I have a lot of T-shirts. Not dozens, but hundreds.
Like, most Floridians have “a lot of T-shirts,” then point to a drawer of them. I’ve got three full drawers, plus a pile on top of my dresser, plus a bin in the garage, plus a perpetually full donation basket for my local nonprofit.
Naturally, almost every single one of these shirts is car-related. What can I say? In this business, free shirts are just a part of life, and I graciously accept (and wear) them after visiting customers’ shops, entering events, and generally existing in the car world.
And I love them: Car shirts show the world where you’ve been, what you’ve done and what you’re interested in, and there are few better feelings than seeing a fellow car person wearing a niche shirt from a niche player in a niche world. (It seems like this usually happens at the Atlanta airport, where I see a ton of GRM shirts.)
But despite this abundance, I’m not wearing any of those free shirts as I sit here writing this. Instead, I’m wearing a shirt featuring a crude drawing of a Honda C90 motorbike along with text that says, “There’s a thin line between genius and insanity about the width of a C90 Tyre.” Instead of getting this one for free, though, I paid real money for it–something like $30 if I’m remembering correctly.
Why? Because buying this shirt supported one of my favorite YouTube channels, called c90adventures and run by a crazy English dude named Ed March. CliffsNotes: He rides a Honda C90 around the world on a shoestring budget before graduating to a miniature Jeep that he takes on a 650-mile-long off-road trip through the frozen American West.
And rather than rely on YouTube’s meager ad revenue to fund these adventures, he sells merch. Merch like the T-shirt I’m wearing to work today. I’m proud of the fact that I chipped in a few bucks to help Ed keep travelling, and I consider the shirt a bonus.
It’s not just Ed’s merch I wear, though. At the top of my T-shirt pile you’ll also find merch from Nivlac57 (the fastest drag racers to ever attend the $2000 Challenge), Berm Peak (basically GRM for mountain bikes), Behind the Bastards (a podcast about terrible people), Evan and Katelyn (arts and crafts) and more. I’d never spend more than $5 or $10 on a T-shirt at a department store, but put a cool design in front of me and tell me that $30 will help support the channel, and I’ll click “buy” every time.
So, how does this relate to GRM? Well, a more brazen publisher would pivot to a plug for our online merchandise store at this point. But instead, I wanted to talk about how much hope this gives me that I’ll see more channels making the weird, niche content that fuels the modern internet.
Paying for a show used to mean watering down the content to the point that you’d get millions and millions of weekly viewers and be able to sell big, mass-market advertisements alongside it. Then, with the advent of YouTube, it meant chasing ever-dwindling ad revenues from a secret algorithm that didn’t seem to reward great content, but rather the type of clickbait that I can’t stand. Selling merch isn’t just marketing, it’s a financial lifeline that gives channels stability and independence, and that’s a great thing for people like me who just want to find more car videos to watch online.
So, if you’ve ever found yourself consuming a small channel’s content for free, at least do them a favor and visit their merch store (every bit of site traffic helps). We vote with our wallets for the world we want to live in, and I’m happy to vote for more small channels making great content for pennies. Have a favorite channel or creator and think I should check out their store? Shoot me an email.
And if you’ve ever wondered how else you can support your favorite sports car magazine and YouTube channel, well, I could mention that we’ve got hundreds of different designs on our online store. If I see you wearing one in the Atlanta airport, I’ll make sure to say hello.
I love this trend also, with the exception that T shirts are such a crapshoot. One will fit great, then the next fits me like a circus tent made of burlap.
I wish some other businesses would take note. My local public radio station accepts any donations, but gatekeeps the swag behind some absurd tier, so instead they often get nothing from me. If they sold a $30-$40 T shirt or a $10 bumper sticker with a healthy profit baked in, I'd probably have 15 of them.
Wouldn't it be better just to click on their patreon, youtube channel membership, etc? I like a good t-shirt, but I always feel like a good majority are something I wouldn't wear either from a quality or design perspective. A good portion of the price goes into the physical object and shipping. Not a lot, relatively, is profit.
I kinda prefer stickers myself if I'm looking to support someone and get a physical reward. Cheaper to produce and ship. No sizing issues. There is always room on the toolbox for more.
I now have 2 GRM polos (caution they run big) so I can wear them to work. As a bonus I look like a professional magazineer.
i have a rule when it comes to t-shirts, anytime I get a new one the one on the bottom of the pile (meaning it's been the longest since last worn) gets put into a bin to donated to the local good will.
I do the same thing with all clothing/shoes/etc. I don't need more of anything but I do need to update/replace/etc. as time goes on. It also means that if there is something in my closet that i'll never wear again, it is likely something that I need so when I donate/throw it away I immediately purchase a replacement for it.
theruleslawyer said:Wouldn't it be better just to click do their patreon, youtube channel membership, etc? I like a good t-shirt, but I always feel like a good majority are something I wouldn't wear either from a quality or design perspective. A good portion of the price goes into the physical object and shipping. Not a lot, relatively, is profit.
Agreed. I have far too many t-shirts as it is. I'm more inclined to support someone/something via direct contribution (like paying for GRM+).
Can someone, anyone, anywhere, do a collaboration with Carhartt? Or maybe talk Gildan into making pocket Ts?
I'd buy way more shirts if they had a pocket on them. I don't wear shirts without pockets, but I also don't like wearing plain solid color shirts all the time.
ClearWaterMS said:i have a rule when it comes to t-shirts, anytime I get a new one the one on the bottom of the pile (meaning it's been the longest since last worn) gets put into a bin to donated to the local good will.
I do the same thing with all clothing/shoes/etc. I don't need more of anything but I do need to update/replace/etc. as time goes on. It also means that if there is something in my closet that i'll never wear again, it is likely something that I need so when I donate/throw it away I immediately purchase a replacement for it.
I like this method. I always seem to wait until my closest/clothes drawers are bursting at the seams before taking everything out, sorting through it, and then not getting rid of enough.
theruleslawyer said:Wouldn't it be better just to click on their patreon, youtube channel membership, etc? I like a good t-shirt, but I always feel like a good majority are something I wouldn't wear either from a quality or design perspective. A good portion of the price goes into the physical object and shipping. Not a lot, relatively, is profit.
Speaking as a years long monetized YouTuber... no, not really. I average less than a dollar a video in ad revenue. YouTube keeps 30% of channel memberships. Patreon keeps 20%. Merch sales, however, I set the price and have a fixed profit that I am guaranteed. I make more money from merch sales than everything else combined.
I can't stand shirts with iron-on graphics. They don't breathe at all. I'm awfully tempted to suffer for this one, though.
Javelin said:theruleslawyer said:Wouldn't it be better just to click on their patreon, youtube channel membership, etc? I like a good t-shirt, but I always feel like a good majority are something I wouldn't wear either from a quality or design perspective. A good portion of the price goes into the physical object and shipping. Not a lot, relatively, is profit.
Speaking as a years long monetized YouTuber... no, not really. I average less than a dollar a video in ad revenue. YouTube keeps 30% of channel memberships. Patreon keeps 20%. Merch sales, however, I set the price and have a fixed profit that I am guaranteed. I make more money from merch sales than everything else combined.
Does it cost you more than 30% of the tshirt price to sell it? Never mind the time you spend managing it. That's the point I'm getting at. Digital is straight gravy . If everyone who bought merch instead spent that much on a sub instead you'd probably be way ahead. OTOH a lot of people are more likely to buy than donate.
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