CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Hey all,
Don't know if this thread is in the right place...
I'm looking to set up an online store with anime-styled products that have a Christian message. Things like bookmarks, posters, stickers, magnets, t-shirts. All kinds of stuff.
The thing is, I don't really know if there's a market out there for that kind of stuff. If stuff like that existed, would you buy it? What kinds of things would you buy? I already have a CafePress but their products are fairly limited. (mainly with image sizes on things like t-shirts...)
Basically I just made a bunch of stuff to sell at the NY Anime Festival, and I'm finding that I can use a lot of this stuff outside of the convention too.
So, could you help me figure out if it's worth starting something like that?
Thanks!

I have merged your threads. As far as the question, I very rarely buy that kind of merchandise (Christian or anime-related), so I doubt I would purchase any of it.

I would, if only for my nephews and loved ones. Not that they aren't loved ones...you just don't know how they are. lol

Yeah, I don't buy much stuff either, because I have very picky tastes. Now, if I saw a super-freakin' awesome t-shirt design, I would be very tempted to buy it, but I don't see many designs I consider super freakin' awesome, or even classy.

So basically, if you're going to try to make money selling merchandise, I think you're going to need to have something very unique and appealing, not to mention professional looking....

I acutally just came accross the "Manga Messiah" which was originally published in Japan and recently brought over here. I find it absolutely fantastic and a great outreach tool for my non-christian comic and anime loving friends. If what you're considering would be another outreach tool, I think that would be great.

Esoteric wrote:Yeah, I don't buy much stuff either, because I have very picky tastes. Now, if I saw a super-freakin' awesome t-shirt design, I would be very tempted to buy it, but I don't see many designs I consider super freakin' awesome, or even classy.

So basically, if you're going to try to make money selling merchandise, I think you're going to need to have something very unique and appealing, not to mention professional looking....

Same here. I'm trying to be a smart spender! ;3;

dyzzispell wrote:Hey all,
Don't know if this thread is in the right place...
I'm looking to set up an online store with anime-styled products that have a Christian message. Things like bookmarks, posters, stickers, magnets, t-shirts. All kinds of stuff.
The thing is, I don't really know if there's a market out there for that kind of stuff. If stuff like that existed, would you buy it? What kinds of things would you buy? I already have a CafePress but their products are fairly limited. (mainly with image sizes on things like t-shirts...)
Basically I just made a bunch of stuff to sell at the NY Anime Festival, and I'm finding that I can use a lot of this stuff outside of the convention too.
So, could you help me figure out if it's worth starting something like that?
Thanks!

I think it's worth it! I'd buy anime-style/Christian products, if I could find them but I never can. I think it's a grate idea, though if you're not sure you should pray about it.

It depends on what you offer. If it's cool looking and I can afford it, sure, why not?

It depends on what you offer. If it's cool looking and I can afford it, sure, why not?

exactly:thumb:

Thanks so much for your input!
I personally hate the Christian products that are out there now. Many of them are very cheesy and oftentimes nothing but a ripoff of something on the mainstream market. (Ie MANY of the products at Kerusso)
Anyway, we are working hard to make our stuff look as professional as possible. I think our best product so far is our bookmarks. They came out looking way better than I ever expected them to. All you need is a little lamination and it's pretty easy. Everyone we've shown says they are fantastic.
I do have a couple t-shirt designs, but the cost to print them professionally right now is a bit high, so we are just doing iron-ons. However, if we did get them digitally printed or silk-screened, I think they'd be great. My main problem is that iron-on sheets are just plain too small, so I need to use 2, and then you end up with a line through the middle of the design where the two sheets meet.
Anyway, right now we are just starting with seeing how the convention goes, but a couple of people we've shown have already asked for special orders of a couple of things. I'm not so much looking to make a ton of money as much as I am looking to offer an alternative to the poorly designed stuff I see out there now. Years ago, Christian t-shirt designs were pretty cool. I think someone gave up somewhere along the way. But then, a lot of stuff was cool and creative back then too, and creativity and originality do not seem to be high on the list of what to consider when choosing products to sell these days. So sad.
And I'm hoping to make my prices pretty reasonable. I choose very carefully what I spend my money on, too, and I just can't justify spending $20 on a t-shirt or $10 on a keychain. That's just crazy. Even if I really really want it, I won't spend it. So I know what you mean, and that's why I asked.
Hopefully shortly after the start of next year we'll have a better idea of where we stand and what we can do with an online store, so for those of you interested, or even simply curious, I'll try my best to keep you updated.
Maybe I'll even start a mailing list!
Oh, and we are both working on our own graphic novels, too, which we plan on printing at some point too. We might make them webmanga too, but right now we need to draw up some more pages first.
Thanks again!