[WikiEN-l] Re: Wikipedia-logo merchandise: yawn

Sat Aug 7 18:34:06 UTC 2004

Daniel P.B.Smith wrote:

>>> I agree - CafePress is expensive. But as you state, there really 
>>> aren't any
>>> known good alternatives that are cheaper.
>>
>>
>> Random thought- you think ThinkGeek would be interested in some sort 
>> of a deal?
>
>
> I don't see any point in worrying about it or trying to optimize 
> anything. 

Indeed the difference isn't worthit unless the sales volume is really high.

> If the point is to create public awareness of Wikipedia, its presence 
> on the Internet (and frequency of appearance in Google search results) 
> is probably a (pause for serious numeric estimation) million times 
> more effective than wearing T-shirts. If the point is to support 
> Wikipedia, why on earth would I buy a $20 T-shirt worth $10 in order 
> to give Wikipedia $5, as opposed to a) donating $20 via PayPal (same 
> cost to me, four times the benefit to WIkipedia) or b) donating $5 via 
> PayPal (same benefit to Wikipedia, one quarter the cost to me)? 

One needs to consider the reasons why a person would buy such an item. 
Most of the time it would show an existing committment.  There are times 
and places where the advertising value would be there.  If I gave a WP 
mug to the librarian at my son's school I might get a certain message 
across. :-)

IIRC PayPal fees are 30c. + 3%.  Thus to send $1.00 it costs 33c; to 
send $10.00 it costs 60c.for the merchan

> (But what do I know? I was raised by a mom who never allowed 
> advertising within the sphere of her personal space. No containers of 
> cream were ever placed on the table; the cream was always poured first 
> into a pitcher. The idea of staring at Elsie, the Borden cow on the 
> breakfast table was anathema to her. No bumper stickers on the Smith 
> family car!)

She must have been a stay-at-home mom to be doing this. :-)

Before he became a teenager my son tended to be the first family member 
up in the morning.  When he was a very young pre-schooler a full 4-litre 
milk jug was too much for him to handle so enough milk would be put into 
a small pitcher so that he could have his morning cereal.  Perhaps the 
cereal itself was put into a bowl the night before.  (Parents remember 
such things.)  As some kids grow up they fix their own breakfasts, and 
cereal boxes become the best read literature in the house.

Ec