If you followed me from my Blogger page, then you might be aware that I collect vinyl records and other various pieces of music swag. These days, I buy two copies of albums by certain indie artists; one to play, one to keep sealed that will hopefully go up in value. It is amazing how things go up in value in such a short amount of time these days. For instance, first pressing copies of MF DOOM‘s Operation: Doomsday (released January 1999 by Fondle’Em) has sold on eBay upwards of $100 starting back in 2003-2004.
There are hundreds of examples of this taking place, but I mention it to address one thing an artist should consider when having merchandise made for a certain project. We all know that making music can be costly and many of us just do not have the disposable income to have it made on a grand scale, especially when it is possible that the end result will wind up in your basement collecting dust if the stuff does not sell.
Depending on the situation, you may not attract the attention of enough people to sell off your quantity of CDs, t-shirts and/or other nifty knick-knacks in a short period of time, which is what we all want. I mean, who wants to sit around hocking the same old product for months on end? Of course, that does not mean you should not continue to sell the stuff over a longer period of time. While it may be attractive to skimp on the quality of the merch to protect your bottom line, I suggest you not do that if you are serious about your work. If anything, buy less quantity and bolster the quality of what you plan to sell.
