Dear esteemed members of the Nuthouse,

We are now ready to announce the sale of the second batch of the rare and highly sought after FPN Notepads!

If you were fortunate enough to have bought some from the first batch, you’ll be happy to know that there are no changes except for the addition of large unruled pads (which were previously unavailable).

If you are unlucky and have not been able to try any, now’s your chance! Come see what the fuss is all about!

Made up your mind? Then go here and get to the details.



The FPN Admin Team.

Do any of the proceeds go to supporting this site? I need more pads of paper as much as I need more holes in my head, but anything for a good cause...

Man, what a tough question. I'll try to be as correct as possible, since you are obviously a faithful FPN supporter.

There is a small amount of overhead that has been included in the fees advertized, but the goal was to offer pads as close to cost as possible without incurring losses through unexpected S&H charges. Any profits above the costs actually incurred by supplying the pads will obviously support the FPN, and we appreciate your purchases, but the most effective method of supporting the FPN would obviously be through using the 'DONATE TO FPN' button you'll find on the home page of the site. Obviously, 100% of those funds donated (less PP/CC fees, of course) are available for covering FPN operating costs (currently ISP charges). So, if you don't need pads, and are interested in supporting the FPN, that's the way to go. Any amount is appreciated by the way. If you do need good quality paper and pads, then ordering the pads is a good way to go as there should be benefits to the FPN as well.

Hope that helps.

Best regards,

Gerry

Don't forget to order. Deadline is 8th October 2006 11.59pm GMT

Are plans afoot to have them available once again?

Regards

Mike

Sorry, not anytime soon.

How quickly did they sell out? Was it generally considered a successful product for FPN?

Hi MYU,

These notepads were pre-ordered and pre-paid, like all of the projects we do. And the mark-up, which is used to pay for hosting of the board, on these was so low, that we couldn't afford to buy any beyond the pre-paid and pre-ordered ones. Plus, things like these need to be ordered in batches, otherwise it is not possible to have these manufactured in the first place, it would be too expensive to do, or impossible to find anybody to do it.

Finally, execution of a project like this, as with the ink and the pens, is purely a non-commercial and volunteer type thing, which means we can't do too many things at any one time, as it generally means quite an investment of time for the volunteers and for admins (well, ok, the admins are volunteers as well ).

BTW, any monies made above cost of production, packaging and shipping, is used, together with any donations, to fund the hosting of this site, and managing this site, as f.e., the upgrade of the forum board software.

When things have settled down again, with the board software, and with the FPN pens, we'll very likely consider doing another notepad run, provided we can find a few volunteers to help out, but I can't tell you when exactly that will be. And please note, I used the word consider. It isn't certain, certainly not at this moment in time, and not anytime soon, as Elaine mentioned.

From my careful wording slightly higher up you may have surmised that this wasn't a particularly great success, from a POV of making money for FPN, and they were sold out more or less immediately. What we try to do is put a price on things that are reasonable within the existing market, without making a loss, and without setting a price point that might upset dealers. It is a careful balancing act, IOW. Unfortunately, with notepads that means that they are sold more or less at cost + pp.

HTH, warm regards, Wim

This may be considered tacky and if so I apologize...

What about an "official" store at one of the online print places like CafePress? Admittedly the quality of goods isn't going to be the same as something picked by People Who Know Pens and Paper, but a quick browse shows some possibilities:

Journal with decent-sounding paper

Buttons (identify each other at pen shows)

Sticker with the logo and URL on it

It's not a money-maker, but I also don't think it costs FPN anything (costs are absorbed by those who order.)

The FPN does have items available on Cafe Press: http://www.cafepress.com/fpnetwork The paper used in the notepads is above and beyond wonderful. To print with lower quality just doesn't sit well with me. (my opinion)

Didn't know that we had a store already. I don't have experience with either the official FPN pads or the Cafe Press, so I was just throwing it out there. Cleverer minds than mine already got there first.

Thanks, Wim. I understand now--one of those batch production items that has to get pre-order money to do. OK, I'll just keep my eye out for the next one!

Thanks for the link, Elaine. I also didn't know about Cafe Press. Time to get a mug and a button!