In case you’ve missed the teaser posts on the ECOA Instagram, yes there is a online store in the works for ECOA and NHT merchandise. Things like the NHT books, stickers, patches, and a few other things will be available. I’ll also be offering up package deals with some pretty solid discounts.
Anyway, the bulk of my time lately has been spent dealing with the online store. As such I don’t have a longer blog article prepared this week. In the meantime check out the link store.eastcoastoverlandadventures.com and take a moment to sign up for the email announcement. Might be some exclusives available to those who sign up you won’t want to miss.
So, what can you expect? Well, seeing as a picture is worth a thousand words, let me just show you a screen grab of the current storefront:
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| Here is a peek at the breakdown of product groups in the online store. |
As you can see it’s a pretty basic straightforward layout. There will be an option to make a onetime payment toward the Patron Reward Packages rather than make the monthly payments through Patreon (which was a request since some people liked the single payments for 2015 & 2016). The books are nothing new but at least now I’ll be able to sell direct rather than through the Blurb site. Patches are something new that many of you have been asking me about. Stickers are nothing new and if you already have a copy of the NHT book then you have some of the stickers already. However there will be some new ones. The last section worth mentioning for now is “Show Specials.” I am going to offer up some package deals on combos like books, stickers, and patches. This is a good chance for you new fans and followers to pick everything up at a steal of a deal. If you already have one book, don’t worry there are options for you too. If you’re just interested in the patches and stickers there will be limited edition “anthology packs” available which will be one-each of all the current and past stickers and patches.
As I’ve said before, I’m not doing any of this to get rich. However I am trying to do the best I can with what I have. That means I do need some measurable income. I said in the crowdfunding piece earlier I’m not here to beg. Nor am I am going to flip a switch and make ECOA or the NHT a pay-to-view thing. Simply put, if you want to support ECOA and the NHT and see it continue to grow and prosper ~ and get a little something out of in return ~ great. I would love to have you as part of the Patron Support Team. If not, that’s fine. Please keep visiting and keep asking questions, and please keep adventuring!
As for when the store will open, probably in the next week or two. The patches (spoiler: 600 of them in 6 different designs) have been ordered and should arrive “soon.” Sadly I don’t have a definitive date other than “soon.” Once they’re here and I get the inventory updated the store will go live.
P.S. ~ I will be able to do in person onsite sales. So if you want to save a little on shipping and know we’re going to cross paths at a show, feel free to give me a heads up and I can set some product aside for you. I will be bringing product to Overland Expo West, MAOF, & Expo East, however inventory will be limited and will most likely be pre-packaged “show specials.”
