You guys know that I am always looking for ways for the site to make money and to pay for itself. I don't want this thread to turn into one of those how much does it cost to keep it running threads. My goal has been to make the site where we didn't have to take donations from members and we had something to offer out to the members that they wanted to buy. In the past we have partnered with companies that sold products, chroming, parts distributers, parts manufacturers, you name it and we have had em on the site as a sponsor. Some websites charge and arm and a leg for sponsors to advertise, I have always tried to keep the pricing very attractive to the sponsors so it would be a difficult decision to leave us. You can see that we have some sponsors that stay and some that we go through, its hard to budget when you have a swing like that.
We have tried to get decals, jackets, hats and shirts to sell on the site but to be honest it cost a lot to keep all the shirt styles and colors in stock so we can provide a good response in shipping to you guys. The shirts we have been selling here for the past 5 years dont get us very much money because we were haveing to buy them and then resell them, we made about 4 -5 dollars per shirt... When you are talking about ordering them, paying to keep them in stock then shipping them it was a lot of time spent and not a lot of return. I know that you all have been buying the same styles for a long time and to get new ones designed, spec'd out with the vendor and then getting the pricing was just difficult, not to mention that I have a demanding job and a family too.....
My wife and I discussed it and we came upon an opportunity (life is full of them) and we took it... Time will tell us if it's going to be a good one or not but I think that it will be good for the site. I bought a commercial silkscreen shirt system. I have the 4 color press, flash dryers, conveyer dryers, etching machines and the software to make our own shirts now. I am hoping that we can get the prices a little lower for you guys and we will be able to provide new styles of shirts and actually reduce the dependancy on a vendor and increase our margin so that we get more from less..... I will attach a few pics of the equipment, my car is parked outside now because half the garage is now a production line......
I wanted to let you know that we ran our first batch tonight and I am really excited, we created the designs, made the silkscreens and printed the shirts ourselves. It was a very gratifying process, now I just hope that you, the members like the designs and are willing to buy them.. You can see that we did lower the prices because we did have some savings. Please go to the official Hayabusa.Org store located at Hayabusa Store and take a look at what we have done......
Let me know what you think...
CAp
We have tried to get decals, jackets, hats and shirts to sell on the site but to be honest it cost a lot to keep all the shirt styles and colors in stock so we can provide a good response in shipping to you guys. The shirts we have been selling here for the past 5 years dont get us very much money because we were haveing to buy them and then resell them, we made about 4 -5 dollars per shirt... When you are talking about ordering them, paying to keep them in stock then shipping them it was a lot of time spent and not a lot of return. I know that you all have been buying the same styles for a long time and to get new ones designed, spec'd out with the vendor and then getting the pricing was just difficult, not to mention that I have a demanding job and a family too.....
My wife and I discussed it and we came upon an opportunity (life is full of them) and we took it... Time will tell us if it's going to be a good one or not but I think that it will be good for the site. I bought a commercial silkscreen shirt system. I have the 4 color press, flash dryers, conveyer dryers, etching machines and the software to make our own shirts now. I am hoping that we can get the prices a little lower for you guys and we will be able to provide new styles of shirts and actually reduce the dependancy on a vendor and increase our margin so that we get more from less..... I will attach a few pics of the equipment, my car is parked outside now because half the garage is now a production line......
I wanted to let you know that we ran our first batch tonight and I am really excited, we created the designs, made the silkscreens and printed the shirts ourselves. It was a very gratifying process, now I just hope that you, the members like the designs and are willing to buy them.. You can see that we did lower the prices because we did have some savings. Please go to the official Hayabusa.Org store located at Hayabusa Store and take a look at what we have done......
Let me know what you think...
CAp
