Forum:Getting the ball rolling on merch

Forums: Index > Getting the ball rolling on merch

Hi again everyone! During last month's board meeting, the possibility of doing another run of wiki merch was raised. Right now, it's basically at stage 0: "Hey, maybe we can put out some wiki merch!", though beyond that there haven't really been any further developments. In the spirit of RS:BB, I'm here to ask: What sort of thing would you like to see get made? A t-shirt with a reference to your favorite wiki inside joke? Or maybe a mug that says "Weird Gloop Enthusiast." I have no shame, I'd use that. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Cheers, and happy editing! Duralith (talk) 20:51, 3 May 2023 (UTC)

Comments

Comment —

1. I think a Frogeel shirt could be pretty popular, even among non-editors. It's worth noting that Frogeel is a character owned by Jagex & would require permission to merchandise in an unmodified state as pictured.
2. Literal Wiki Logo Shirts are what I would expect as wiki merchandise & would probably be popular, though mostly among editors.
3. Finally, a plain white T with the gloop bucket on it could be popular, as it appeals to anyone who knows what Weird Gloop is, and is versatile as an undershirt.

Thanks for making this thread. —Logg^(talk) 16:20, 4 May 2023 (UTC)

Comment - Shirts, scarves, socks, pins, and stickers are all fairly good options I think. Hats or beanies are something that has been suggested but I don't remember if they were too expensive? Saying that though, I feel like the hangup for merch isn't really ideas for merch. I feel like the problem is organising logistics like who is going to obtain the physical merchandise and mail it out, and that is much better done in private between a few people than in a public thread.

I'm unsure if the board meeting went into it but all previous merch wasn't sold afaik, it was given out to editors, people joining the wiki panel at runefest, or somewhat related people like jmods, is this idea for a store or for sending out merch to editors?

I also wanna say I really liked the previous shirt, was subtle enough that it's not cringy to wear in public as just something that shouts "RUNESCAPE WIKI" 👍  Crow  00:39, 5 May 2023 (UTC)

Comment - it is NEVER cringey to wear your RUNESCAPE WIKI shirt in public. —Logg^(talk) 05:43, 5 May 2023 (UTC)

Please see my comment below, but merch to be given away is what I had in mind when I made this thread. Apologies for the ambiguity on my part. Duralith (talk) 16:14, 5 May 2023 (UTC)

Comment/oppose(?) - I like the idea of wiki merch, but I think that actually selling it is a bad idea. It seems to me that only a handful of people will actually spend money on wiki merch. Given that we don't have the demand to produce merch in bulk and save on costs, we'd end up shifting the production costs onto the consumer and we'd probably end up selling t-shirts, hats, and scarfs for a decently higher price than clothes and merch available elsewhere. However, I do think that giving away merch is a good idea, especially to long-term editors, people involved in specific projects, and as part of giveaways and events (like RuneFest). I don't think it's a bad idea to spend money on producing merch for one-offs like this, although I believe that we should be careful about investing heavily in this area as opposed to spending money on improving the wikis themselves. jayden 14:04, 5 May 2023 (UTC)

Please see my comment below, but merch to be given away is what I had in mind when I made this thread. Apologies for the ambiguity on my part. Duralith (talk) 16:14, 5 May 2023 (UTC)

Comment - Given the Patreon promises the highest tier members free merch whenever we do a merch drop, and this is our first year with a Patreon, I think we have a bit more of an obligation this year to try to get something mailed out. We might also consider polling the Patreons to see if there's a preference from a set list of options, though I'm not sure what sort of engagement we'd get. Omnes Ferant (talk) 15:55, 5 May 2023 (UTC)

Clarification: I've realized that I didn't really clearly state what I had had in mind when I said merch in my original post, so apologies for that. When I used the term merch, I meant it in the sense of items to be given away to editors, Patreon/Ko-Fi supporters, etc., rather than anything to be sold in some sort of wiki store. Duralith (talk) 16:14, 5 May 2023 (UTC)