Selling Merchandise On Your Website

If you take away poker, dating, and naked ladies, practice merchandising is the big success story of the Internet. The extreme combination of e-commerce and affiliate marketing, millions of websites around the world turn to online merchandising companies - both to shop their Url and to passage some cash from loyal visitors.

The key to the success of the manufactures is on-demand printing, meaning website owners don't normally incur setup costs and do not have to carry inventory.

Staples Power Tool

The business model normally works like this. The webmaster signs up for free – or for a small monthly fee – at the merchandising business site. Having uploaded his/her own designs – often logos, catchphrases or drawings, the webmaster can then place these designs on the range of products offered by the merchandiser. Usually, the merchandise business places a base price on each product, to which the webmaster adds his/her own commission or markup. In some cases, the webmaster can then generate a shop which can be integrated into their own site.

The merchandising business normally handles credit-card processing, printing, shipping, and buyer service while the webmaster incurs the slightly less intensive task of collecting and banking the commissions.

Beginning to see why its so popular? Let's have a look at some of the industry's big players:

Cafepress

The daddy of the bunch. Founded in 1999 in California, Cafepress was one of the first companies to exploit the weighty practice merchandise market. It now sells products on profit of over 2 million website owners, in general in the Usa.

For all its longevity and wide reach, Cafepress has yet to solve many of the primary problems that still bother its users. Despite the clamour from customers, the business has yet to find a way to offer black, or even dark, garments – still relying on the old white and grey staples and a rather odd collection of pastels. Nor has the business embraced internationalisation, and website owners surface of the Usa still baulk at hefty shipping charges and Us Dollar pricing.

The free Cafepress service offers small functionality to users, with only one version of each goods allowed. For a monthly fee, Cafepress allows unlimited selling. However, excessive branding makes it rather difficult to combine the Cafeshop into the look and feel of an existing site.

Cafepress

Zazzle

Another California-based business that launched a similar service to Cafepress in 2003 and has a colossal share of the Us market. Again pricing is only available in Us Dollars. And while Zazzle's range of garment colours is stronger than Cafepress, printing on black or dark shirts is still not supported.

Zazzle does not charge a monthly fee but webmasters will find it rather more difficult to combine their shop into the look and feel of their own site.

Zazzle [http://www.zazzle.com]

Spreadshirt

This one looks interesting. Spreadshirt was founded in Germany in 2002 and boasts over 60,000 partners over Europe, winning the Hewlett Packard business Innovation Award in 2004. Unlike its American competitors, Spreadshirt caters for both European and Us customers, using regional shipping companies and allowing webmasters to price products in Euros, Sterling, or Us Dollars. Shops can also be automatically translated into eight languages.

Spreadshirt has also solved the thorny "black shirt" issue, offering over 50 products in a full range of colours. However, it's probably the separate printing options that sets the service apart. In particular, Spreadshirt's "flock" printing – creating a raised felt conclude – produces a follow much more impressive than quarterly digital print.

Finally, hats off to Spreadshirt for managing to keep its branding on the goods but still allow webmasters full operate over the look and feel of their shops. Already a dominant force in the European market, Spreadshirt could be set to give Cafepress a run for their money in the Us.

Spreadshirt Us
Spreadshirt Uk

Eshirt

Eshirt is an additional one European business – this time Italian-based - providing an almost-identical goods range to Cafepress ie no dark shirts. Euro, Us Dollar and Sterling pricing is available. However, the only print selection available is digital hot press printing – not the longest chronic technique.

The most inconvenient aspect of Eshirt's service is shop integration. You must register as a Tradedoubler affiliate before you can even apply for an Eshirt shop. And even then, it is not potential to recreate the look and feel of your own site.

Eshirt

Selling Merchandise On Your Website

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