tributehub

Personally, I think the APFS could do really well with their merchandising if they were to step it up a bit. Their show is more than big enough and popular enough to cash in on this. At the Dudley gig many of us chatted about the need for more souvenirs for cash and carry.

I once mentioned the cork hats with their logo on it would be a good idea.
But also lapel pins and smaller cheaper stuff. (To put on the cork hats!)

Merchandising is great because you not only make money on it, but you also reap the free advertising rewards as well. It's free because people actually pay to advertise the show for you.

A nice glossy program?

All right who else has got some bright ideas for merchandising?

Yep, good idea,fridge magnets,mousepads etc, the problem with merchandising is do you get value for money , I was recently at the Police gig at Cardiff, considering so many people were there the T shirt stall was quite quiet, why?, maybe because they were £20-£22 quid ! , at the Dudley gig they were selling the T shirts off for £10, then theres the programme, it all adds up, ticket prices are going up people dont want to spend an extra £20-£30 quid per gig. Why isnt the programme included in the price of the ticket? ??? So the point is you can merchandise anything but who will buy it ? Once the core fan base have had their fill what do you do with the rest of it?

I was disappointed with the merchandise that was on sale at Dudley, seemed like it was the last of the stock and they could not be bothered to get fresh stuff. I agree with Bob here, smaller items should be available like key rings, hat pins, baseball caps and even mugs, I'm sure these items would sell very well. I remember going to see Pink Floyd in Paris and they had key rings on sale, they went like hot cakes as they were the cheapest item on the merch stand.

A true fan will always want the latest T-shirt(I know I do) and the Aussies always seem to sell out of the latest designs, so by adding new designs every so often you will always have a good seller. My only gripe is the price difference from venue to venue, this year T shirts at Birmingham were £20 but at Nottm they were £15 ??? The prices have always varied this way.

The price variation comes from individual venues, and the cut that they want for the privilege of selling your merchandise there, and not the band.
Luck of the draw on where you go to see them on the price.  >

xh

Marillion took a stand on this on their last UK tour and refused to play venues that wanted an unreasonable cut of the merchandise sales.

Yes, I knew about this as Ian and I were going to go see them at Manchester and they pulled out through this...
Not too bad, went to see them in Leeds instead, and was a cracking gig i hasten to add  ;D

Roll on FIsh in December in Holmfirth  ;D

xh