Irk Plushie Petition

@FroodyFrog
/giphy an irk to call my own

@jbartus While that is true, I don’t know if that would/should be a limiting factor. Mediocre gave away $20,000 to decorate their office, I’m pretty sure they lose hundreds, if not thousands, on fukus, and most of the shirts they have sold have been sold at a loss. I’m sure they can afford to make the plushies, and pretty confidant they could sell them and make a profit.

@metaphore I suspect that the fukus are more a means of cleaning house of junk not worth trying to sell and hold-backs for warranty replacements that are no longer required as the meh warranty period has lapsed than anything else. The quantities would be so low that they’re not worth selling so it would really be a reasonably cost-effective way of getting rid of the clutter turned into a great marketing move.

What have they been selling the shirts for that you think they were sold at a loss?

@jbartus $1-5. With free shipping. High quality shirts that google says are about $4 each for 96 wholesale (amarican apparel wants me to make a business account to view their wholesale prices). Screen printing + shipping defiantly brings the cost over $5 even with a better price for bigger volume of shirts.
The $8 they started charging for shirts is probably near the breaking even point, and I’m sure it cost less than $5 to ship so they probably make a bit there from non vmps.

@metaphore I would agree that they sell them near cost.

FYI wholesale for a black style 2001 is $4.63 right now when ordered in multiples of 1, case pricing is better than that though I don’t currently have access to the specific case pricing (phone only from the supplier I have access to) but it’s usually 10-15% less so let’s call it an even $4.10 cost per shirt, bit more for plus sizes. Even better pricing if you can buy straight from AA without a middle man but beggars can’t be choosers. They reliably sell around 2000 shirts when they do the sales (outliers being 1000ish for the I Like Irk shirts and 3000 and 4000 respectively for the black on black and day zero shirts respectively. Contract print pricing using traditional screen printing in the Boston area is around $0.50-60 per shirt for 2000 pieces putting them squarely in the $5 range without even getting into the difference in cost of labor between Texas and here.

Selling at cost is a lot different than investing say $15,000 in pattern development, manufacturing, minimum order requirements, shipping, and inventory requirements to store all the plushies in the hope of selling enough of them to make it worth their while with a relatively limited audience to market to.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@jbartus While I don’t really disagree with anything you said, my original point about how mediocre/meh isn’t above spending large amounts of money just for funzies, or willing to take a loss ($1 shirts are defiantly a loss, and even if they are clearing inventory, giving away a few $300 items is a loss) on things occasionally because they like their customers, still stands.

@metaphore I don’t remember $1 shirts personally but I will say that the marketing value of all of this far exceeds any monetary cost they’ve incurred. There’s a big difference between some run of the mill shirts and having to order a production run of a few thousand plush irks though.

@jbartus The black VMP shirts sold for $1. That’s the only one I remember

@looseneck they seem like an outlier then. It’s possible that the black on black treatment was a cock up by the manufacturer and Meh got them for a song, would explain the pricing.

@jbartus Those were done at a loss also. The only time AA blanks really gets cheaper is if it’s a discontinued item (color), and it’s often because there’s limited stock left.

As for plushies – if it does move forward, maybe @dave talk to Ramy/TeeTurtle about theirs?

@looseneck day zero kickstarter shirts were also $1 and the first meh (white on black) shirts.

@narfcake AA blanks go on sale all the time, who told you otherwise? O_o

We’re still discussing a massive difference in time and monetary expense between printing up some shirts that come off the shelf and having a custom plush engineered, prototyped, and produced.

@jbartus You’re still discussing the time/cost difference. No one here disagrees that making plushies costs more than making t-shirts. We are all just saying that we don’t care that it costs more because we are willing to pay more for a plush, and we know that meh can afford to sink the initial funds required if they wanted to.

“… really gets cheaper …”
@jbartus I wasn’t talking about a sale but full on closeout-level type of discounting.

@metaphore Mediocre is a business centered around moving closeout merchandise quickly. You’re asking them to invest major capital in what would likely have to be a high quantity of custom plush with a very limited market on the principle that they sold some comparatively inexpensive shirts at or below cost in the past. Beyond the initial investment cost for design and prototyping there’s going to be a minimum production run requirement and beside the cost of said units there are the costs associated with storing whatever units don’t sell in the initial offer long term taking up space that could otherwise be filled with saleable inventory. It’s a matter of having realistic expectations. Even if they took a hit on the shirts in the past that doesn’t make the proposal that they take a hit on something else less absurd.

@narfcake and I am saying they run promotions besides closeout level discounting which could meaningfully impact the cost of a shirt versus a $5 sales price.

@jbartus They GAVE AWAY $20,000 in gift cards because they thought it would be fun. Hundreds of dollars in merchandise is give away pretty regularly, through contests on the forums and in the item write ups and videos. Fukus and even Fukos contain hundreds of dollars of merchandise give out at a fraction of even what they paid for it, and significantly less than what they could sell the items for.
Yes, I know, Mediocre/Meh is a business. Yes one of their goals is to make money. Another one of their goals, which you are choosing to ignore completely, is to have fun with the community they have created. In the past they have done things for the community at substantial monetary losses and I don’t see any reason why it would be out of he realm of possibility for them to do so again.
I also believe that even with the high initial cost required it is perfectly reasonable to expect to be able to make a profit off of Irk Pushies. In this thread alone, as of right now, we have ~ 30 people saying this is something they would like, many of them expressing the desire to purchase multiples. A very small amount of the Meh customer base participates in the forums regularly, so it should be fair to assume that more people would also be interested. 100 items would sell out very quickly, 500 would still sell out, 1000 probably still. I believe most of the people that are interested in buying an irk would be willing to pay around $25, probably even more, for it, assuming the size and quality warranted. There is definitely room in there for a profit.

TLDR: stfu about shirts, that was never the point.

@metaphore the $20k you keep bringing up had another key purpose, putting them on the map. $20k handed out to create buzz is a pretty inexpensive option compared to most other marketing options and the buzz it generated was far higher than dumping money into traditional advertising would typically generate. The fuku/fuko are the same deal, good marketing, as well as likely a convenient way to get rid of merchandise they held in inventory for dispute resolution that they haven’t got the quantity to warrant listing for sale again. One consequence of being a single daily deal site is they aren’t equipped to sell small quantities of disparate goods efficiently. You also can’t measure the expense of these things in retail dollars, a company like mediocre pays pennies on the wholesale dollar for items.

Your 100 and probably 500 quantity figures would likely be a drop in the bucket considering what production line minimums would be for a reasonably sized plush of good quality, it would likely be measured in the thousands. I also think you’re over estimating how many plush will sell in multiples at a $25 price point to this particular demographic. No question the forum goers are interested but they’re also the most invested in the Meh brand.

The requirements to produce a plush versus a shirt or other commonly branded item are massively disparate. Whether or not they have expended money on non traditional marketing initiatives in the past does not really translate to expending major capital on a pricy piece of swag.

@jbartus @metaphore If you two kids don’t stop squabbling I am going to have to separate you.

@mfladd Don’t worry. I’m done. I’ve said what I had to say, got sucked into some irreverent arguments, and then said some of the same stuff over again. If Meh wants to make some Irk plushies that would be super cool. Since they haven’t, and Irk told us they don’t want them, I’m just gonna assume they don’t want to and be sad.

@therealjrn Sorry, I’m not sure what you’re trying to buy. Make sure you’re posting in today’s deal topic.

Good job @mediocrebot!

@mediocrebot you have no right to correct anyone with an altruism score of 0.0. Throw a fucking star now and then.

@DrunkCat eBay?

@narfcake
/ebay monkey

Hmm…

/woot monkey

Lil’ Monkey Dome Climber w/ Mobile App for $99.99
http://kids.woot.com/offers/lil-monkey-dome-climber-w-mobile-app-1

@DrunkCat I have boxes of them… I would send you 1 or 2 or 3…

@DrunkCat I have boxes too. Let me know.

@mikibell @sammydog01

@mikibell @sammydog01 How do y’all have boxes? I only ever managed to nab two and both eventually succumbed to the cats.

@DrunkCat They sold them for two bucks apiece. You need to buy a box to justify the shipping. Plus crap.

@sammydog01 Holy crap, I would’ve been all over that. Ah well.

@DrunkCat yeah, I am certain I bought them cheap, and in all different cape colors. We had them at a family event and just kept shooting them at people. Can’t say a few people weren’t consciously targeted I am serious, if you want some… email me… username at onmyhonor dot com

@DrunkCat I’m at my username with two zeros instead of one at gmail. I’ll send you one. Seriously.

@DrunkCat Isn’t the generosity of this community amazing!

@tomvarela

Maybe it bothers me more than it should. Nice catch, @FroodyFrog.

@tomvarela Irk Ringtone

@2many2no Thanks for the link. Great 404 song. Already have it set as “work” ringtone.

@OldCatLady - Calling @brhfl, our resident Striimlight scrutinizer.

@OldCatLady Something like this?

@brhfl Yes, exactly, only with many recorded options, so you just never know what Irk would say. One of them has to be the entire ‘Something Went Terribly Wrong’ song.

@KDemo @jaremelz

However, my conciliatory side wonders why we can’t have both?

@KDemo Irk comes first!

@KittyJimmies

Nah. TTM is more important!

@FroodyFrog Don’t rustle my Jimmies!

@KittyJimmies

Yours Truly,

@KDemo can we eats it
/giphy gollum precious

@TittyKitty that is a great fucking gif.
Except for the part where that damn cat blocks our view.

@sohmageek I luv that gif.

@sohmageek - I thought you got free pizza. How can you still be hungry?
/giphy full

@KDemo no free pizza. Dominoes pulled out.
/giphy pizza fail

@sohmageek - Domino’s? I’d call that a win.

You still can’t eat TTM.

@KDemo dominoes pulled out. Fuck dominoes. They don’t want my business.

@sohmageek - Agreed, I meant it’s a win that you didn’t have to order a Domino’s pizza. They have zero Michelin stars.

@ceagee

p.s. Ohhhhh…you mean like the Buffalo Bills won’t ever do another Super Bowl dance - got it.

@mfladd I can live with that. At least they play an honest game.

@ceagee

@mfladd Now look what you did, sniff, sniff…

@ceagee do they now?
http://yourteamcheats.com/BUF

@mfladd if they do sell plushie irks I promise you will get one with champ and your name on it just to spite the nonbeliever.

@jbartus sweet!

@jbartus Unless it’s in my handwriting it doesn’t count.

@sammydog01 says you.

@sammydog01

How much would it cost for you to do it for me? And before you decline to do it, think about how it would irk @ceagee.

(Wow, irk fits perfectly in context.)

@jbartus No. It’s true. Unless it’s in @sammydog01’s handwriting, it doesn’t count.

@christinewas count for what? All that was specified was that it say Champ and @mfladd’s name. I promised nothing more.

@cinoclav

I’ll sell you this name for 10¢

@ilovehollboll I’ll let you know when she gets back to me regarding the Bubba bottles… The name might not fit.

@cinoclav Oh @pussynonpareils, you’re my favorite

@Pony I would be remiss if I didn’t give you thanks for the inspiration of Irk’s latest thread. It was all you “Gimme”

@CaptAmehrican I think you’re incorrect about adults these days.

@narfcake Agreed. It does not matter whether they are for adults to stick in a cubicle, or a different stuffed animal for their kids. I think these would sell out very quickly. People loved their wOOt monkeys - my kids loved my wOOt monkeys.

Except the one who was very young and cried whenever I shot it. He is ok now, except when he goes to the zoo or watches Planet of the Apes

@mfladd

Implying that that’s the only way an adult would use an Irk plush?

If I want to drive around with Irk sitting in the front passenger seat of my car, then I’d like to see you try and stop me!

@narfcake and the Wizard of Oz - that doesn’t go well either.

@TickledLizard Hey - more power to you. Just take pictures.

@mfladd

I wonder if he’d count towards quota for carpool lane (not that I need to use those).

@mahoneyli Good Question.

@christinewas he’s awesome.

@sammydog01 well done!

@christinewas rub it in why don’tcha?

@Thumperchick While I mostly wanted to emphasize the greatness of @sammydog01, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t trying to rub it in @mfladd’s face just a tiny bit. I suppose that does kind of transfer to everyone else. Oops.

@cercopithecoid

But what if we don’t have a cat or a dog?

@TickledLizard offer to help clean under a friend’s refrigerator.

@RiotDemon

That would require me to travel ~1200 miles.

@TickledLizard then ask a stranger to clean under their couch. I’m sure they’ll love it.

@RiotDemon

Sure, cause NY’ers really enjoy having strangers asking them if they can clean under their couch.