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ghmsez
2/25/2008 12:09:07 PM | Dear 401st members and 401st Forum Activists:
I don't have time to be a Forum activist but check in on it from time to time. I went to the Forum on Friday January 25 and found Ed Dana. Ed raised the idea of creating an on line store to sell 401st paraphernalia on the Forum. From that point the discussion went on for ten pages when I printed it out.
I have had had a little experience at this type thing in creating the 401st PX which sold things of interest to the 401st primarily at reunions but also to some extent through the PFG.
Some considerations in an endeavor of this type:
We have sold bumper stickers, squadron pins. ball caps, videos / CDs on the B-17, T-shirts that had the 401st front and back. But, many of the items we have purchased it has taken years to sell even the minimum order required by most vendors. The exception to this is the t-shirts, they sold fast and we will continue them for a while adding 401st caps soon.
THE COST OF THE PRODUCT The 401st "Blue Book" published first in 1946 was reprinted eight or nine times. Of course the price increased over the years but the publisher required an order of 100 copies and the last quote we had was a cost around $5,000.
This brings up another consideration:
WHERE IS THE CAPITAL COMING FROM We found that books on the 401st sold well but who is going to provide the cash to subsidize such products?
WHO IS GOING TO RUN THE OPERATION On a small scale I have taken orders, collected cash, shipped orders and deposited the sales to the 401st account. But if this was to be a bigger effort it would require someone who was willing and has the space to store multiple boxes of merchandise, and packing materials, take multiple trips to the post office and oversee the design and ordering of the merchandise.
Lastly, If you are a member of the 401st association, you can buy any product we list periodically in the PFG.
Respectively, George Menzel
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Phoenix
2/25/2008 1:01:57 PM | Hi George,
You have made some well considered and valuable points there but from a purely selfish point of view I have to say PFG does not always reach us here in the UK so we do miss out on any merchandise that may appear in a missed issue and travel to the good ol USA is becoming a bit prohibitive these days for reunions. I guess as non US based interest in the group grows we will just have to wait and see how the on line store idea develops and who wins the lottery to fund it!! 😉
Highest regards
Dale
improvise, adapt, overcome
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donaldbyers
2/25/2008 1:55:37 PM | Yes this is certainly a consideration. Also to be considered is if you look at the amout of traffic on this site and who does the most of the posting you would also see there is no way we could support a 401st PX as stated. We have to get more people and activity on the web site and so the consideration is how to do it. No one takes a big step before taking small steps but first we have to get the idea out their and then talk about it.
Don
Sgt. Donald C. Byers, 613th Bomb Squadron, Togglier, 42-97344 Carrie B II, KIA 08/24/1944.
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EDanaII
2/26/2008 12:28:31 PM | Ah, I just noticed this thread. 🙂
First, I have to ask, "401st PX?" What is this?
As to George's considerations:
I fully expect it to take years to turn any 401st inventory around. As Don and others can attest to, I have pointed out a number of times that this web site is a low volume site, so my expectations are only that it might generate enough profit to make up for the 401st's diminishing memberships. 😞
Overhead costs would be expected to be significant, which is why I suggested to Jackie that the group start with humble products.
As to who might run it, I spoke with my sister, who has been looking for something to do with herself, she's willing to give it a try. To that end, I asked her to look into what it would take to manage an on-line store through Yahoo or eBay.
With regards to funding, that, unfortunately, is the tricky part. It would probably depend on donations, at least, initially. My hope is that it could eventually generate enough profit to sustain itself, but it probably would need a "kickstart" to get it going. Also, "donations" could consist of any existing inventory being put up for sale on-line.
Other things to consider:
As I pointed out to Al Crawford, yesterday, the intent is to sell to more than just members of the group. If someone is successfully selling 401st patches to people on eBay, then their may be enough enthusiasts out there willing to purchase "official" items from the 401st, itself. The existence of such memorabilia (on more than just the 401st) is a pretty good indicator that it is possible to do this.
In order to turn that inventory around, several things can be done. My email signature, for example, contains a link to a web page I use to provide information about myself. Group members could create similar signatures with a link that promotes the 401st and/or the on-line store. As much as I hate to suggest this, things could also be helped by a little active spamming. I belong to several other on-line bulletin boards, a mention or two of the site on those boards could also help in reaching enthusiasts.
Frans Van Humbeek, the Belgian journalist who treated my father so nicely last May, could also be approached to help spread the word, as well as, the Broken Wings museum, the Duxford Airbase, and any other WWII Air Museum. If this idea is truly doable, it's possible that mutually beneficial arrangements could be made with them to promote both themselves and the 401st.
Now, having said all that, I do have to make a proviso, I honestly don't know how successful such a venture would be, but I do think it should be considered. The Internet has the capacity to reach millions of people and even selling to a fraction of a percent of them is potentially profitable. It is worth thinking about.
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donaldbyers
2/26/2008 8:01:41 PM | No doub't that this will be and issue for sometime to come and we should continue this discussion both on the forum and in the confins of the 401st Bomb Group Assn. This I will be glad to do and approach it on the level required by any orginization. Thanks Ed for your comments they are very welcomed here.
Don
Sgt. Donald C. Byers, 613th Bomb Squadron, Togglier, 42-97344 Carrie B II, KIA 08/24/1944.
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