ScottLee.Name

Many people who know me personally know that I have always brought in a supplemental income for the past two years from selling t-shirts through CafePress.com’s on demand production model. With their recent move to alter their website commission model and their decision to override shopkeeper’s set product markup, Dirty Mechanism Apparel faces an uncertain future. And I’m not happy about it.

Recently last year, Barton Ct. Productions Inc. began receiving the benefits of Dirty Mechanism Apparel’s income, and this year we have begun to make a renewed effort to keep the brand growing, changing, and interesting. But when you go from making anywhere from $7.00 to even $15.00 per t-shirt to making closer to $2 to $2.50 because of a giant corporation’s decisions without the consideration of the artists, it begins to put a damper on the whole spirit, and profit, of Dirty Mechanism itself. Instead of earning the full markup set on a product, we’re now forced to earn 10% of THEIR decided retail price on marketplace sales. When they are pricing their t-shirts anywhere from $20 to $25, that means not even $3 earned per t-shirt.

It’s funny, because not even two years ago they were recommending to all shopkeepers: mark your shirts up at $7.00, not $2.00! Why? Because people will buy it, and I’m sure that I’m not the only one with sales figures to prove it. While Dirty Mechanism’s overall sales were down 16% in 2008 over 2007, it’s easy to point to a bad economy and a lack of new products to that downhill slope. The recent comebacks we experienced in March and February also show that we were certainly capable of turning those sales figures around.

Now, Barton Ct. Productions Inc. is going to have to rely on some different source of income, and my brand of clothing remains in jeopardy. It is possible that I may go with another on demand service to continue producing t-shirts and making money, but it is also doubtful that the sales generated through other services will match the sales I have received over time from CafePress, and that is why they are getting away with it. It is only business, and they are lowering the price on the shopkeeper’s end instead of lowering their base prices.

So cross your fingers if you’ve liked DMA. There’s a chance it will either never be the same again, or there’s also a chance we may shut down the store entirely. And you can give thanks to CafePress.com’s new policies. If the ladder happens, then the only way DMA would re-emerge is with a fat chunk of start up capital (which will probably not happen), and at that point the entire point of an on demand production model is defeated entirely.