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TorrentBoy Milestone: First Not-Me Sale!

MCMSaturday, March 28, 2009

I was expecting things would move slowly at first with TorrentBoy, but I was wrong. Sometime overnight, we sold our first t-shirt from Zazzle, earning rdawson a whopping $3.52! Now that doesn't seem like a huge amount, but it's still an important milestone for the Project. We've sold our first merchandise! I celebrated by sending rdawson a PayPal transfer this morning, which I hope he spends on a celebration of some kind. Or, you know, coffee.

So! If you had doubts about the feasibility of TorrentBoy, you can now be a tiny bit less skeptical. And if you were thinking you'd like to make your own products, but weren't sure if it was worth it, hopefully this gives you a bit of a nudge. Remember, the first ones on the scene tend to have the biggest impact. So get moving!

Spreading the Word
I know some of you have done an amazing job telling other people about the Project already, but I wanted to specifically request it as well: it may be a long shot, but there are lots of blogs and other sites out there that might be interested in what we're doing, so if you could drop them a line, it could help build momentum. I'm doing some pinging on my end, but it tends to work better when it's not coming from the person who created it :)

Need More Artists
I know there are a few artists out there working on longer-form TorrentBoy illustrations, but if you know anyone (or know of anyone that might know anyone) that could draw a few quickies, we could really use them right now. In particular, I know there's a big demand for Crash-branded shirts, so any one-offs in that regard will probably do well.

Contemplating: Reseller Roles
This is a question that I've been struggling with for a while, so I'm looking for general feedback. The first TorrentBoy book sells for $7.99, of which Amazon (or whatever reseller) keeps $3.20. Now while the internet is probably the best place for us to sell TorrentBoy products IN GENERAL, I thought there might be some value in letting everyone (including non-creators) sell products and keep that 40% for themselves. But I can't figure out the logistics.

Put it this way: if you wrote to me and asked me for 100 copies of "Zombie World!", I could get them printed and sent to you at a wholesale price (~$3 production + $1.75 royalty * 100 = $475), which you could then sell and earn around $324 in profit. If you, as a reseller, can find a way to sell the books, you can make a good amount of money this way. But the downside is that you need to order (and pay for) the books up front, which means you're gambling on the success of the franchise. Which is usually how it works in conventional sales, but it feels like there should be a better way.

So here's the question for all you thinkers out there: how can we facilitate a reseller market for TorrentBoy products without either side having to take an especially big risk? Is there a way?

I'll cross-post this to the official site as well.

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