CafePress? Lulu? Zazzle?

[simone]

Hey, guys:

I'm looking to put together a calendar as a fundraiser for the venue this year, and I'm investigating a few online services to create it.

It looks like my likely options are CafePress, Lulu, and Zazzle. Anyone made use of any of these?

I'd love to hear thoughts and experiences...

--simone

[Rev. Bill Macmillan]

check with one of your local printers.
you may find a better deal with a local place rather than online.
it may be more upfront, but will pay off in the long run.

[bobdapoet]

I use cafePress for the Anthology.org site store... they are good, prompt, and have never been a bad experience.

The bad side, is you won't make any money, serious money, in short order.

I would approach a local printer, see if they will print it in exchange for an advertisment or other such renumeration. A Calendar is not a terribly complex item (or, i guess it doesn't have to be complex), and they may like the opportunity to make a nice promotional piece for them (and you).

Poll your audience, find out who works where and if they can offer you some benefits...

Hey, guys:

I'm looking to put together a calendar as a fundraiser for the venue this year, and I'm investigating a few online services to create it.

It looks like my likely options are CafePress, Lulu, and Zazzle. Anyone made use of any of these?

I'd love to hear thoughts and experiences...

--simone

[simone]

I guess what I like best about these sites is that they offer on-demand printing: I don't have to order 150 of them and worry about getting stuck with 'em.

If I wanted to go to a printshop, I could just create my own calendar at home and have them run it off. I'm just not sure how many to print at this point, since we've never tried this kind of thing.

[bobdapoet]

Simone-

   Yes, that is true. But that's the value of the mock-up and pre-order process... You make one so people can see what it will look like, and have them pre-order (at a lower price, before a certain date). Order them from the printer on that date, with a little overage to sell at shows and such at a higher price, and whalaahhh... you don't have 150 of them sitting in your house.

I guess what I like best about these sites is that they offer on-demand printing: I don't have to order 150 of them and worry about getting stuck with 'em.

If I wanted to go to a printshop, I could just create my own calendar at home and have them run it off. I'm just not sure how many to print at this point, since we've never tried this kind of thing.

[Mike Simms]

I use zazzle for my T-shirts:

Pro: there is absolutely no overhead; you don’t have to have a dime to make some money off of your product.

Con: you really don’t make much money off your product…lol.

If you are trying to have a fundraiser then you would have to do a cost benefit analysis to see the feasibility of zazzle.  If going to a tradition print shop creates too much overhead to make a real profit off the calendar, then going to a site like zazzle might make sense. I doubt it though…You would more than likely make more profit from a traditional approach