How much would you pay for toilet paper?
May 14, 2018 11:09 PM Subscribe
I need your help to determine the strategy for a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the American Civil Liberties Union.
I am an expat residing in China, working in international shipping and commerce. Like many others, I feel a great deal of anxiety about the current direction of the United States under the Trump administration. I would like to do my part against this issue by organizing a fund raising campaign for the ACLU.
My plan is to order a container (33 thousand rolls) of Donald Trump printed toilet paper, to feed into a GoFundMe campaign in which the proceeds go toward the ACLU. The advantage of this plan is that if I am unable to generate sufficient interest in the order, I can simply refund all the contributors and nobody looses any money. I have some experience organizing social media marketing campaigns, and should be able to roll out a well run project.
Novelty toilet paper is not a new idea, but current offerings of Trump toilet paper on Amazon are priced at between $6 to $10 per roll! Fine for a one time gag gift, but nobody will ever buy a second roll. Since I live in China and can access paper factories directly, I can obtain quality three-layer toilet paper at well below this price. My objective is to make the toilet paper available at a price cheap enough for daily use. Contributors get to wipe their behinds on Trump's face every day, and more money for the ACLU. Double win.
Sourcing the toilet paper from an America manufacturer is impossible, because the price would be impossibly high. This is the reality of global manufacturing in 2018.
The current plan is to price the toilet paper in such as way where two thirds of the price goes toward sourcing the toilet paper, and the remaining one third goes toward the ACLU.
My questions for you are the following:
1. Do you think this is a good idea or is it completely idiotic?
2. Most of you buy toilet paper in bulk packages at Costco, Walmart, etc. How many rolls do you buy at a time? What is the package size I should offer? I can only offer one size. (24? 36? 100?)
3. How much would you be willing to pay, averaged per roll, for a bulk package of Donal Trump printed toilet paper, in which one third of the price goes toward the ACLU? Shipping would be included in the price. ($2 per roll? $3 per roll? $5 per roll?)
4. The cost of manufacturing the toilet paper is fixed, but the donation amount can be whatever I set it. Do you think one third ratio is a good balance?
I do not need any advice on sourcing, logistics, duty, and fulfillment costs. This is my day job and I am aware of the details.
Thank you!
I am an expat residing in China, working in international shipping and commerce. Like many others, I feel a great deal of anxiety about the current direction of the United States under the Trump administration. I would like to do my part against this issue by organizing a fund raising campaign for the ACLU.
My plan is to order a container (33 thousand rolls) of Donald Trump printed toilet paper, to feed into a GoFundMe campaign in which the proceeds go toward the ACLU. The advantage of this plan is that if I am unable to generate sufficient interest in the order, I can simply refund all the contributors and nobody looses any money. I have some experience organizing social media marketing campaigns, and should be able to roll out a well run project.
Novelty toilet paper is not a new idea, but current offerings of Trump toilet paper on Amazon are priced at between $6 to $10 per roll! Fine for a one time gag gift, but nobody will ever buy a second roll. Since I live in China and can access paper factories directly, I can obtain quality three-layer toilet paper at well below this price. My objective is to make the toilet paper available at a price cheap enough for daily use. Contributors get to wipe their behinds on Trump's face every day, and more money for the ACLU. Double win.
Sourcing the toilet paper from an America manufacturer is impossible, because the price would be impossibly high. This is the reality of global manufacturing in 2018.
The current plan is to price the toilet paper in such as way where two thirds of the price goes toward sourcing the toilet paper, and the remaining one third goes toward the ACLU.
My questions for you are the following:
1. Do you think this is a good idea or is it completely idiotic?
2. Most of you buy toilet paper in bulk packages at Costco, Walmart, etc. How many rolls do you buy at a time? What is the package size I should offer? I can only offer one size. (24? 36? 100?)
3. How much would you be willing to pay, averaged per roll, for a bulk package of Donal Trump printed toilet paper, in which one third of the price goes toward the ACLU? Shipping would be included in the price. ($2 per roll? $3 per roll? $5 per roll?)
4. The cost of manufacturing the toilet paper is fixed, but the donation amount can be whatever I set it. Do you think one third ratio is a good balance?
I do not need any advice on sourcing, logistics, duty, and fulfillment costs. This is my day job and I am aware of the details.
Thank you!
I love the spirit of this, but 33,000 rolls is a lot of toilet paper. Consider a comparable: the Pee Tape/Robert Mueller prayer candles (the #1 selling candle on Kickstarter ever, also with a fundraising component), which had 937 backers. You'd need to do about as well at 36 rolls/order to sell your container. And at even $2/roll, that's $72/order, which is a high price for a novelty purchase (the candles were $22 for one, $36 for two).
Like saeculorum, I don't think there's a ton of demand for more than single roll gag gifts. I mean, the internet is a big place, so maybe you can find the ~1000 people who want it, but I'd personally view it as a novelty rather than something to order in bulk.
And just on a personal level, I'm not really sure I want to see and think about Donald Trump every time I use my bathroom.
I also get the 12 large-size rolls at a time. My apartment isn't that big, and I don't like dealing with finding space for big bulk purchases. Those fit under the sink.
posted by zachlipton at 11:48 PM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
Like saeculorum, I don't think there's a ton of demand for more than single roll gag gifts. I mean, the internet is a big place, so maybe you can find the ~1000 people who want it, but I'd personally view it as a novelty rather than something to order in bulk.
And just on a personal level, I'm not really sure I want to see and think about Donald Trump every time I use my bathroom.
I also get the 12 large-size rolls at a time. My apartment isn't that big, and I don't like dealing with finding space for big bulk purchases. Those fit under the sink.
posted by zachlipton at 11:48 PM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm not really sure I want to see and think about Donald Trump every time I use my bathroom.
My bathroom is a sanctuary palace and my toilet is its throne. I would not want that dickhead's face disturbing my peace. I buy charity toilet paper regularly but the paper I buy prints its charity message on the wrapper, not the tp itself.
posted by Thella at 11:54 PM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
My bathroom is a sanctuary palace and my toilet is its throne. I would not want that dickhead's face disturbing my peace. I buy charity toilet paper regularly but the paper I buy prints its charity message on the wrapper, not the tp itself.
posted by Thella at 11:54 PM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Clarifying the order size: I do not need to order a full container of thirty thousand rolls. I can order any amount. A small order of a few thousand rolls will be approximately ten percent more expensive to source per roll. Not a devastating increase given the dirt cheap base price.
posted by BeaverTerror at 11:57 PM on May 14, 2018
posted by BeaverTerror at 11:57 PM on May 14, 2018
I hate Trump, I would gladly donate to the ACLU, but I don't think I'd buy the toilet paper because I strictly use Scott and I can't deal with bad toilet paper. I worry the toilet paper would be like those napkins with designs that feel like construction paper. When I buy toilet paper, I normally buy in the largest quantity I can - 24 rolls or 18 rolls, whichever has the lowest per-roll price - but for a gag gift, which is what Donald Trump toilet paper would be, I'd buy at most one. Also, I don't think I'd want anything with Trump on it in my home, even if I am wiping my ass with it. Thinking about the guy is just... tough. And I feel like all the attention and people giving his buffoonery oxygen is how he ended up running the country.
I lack the creativity to think of anything, but there may be a better charity item to sell, if this is the route you want to go down. I think people would be more likely to want to buy and possess something with a positive message - something they stand for, not stand against.
posted by AppleTurnover at 11:58 PM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
I lack the creativity to think of anything, but there may be a better charity item to sell, if this is the route you want to go down. I think people would be more likely to want to buy and possess something with a positive message - something they stand for, not stand against.
posted by AppleTurnover at 11:58 PM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
I wouldn’t purchase regardless, because my butt deserves better than him, but something like this might do better around winter holidays when people are looking for gag gifts in bulk. I did this with the Giant Meteor 2016 / Just End it Already bumper stickers.
posted by greermahoney at 12:17 AM on May 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by greermahoney at 12:17 AM on May 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I would never buy novelty toilet paper because I'd assume the quality is poor.
I'd rather just give to the aclu directly.
posted by k8t at 12:24 AM on May 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'd rather just give to the aclu directly.
posted by k8t at 12:24 AM on May 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Several people have mentioned they do not want Trump's face in their house or touching their behind. Instead of his picture, I could have the toilet paper printed with a rolling list of Trump's bullshit quotes. Would that be preferable?
Regarding quality: the whole point of the project is to address the shortcomings of regular gag toilet paper, by offering a toilet paper which is of legitimate toilet paper quality. Since I live in China I would verify this by choosing a factory via personal visit.
posted by BeaverTerror at 12:33 AM on May 15, 2018
Regarding quality: the whole point of the project is to address the shortcomings of regular gag toilet paper, by offering a toilet paper which is of legitimate toilet paper quality. Since I live in China I would verify this by choosing a factory via personal visit.
posted by BeaverTerror at 12:33 AM on May 15, 2018
People will buy weird things. I would not buy it because I think it is crass. I cannot imagine wasting money that way.
posted by ReiFlinx at 2:51 AM on May 15, 2018
posted by ReiFlinx at 2:51 AM on May 15, 2018
I just don’t think there’s much of a market for integrating novelty printed toilet paper into daily use. Part of the appeal of novelty toilet paper is that a product which is supposed to be white and pure now has.... omg, haha, something printed on it. But if all your rolls have something printed on it, you lose the novelty. And now you’re just asking someone to integrate printed tp into their daily life, which isn’t really something we do as a society.
posted by whitewall at 3:25 AM on May 15, 2018
posted by whitewall at 3:25 AM on May 15, 2018
This is like a Spencer's gifts one off novelty purchase. It is not viable as an ACLU fundraising premium.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 4:02 AM on May 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by fluttering hellfire at 4:02 AM on May 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
I don't spend money or make donations to be disrespectful. If the ACLU wants my money, they can sell me on the positive work they do and the impact they have.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:13 AM on May 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:13 AM on May 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is exactly the sort of thing that I think will sell had Hilary won and her face was on the paper. I don't think it works in the reverse.
posted by Karaage at 5:40 AM on May 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Karaage at 5:40 AM on May 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
I would never buy novelty toilet paper. Sorry, but to me, this is just childish and gross.
And there’s all sorts of political issues with having it made in China, including human rights violations, that seem pretty ironic if you’re supporting the ACLU.
posted by FencingGal at 5:41 AM on May 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
And there’s all sorts of political issues with having it made in China, including human rights violations, that seem pretty ironic if you’re supporting the ACLU.
posted by FencingGal at 5:41 AM on May 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Novelty toilet paper is perceived as a cheap, low class, gag gift. That makes it a poor candidate for raising funds for a couple of reasons. First, as can be seen by the reactions here, there is a limited audience for such an item. Second, because the premium is of such low value there is little incentive to donate via this route.
A donation through a third party like this needs to have a compelling reason, otherwise the donor is making a very inefficient donation. Presumably your overhead comes out of the donation to pay for the paper, shipping, etc. , eating into what gets sent to the ACLU. Unless you can get someone to donate the paper and cover the shipping costs there isn't a compelling reason to donate via this campaign over donating directly to the ACLU.
posted by plastic_animals at 6:32 AM on May 15, 2018
A donation through a third party like this needs to have a compelling reason, otherwise the donor is making a very inefficient donation. Presumably your overhead comes out of the donation to pay for the paper, shipping, etc. , eating into what gets sent to the ACLU. Unless you can get someone to donate the paper and cover the shipping costs there isn't a compelling reason to donate via this campaign over donating directly to the ACLU.
posted by plastic_animals at 6:32 AM on May 15, 2018
I don't really see why I would take my ACLU donation and reduce the amount they would get by 2/3 in order for me to receive novelty toilet paper. I appreciate the intent here but I think the execution makes no sense, sorry.
posted by notorious medium at 6:42 AM on May 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by notorious medium at 6:42 AM on May 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Comments make sense. I'll work on thinking about an item with a more positive message. I'll mark this resolved.
posted by BeaverTerror at 8:09 AM on May 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by BeaverTerror at 8:09 AM on May 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
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I'll suggest this is a bad idea. I think there are very few people that would want a large quantity of Trump-branded toilet paper, either because the toilet paper quality is bad (hey, it matters!) or because they're uncomfortable keeping Trump-branded toilet paper in their home and offending a decent nunmber of visitors.
2. How many rolls do you buy at a time? What is the package size I should offer?
I buy packages of 12 double sized rolls. Usually I buy two packages at a time.
3. How much would you be willing to pay, averaged per roll, for a bulk package of Donal Trump printed toilet paper?
$0. I'd rather just donate my money to the ACLU directly.
4. The cost of manufacturing the toilet paper is fixed, but the donation amount can be whatever I set it. Do you think one third ratio is a good balance?
I think it's as good as any. For the people that want to donate more, they can donate directly to the ACLU. For those who are just in it for a gag gift, I think 1/3 seems like something they won't switch to a competitor product over, given the pricing is much higher, as you've stated.
posted by saeculorum at 11:15 PM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]