So how are the taxes handled with the money you make? Would you have to report this “income” to your local tax department? And would you have to get a business license or something?

Platinum Dan
You will indeed be able to have adult stuff on there.

Has PayPal changed its stance on not wanting its service used for Adult stuff? That would seem to be a bit of a problem.

Pieguy259
Will we be able to put certain designs ONLY available on one kind of product, for example a picture used only as a T-shirt design?

…from memory, I think it's up to the buyer. If the art is up for sale, the buyer can put it on anything its resolution allows.

Lonnehart
So how are the taxes handled with the money you make? Would you have to report this “income” to your local tax department? And would you have to get a business license or something?

You'll handle that the way you handle any extra income. It's your choice how you report it. How do people report their project wonderful balance, e-bay, cafe press etc?

MOrgan

Platinum Dan
You will indeed be able to have adult stuff on there.

Has PayPal changed its stance on not wanting its service used for Adult stuff? That would seem to be a bit of a problem.

Interesting. Well, it's not directly adult and you're not paying for adult services. It would be more like buying lube, sexy underwear or an erotic book on e-bay, which you can do on Paypal I believe.

Ooooh, T-shirt ideas….soooo many T-shirt ideas….

Seriously, this sounds like an awesome idea.
Getting merchandise for a comic set up is difficult for those of us that aren't business minded, but this sounds like it would make things a lot easier.
Assuming it is done well, I am very excited.

wicked then! i cant wait to try ehr out! i set up some stuff on cafepress, but that's LLOONNGGG forgotten.would be nice to have something that's got an umbilical cord to DD.

I'm not a fan of how T-shirts are only white. Also all the samples they have are just square pictures put on apparel. I'm all for being able to sell merchandise on DD but I would wish for more customization than just a square on a white shirt.

TheFlyingGreenMonkey
I'm not a fan of how T-shirts are only white. Also all the samples they have are just square pictures put on apparel. I'm all for being able to sell merchandise on DD but I would wish for more customization than just a square on a white shirt.

As Pit_face says; the main point is that it's connected directly to your DD account. :)

There will be customisation like cropping and zooming- depending on the resolution of the images you've uploaded. But if it doesn't meet all you want, there's always Cafe press to supplement your inventory ;)

ozoneocean

TheFlyingGreenMonkey
I'm not a fan of how T-shirts are only white. Also all the samples they have are just square pictures put on apparel. I'm all for being able to sell merchandise on DD but I would wish for more customization than just a square on a white shirt.

As Pit_face says; the main point is that it's connected directly to your DD account. :)

There will be customisation like cropping and zooming- depending on the resolution of the images you've uploaded. But if it doesn't meet all you want, there's always Cafe press to supplement your inventory ;)

True. I'm not unhappy with this just wishing for more. All the other things they sell makes up for the apparel I suppose. I mean puzzles! PUZZLES! XD

I don't think EZPrints is a t-shirt focused business. As has been mentioned, they're more about offering a variety of products people might want and letting them customize what gets put on it. It's sites like Scary Go Round and TopatoCo which have given everyone the idea that t-shirts are the way to make money off webcomics. The truth is you have to actually have great t-shirt designs to sell a lot of t-shirts. And if you have that skill, you don't need a site like DD's upcoming store. There's tons of t-shirt sales places out there like Threadless where you can get paid for your submissions if people think they are good.

We did complain about white-only shirts, but apparently EZPrint just doesn't stock other colors. The upside is that I think they don't put a limit on the number of colors you can put on a shirt- which means probably they are made a different way than limited-color printing. I'm not sure how that would impact the quality, I've never messed with t-shirts.

It remains to be seen how non-standard proportions would be represented on the actual merchandise. Most of them will just end up being cropped to fit (like on products like the puzzles and prints, which are a set size), although the buyer will be able to control where the crop boundaries are. Things like the wraparound mugs asked about earlier… I'm not sure.

I am intrigued by this, although I hope there's more products within the pre-existing categories available than what the current page load out says.

Still, exciting.

Hm. Will there be a new forum sub-topic for the stores? In regards to advertising or other questions?

Awesome, I'm going to sell out faster than .

TheFlyingGreenMonkey

ozoneocean

TheFlyingGreenMonkey
I'm not a fan of how T-shirts are only white. Also all the samples they have are just square pictures put on apparel. I'm all for being able to sell merchandise on DD but I would wish for more customization than just a square on a white shirt.

As Pit_face says; the main point is that it's connected directly to your DD account. :)

There will be customisation like cropping and zooming- depending on the resolution of the images you've uploaded. But if it doesn't meet all you want, there's always Cafe press to supplement your inventory ;)

True. I'm not unhappy with this just wishing for more. All the other things they sell makes up for the apparel I suppose. I mean puzzles! PUZZLES! XD

I'm excited about the puzzles too.

TheFlyingGreenMonkey
I'm not a fan of how T-shirts are only white. Also all the samples they have are just square pictures put on apparel. I'm all for being able to sell merchandise on DD but I would wish for more customization than just a square on a white shirt.

It's only a square picture on a white shirt if you make it that way. True, you can't change the colour of the shirt, but you have the ability to do whatever you want within the space provided. ie: if you don't want a square on the shirt, you just need to make spot illustrations without colour running to the edges. It's all part of the illustration game man. You have to design the work to fit the product.

As for the printing process I'm willing to bet they use a digital laser printing technique like cafe press and a lot of other print-on-demand places. Usually the quality is a few steps up from iron-on designs, but a bit lower on the scale than something like screen-printing or roller printed designs. I have one from a couple years ago of a Last Words design that I've worn around the house once in a while and it's help up pretty well.

btw, Threadless is more about how well you can network and get people to vote for you than about the quality of your design skills. It's not a bad idea, but the site is just so big and has so many designers that it just comes down to that. Not that that nullifies skool's point though.

ozoneocean
As long as you create it and own copyright you can sell it.

Question: What does that mean? Do I have to go and get a copyright to sell it then? I haven't copyrighted any of my stuff, they're webcomics!

I think I only have to report my “income” to the local tax department if I actually get a check or something from Paypal. I could be wrong, though. My bank told me that the money is transferred directly to my own account, but something tells me I may still have to report it. T_T

ParkerFarker
Question: What does that mean? Do I have to go and get a copyright to sell it then? I haven't copyrighted any of my stuff, they're webcomics!

By creating something you own the copyright on it automatically. Official copyright is a separarte process and not usually necessary for things like webcomics.

It just means that we're not going to be approving images with Daffy Duck on them.

Chernobog
Hm. Will there be a new forum sub-topic for the stores? In regards to advertising or other questions?

We've asked for that, definitely at least for help issues. We feel like there are too many forums going on right now but we've never gotten a response from Plat about forum-changing requests. They just haven't had anyone to put on the job. I think the store might be worth its own help forum though. We aren't sure how much support the store will need (or even who might be able to answer some of the questions, though Oz and I will help where we can, and will be adminning some aspects of the store).

In a pinch I think store advertising would probably go in HELWID- or there could be a stickied thread in one of the forums where people can post the fact that they have a store, and show some of the images they currently have available. Probably doesn't need a whole forum.

Lonnehart:

I dunno how your local tax laws might work, but in the US *any* income must be reported. There's a separate line on the return for “other sources of income” which is meant to encompass internet sales, personal payments, bake sales…

Getting money electronically transfered has no significant difference from writing a check. The bank goes through the same processes and it's reported in the same way. If it goes through a financial institution, it's trackable. Paypal isn't “under the table.”

skoolmunkee
Lonnehart:

I dunno how your local tax laws might work, but in the US *any* income must be reported. There's a separate line on the return for “other sources of income” which is meant to encompass internet sales, personal payments, bake sales…

Getting money electronically transfered has no significant difference from writing a check. The bank goes through the same processes and it's reported in the same way. If it goes through a financial institution, it's trackable. Paypal isn't “under the table.”

I know it's all gotta be reported. However, I'm pretty new at the “earning extra income” part of things, so I'll have a lot of questions. Don't want to get in trouble with the IRS as it could put me in a quagmire of problems. :)

However, since the bank will report any extra income I get I'm guessing that I don't have to go to the tax office to report it myself. I'll just go to the tax office next time I get the chance to see if I end up getting a seperate form for such income and if it's to be filed in with my 1040EZ and such.

heh… I feel like such a greenhorn when it comes to tax laws… T_T

skoolmunkee

ParkerFarker
Question: What does that mean? Do I have to go and get a copyright to sell it then? I haven't copyrighted any of my stuff, they're webcomics!

By creating something you own the copyright on it automatically. Official copyright is a separarte process and not usually necessary for things like webcomics.

It just means that we're not going to be approving images with Daffy Duck on them.

Shucks, I really wanted to make a daffy duck mug.

Hey, this looks really cool. Might become a good source of income for some of the artists around here. Especially the ones with popular comics.

theRedDeath mentioned that this didn't offer comic printing but I don't suppose it would be that hard to add such a feature in a later date, should this thing take off.

Press spin
an entertainment company that controls an international library of more than 5,600 comic book characters

Dare ya to name em all.

ksteak

Press spin
an entertainment company that controls an international library of more than 5,600 comic book characters

Dare ya to name em all.

I could, but it would make the head explode of anyone who actually took the time to read it. Only people like me with no innate creativity of their own can handle a list like that. :-)

I hate to throw cold water on everyone's enthusiasm here…but if everyone starts selling merc all at the same time…I think there is going to be a lot more supply then demand!

I will be happy if I shift just one T-shirt to someone!

harkovast
I hate to throw cold water on everyone's enthusiasm here

That's not what you said in The Webcomic Review Comic On The Web - It's a veritable enthusiasm dousing low temperature h20fest!

Cool… if I can get my store set up, I'll connect my store link here instead of CafePress (where I haven't sold a damn thing ever since I started it 15 months ago)!

Ironscarf….yeah you've got me there!

Too bad I can't sell stuff like “tactical ballistic nuclear devices” or things like that… Maybe… flamethrowers? :)

In all seriousness though…

I won't need a business license for this, will I?

harkovast
I hate to throw cold water on everyone's enthusiasm here…but if everyone starts selling merc all at the same time…I think there is going to be a lot more supply then demand!

Does this mean we're having a wet t-shirt contest?

harkovast
I will be happy if I shift just one T-shirt to someone!

Same here.

So is this still happening? It seems like the site freeze is over but there is no shop yet.