[grimer]

oi bubs, hope i didn't come across too negatively. All I'm trying to say is that you're best to try to get the biggest return for the least effort. And, despite what you said earlier, i, and I suspect most other people too, would probably rather see UKB continue with a banner than pack up.

[Tim Heaton]

What about selling videos and DVD's, I have no idea how much money you would make but if you just sold them all then it would still be independent? This would also be a good resource.

Also I know of some clothing sites on the internet that allow anyone (normally art students) to submit any design and if you want it then pay them a nominal fee but allow them to use it on their CV. I would have thought that you need to be shifting a fair amount of T-shirts, hoodys e.t.c to keep the manufacturing costs down and hence have a good markup. Do you think enough people would buy them, would you just want to sell to users of the site or appeal to the whole range of people who are really into buying branded outdoor gear without actually partaking in the sport?

I don't know much about computers but what is it that takes up all the space? Do you really need a photo's section, I know it's nice but does anyone really use it that much?

I would probably resign myself to a banner ad at the top of the page, I don't think they would compromise independence much at all. My university site has such an ad and I don't think they make any demands on website content, just make it clear to the company that you want to maintain as much independence as possible so if they make a poor product then you won't stop people slagging it off.

Good luck with getting $1000, I think that will be hard work, you appear to be doing a lot of work as it is so as someone else said don't force yourself into doing a thankless task.

[Fingers of a Martyr]

as far as the clothes go i think you'd have to go all the way or not at all to be honest. to make a decent profit that is. no plain black t-shirts with UKBOULDERING.COM plastered across the back in massive white letters. i'm not sayin set up a clothing company but they need to be stylish and appeal to other people other than the ukb regulars.

tim, by submitting designs do u mean actually makin a prototype or designing them on a computer?

[Tim Heaton]

I think they just submit designs probably on a computer nowadays and then they have their own printer so just print them out. I have a couple of excellent T-shirts from an internet firm

http://www.spunky.co.uk/

but like you say I think they need to be really good quality for people to buy them plus it might well involve a fair amout of effort and end up becoming a full time job. I would have thought that unless you shift a lot you won't be making more than £5-10 profit a t-shirt (total guess - I have no real idea).

[webbo]

if you asked people to cough up a tenner i would have thought they would.its only 4 pints,3 bottles of wine or 3 tubes of stump cream or even a couple of trips to the wall.

[Bubba]

Thanks for all the suggestions ya'all - I'll probably do a t-shirt as an experiment and add a donate link too.

We might be selling Ru's new guide via the site, and some of Simon S's holds too at some stage which will all help.

[dontfollowme]

A car forum I read has agreements in place with parts manufacturers where its members pay a subscription to the site but then get a discount off the parts manufacturers products. I don't know what the exact arrangement is but it seems quite popular because people are saving money in the long run because of the discounts they are eligible for.

[tommytwotone]

of course there is the p0rn angle as well, might be lucrative...

"XXX fit birds that go climbing" anyone?? :wink:

[Pantontino]

I'd definitely cough up a donation - the question is: how much is enough?

If you got £20 from all the regulars?

But what constitutes a regular; how many are there of us?

Maybe you should get a 'supporters' badge that comes up on display below your avatar (not that I have an avatar). This wouldn't bring any special rights of access to the site, rather it would shame the non-contributors into shelling out.

But, then again that might just come across as cliquey?

[Bubba]

a couple of meets a year that turn into a party. lets say for instance that people were goin to northumberland at about the same time. they could then retire to the bunkhouse with reels of film n slides, buy cans for the evening instead of pints in the pub. am quite sure that we've got enough people on here who like the sound of their own voice to talk us through how to climb or take better shots. £5-£10 for the privilidge. 20 people =£100 - £200 quid. do this at least a couple of times a year n that's half the feds sorted. all proceeds to site.

Aye, but who's going to pay a tenner *and* bring their own beer

the merchandise will be too dear imho. people won't buy things unless they're quality n this costs. meaning i'm not going to be rampaging through the peak in a ukb t-shirt if its crap.

I'm not saying it'll be a winner, but I guess it's all down to how much. People rated the fatsloperaction t-shirts and they were knocking them out for £16 (plus p&p presumably).

say you're goin to brand toothbrushes, they cost £1 you then have to put design on n post them. the most you will get is £2. so it's not worth it

I get yer point but let's face it, nobody is going to brand toothbrushes. Stuff I was talking about branding was chalk-buckets and the like.

[Bubba]

Thats a decent amount. Mags idea isn't feasibile so. Whats the nest step up? And what are your other plans?

Well, lots more videos would be nice for a start, and they swallow bandwidth - although that Polish site seems to mirror them for free

I don't think they are going to ask out to sell your soul. I assume it would be a straight swap money for banner ad on site?

No, probably not, but it just tastes bitter to me. Also, I'm not sure this site generates enough traffic to make banner ads profitable. Even ukc have had to have a big "recruitment drive" recently to up the registered users, and they've got shedloads already.

[Bubba]

What about selling videos and DVD's, I have no idea how much money you would make but if you just sold them all then it would still be independent? This would also be a good resource.

It's possible we might be doing this with the new Peak guide and with some holds.

Also I know of some clothing sites on the internet that allow anyone (normally art students) to submit any design and if you want it then pay them a nominal fee but allow them to use it on their CV.

That's a cool idea.

Do you think enough people would buy them, would you just want to sell to users of the site or appeal to the whole range of people who are really into buying branded outdoor gear without actually partaking in the sport?

Like Foam says, you've got to go all or nothing - if you're going to have tees they've got to be cool enough to be considered streetwear and not just a climbing t-shirt.

Do you really need a photo's section, I know it's nice but does anyone really use it that much?

Yeah, I think people love a good supply of high res pics - they get a lot of hits anyway, but it's really videos that people seem to like most.

[Bubba]

A car forum I read has agreements in place with parts manufacturers where its members pay a subscription to the site but then get a discount off the parts manufacturers products. I don't know what the exact arrangement is but it seems quite popular because people are saving money in the long run because of the discounts they are eligible for.

Aye, Scoobynet do that too, but I think that'd be a hell of a lot of work to get going.

[Bubba]

Maybe you should get a 'supporters' badge that comes up on display below your avatar (not that I have an avatar). This wouldn't bring any special rights of access to the site, rather it would shame the non-contributors into shelling out.

But, then again that might just come across as cliquey?

Yeah, that's the problem with having any sort of "paid members" type of thing. I think if anyone donated anything, then I'd put up a supporters page type of thing just to say thanks.

I think that's why I prefer the t-shirts idea. Even if people have to shell out a bit more than what they'd pay on the high-street, they'd be getting something pretty exclusive, and they'd get the feelgood factor for helping the site out.

[BoulderHog]

I'd say you're in a good position to start a bouldering clothing etc company up, start with T-Shirts and see how it goes. Maybe think up a good logo / symbol thing and link that to UKB. I'd buy a T-shirt or two for sure, £25-30.

Fox have some good designs for hoody's and T-shirts, they keep them updated and the quality is pretty good, have a look here and get some ideas:

http://www.stifsport.com/shop/mb_software_products4.asp?name=FOX&cat=49

Something like this but climbing related would be great.

I also like the idea of getting people to send in their designs, you can pick and choose that way. You'll feel like Tony Art wandering through his gallery - most of it's shite, but occasionally you get something decent (done by the parents).

[Bubba]

ukb will be opening their new boutique in Milan to compliment the New York store...  

These places charge big money for their stuff, dont' they?

There's some lovely stuff on that spunky site, but it's like £25 a tee which is a fair bit.

[account_inactive]

Fook me, I spend all day abseiling idiots of Canary Wharf (don't ask) and you have this huge mo fo discussion.

Me and the Missus were making climbing clothes in Auz under the 'Uber' brand.  It has to be said that there is not a huge mark up compared with time spent making the damn things.  In the end we decided that we would have to get children in Asia with small fingers making our stuff to run at a decent profit.

If we can find a good t-shirt/hoodie place that will do small run items (so that there is not huge amounts in stock then that would be a way to go.  At the end of the day £1000 is not that much to raise over the space of a year.  The rags could be a slow drip income with a fixed profit.

I would be willing to stump up cash.  Maybe its worth people PMing Bubba if they are up for donating, at least that would give you some idea of what we would need to find.

[grimer]

rags to riches

[Tim Heaton]

I've only ever bought stuff from the sale section on the spunky site, about £10 for a Tshirt and £25 for a hoody.

[Bubba]

rags to riches

 

[SA Chris]

Sorry, I didn't trawl through all 5 pages so it may have been mentioned.

How about selling anti-hydral cream on the site? Could make a few bob from that?

How well do Fat Sloper Action do from their merchandising? Might be a reasonable indicator.

[runt]

defo do the t shirt thing if the sums look like adding up, I'll have a couple.
What about using the combined comic talents  :roll:  of ukb to do some along the lines of that mcdonalds mc crap one? but better obviously

[Fingers of a Martyr]

this is a good blank canvas for any budding fashion designers out there.

[dave]

And what about boldering.com. How do they do it?

No idea, I'm assuming the guy just pays the server fees.

I'm not under any pretence that the site will suddenly pay for itself, but every little helps....

plus b.com if just a forum, they don't need to pay for servers for videos, galleries, articles etc.

[Dolly]

Only just caught up with this, I'm up for the mercandising angle as well.
Grimer/Mark - you must have an idea of the T shirt cost/return from the Ape Index ones ?
Maybe its just me, but its hard to get T shirts that are different and don't say FCUK bouldering.
People almost always ask what ape index is  if I'm wearing one