a bulk order.
There are at least dozen websites that will create custom t-shirts from a design that you upload. Not only that, they will allow you to set up a virtual store-front to display your custom designs and handle all of the logistics of taking customer orders, producing the shirts, and shipping the orders. All you need to do is upload the designs, set the shirt options, and collect the royalties when the products are sold. This also gives maximum flexibility to the customer to select their size, shirt style, color, and sometimes even add their own individualized customization (if desired). Depending on the specific quality selected, the final cost per item could be more or less than $20, but it is definitely possible to find a service that could deliver an individually customized t-shirt (via print-on-demand) for under $20. A lot of these services also allow the seller to set a custom royalty too, so it depends on that as well.
Further, the OGS merch does not have to be limited to only one print-on-demand site either. It could be placed on several, so that buyers could have more choices for styles, quality, cost, shipping options, etc.
By the way, I don’t like the idea of putting a go rank on a t-shirt, for several reasons:
- Actual ranks fluctuate and change over time, so it doesn’t make sense to fix it in something as long-lasting as a shirt.
- It encourages too much fixation on rank, by wearing it like a badge that means something.
7 Likes
I agree with that … unless it is something funny like: “My other account is 3dan … honestly!”
6 Likes
If that’s true, then explain why I’m stuck at SDK 
No but in all seriousness, I wouldn’t want the rank alone. One case in which I think it would be kinda fun: if usernames show up exactly how they show up on the site since that’s kinda OGS related.
Depending on how much demand there is, yeah. No reason to put someone $500 in the hole just to start an online shop!
3 Likes
A lot of print-on-demand sites allow the customer to arbitrarily customize the shirt/product that they are ordering. One can add text (with custom colors and fonts) and even upload images (like their avatar).
The store front that presented the base design still gets the royalty if a user orders a customized product starting from their design.
2 Likes
I did not know that existed. That is a way better idea than bulk buy. @anoek should set up ASAP. Minimal effort, maximum moolah! Even if only a handful of t-shirts are sold, it’s easy money and free advertising 
Though I expect the demand will be pretty decent. Imagine a site wide announcement or new “store” item in main menu.
3 Likes
here’s my 50 cents.
please forgive the quick and dirty throw in of the OGS logo but you’ll get the idea.
also very imaginable in @bugcat colors here, of course without the grid then:
Fun part is you can take a game of your own, Design it with OGS UI concerning colors and all… given the road of on demand prints is taken.
4 Likes
I think the key question at this point is whether the OGS staff is ready to take the next step of setting up a store front. This is relatively simple, but still a significant undertaking.
It would make sense for the store front to be set up by either @anoek directly, or a moderator that he trusts to manage it on his behalf. Maybe @AdamR or @BHydden, due to their activity in this thread, could take on this initiative? This is mainly to ensure the usage of the OGS logos and trademarks stay firmly within the control of OGS and that the revenue is properly directed to the site.
There are many print-on-demand sites (CafePress, Zazzle, Spreadshirt, Printful, Printify, SPOD, CustomInk, Redbubble… just to name a few). The team should weigh their pros and cons (e.g., royalty terms, pricing, product selection, shipping, international availability, etc.). People here in this thread should also share their thoughts and suggestions about such companies. I think it would make sense to maybe eventually have store fronts on at least a few of these sites, in order to increase reach and availability (for the international userbase of OGS) and to offer greater diversity of products and options, but starting on just one is reasonable.
It’s not even a huge risk to just dive into one of the big names, since it doesn’t take much effort set up a store front. One can always start small with just a few products, like just the OGS logo on some shirts, mugs, magnets, etc., and then continue to build it up as you go.
I think a simple starter product would just entail uploading the OGS logo and putting it on a shirt.
For light shirts:
For dark shirts:
Note: a higher-resolution image (PNG regenerated from the SVG source, or the SVG source directly, if the site supports it) should be uploaded, rather than just these low-res, example screenshots.
On some print-on-demand sites, it’s even possible for the customer to further customize their shirt order to add their own images and text, and the royalty still fully goes to the storefront owner. It could be a convenient way for people to get whatever custom Go shirt they want, while still supporting OGS and getting an officially licensed OGS logo on their fully custom shirt.
7 Likes
Is Custom Ink print-on-demand? I’ve used them, but only for a semi-bulk buy. Very nice editor!
+1 to SVG or high def png. SVGs can be found on github:
3 Likes
Tbh I think we all just want a OGS merchandise. T-Shirt or cup, or even go board whatever. Does the design matter that much?
It’s a totally fine idea to me if we hire a designer for a design and, well, go with it?
(Point is, it’s much much better to have something tangible than a 2-years long discussion)
5 Likes
If people just want the OGS logo or something related on a t-shirt, they could always just create a design, upload it to a print-on-demand maker, and get a shirt or something.
However, that would cut OGS out of any proceeds, and I think most people would rather want to pay for official merchandise that benefits the server through royalties.
To really achieve this objective (officially licensed merchandise), someone from OGS would need to take the initiative to properly set this up. It’s not complicated, probably less than 10 minutes of work (a significant portion just gathering some official information about who’s in charge and where to route the royalty payments).
If @anoek does not have the time to set this up, I suggested that maybe @AdamR or @BHydden could lead this, since they are part of the OGS team and seemed to express interest and initiative for this idea.
As for specific vendors, I think it’s reasonable to use several, in order to maximize global availability and increase shipping choices, product options, etc… One site that I like and can recommend is zazzle.com.
Here are the steps to get started:
- Decide who is in charge of opening the store front (@AdamR, @BHydden, @anoek??)
- Go to zazzle.com and create an account.
- Input the necessary information to start a basic store front (like naming it “OGS Merchandise” or whatever you want).
- Enter the information about how royalty payments should be routed.
- Create a basic t-shirt product, by uploading the OGS logo and slapping that on a t-shirt. Note that when creating a product, you can check an option to let people transfer that design to other products (if you wish). Then, by creating just a t-shirt, customers could also choose to transfer that to other items (like mugs, buttons, stickers, bags, etc.) and OGS would still get the associated royalty since the design originated from the OGS store.
This is just to get things started. Additional designs and products can always be added in the future. People might even suggest and donate some designs to support the OGS store.
Also, another really nice feature of zazzle is that a product can be customized. So, even if the original product is just a plain shirt with just the logo, a customer could always edit the design (adding their own elements) and customize things like shirt style and color, and then when they make this customized purchase, the OGS store still gets the royalty (since they started from the OGS design).
Basically, Zazzle would allow anyone to make their own customized, official OGS merch that generates a royalty for OGS.
9 Likes
^^
this post was better than anything I was going to say 
I’ll probably buy something if it’s set up anyway. Could always do with another t-shirt or mug 
3 Likes
Adam and I are just volunteers. For any and all legal/financial intents and purposes, anoek IS OGS
Something of this nature can only go through him.
6 Likes
