Mark
> we're producing the Elvie strip for Linux Voice magazine (using a combination of MyPaint and Inkscape), and getting paid for it, we've > been able to cover our hosting *and* made a small donation to Inkscape last year. Unfortunately, however, more time on Elvie means > less time on The Greys, which is why there hasn't been a new strip for many, many months :(

Thats a good observation, however merchandise provides an alternative to straight donations, as well as a reward for persons who donate high amounts. Presently inkscape doesn't have alternative funding options. In addition it doesn't cost us anything to keep it online.

Just to clarify, I was specifically replying to Brynn's suggestion of having "The Greys" merchandise (for anyone who's not aware, The Greys is a web comic that I create with a friend, entirely using Inkscape). I don't think *that* merchandise would sell well enough to make it worth the effort.

I *am* in favour of more general Inkscape branded merchandise, however. The dilemma is that you can either go with a print-to-order company online, in which case the prices are high and the profits are low; or you can get some merchandise mass-produced in which case the initial outlay is high, you have to deal with sending orders out yourself, and you could end up stuck with a lot of unsold stock - but the profits are potentially much higher.

Unless someone really wants to deal with posting merch around the world then a print-to-order company seems like the only way to go, but don't expect to make a lot of money for the project from it (of course, branded products have a less tangible role as advertising that shouldn't be overlooked).

Mark

P.S. If anyone really does want some Greys merchandise, we do have T-shirts and CD-ROMs available via our website. Although it won't *directly* support Inkscape, we do try to give a reasonable proportion of our earnings back to community projects, as we did with our donation of over 10% of last year's gross earnings to Inkscape.

The Greys, Elvie and Monsters, Inked webcomics

Website http://www.peppertop.com/
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