Idea: Buttons as Price Tags
The Jeff Claassen Gallery in San Luis Obispo, California is using buttons in a unique way - as price tags. Jeff has posted several pictures of how how he uses buttons as a price tag on his t-shirt. You can see his button maker while making price tags, the price tag buttons on a shirt, and some buttons up close.
There are several benefits to using buttons as price tags. Buttons are cheap (each price tag only costs about 10 to 20 cents). Buttons are reusable - you can take the buttons off at checkout and reuse. You can also color coordinate buttons based on the price.
Apparently this was inspired by MNKR Cloths.
Do you have a clever idea? Please share it with us.
Button Maker Porn
Well, it’s not quite porn, but this is now one of my favorite pictures with a button machine in it.
A man, a laptop, and a button machine.
Dramatic Photo of Button Machine
A photographer on Flickr has taken a rather dramatic photo of a button machine.
Who says a button maker can’t be art?
Button Effect Photoshop Tutorial
Several months ago, I posted a free photoshop file that will turn almost any photo into a button.
A tutorial posted at PSTUTS will give you step-by-step guide on how to create a button effect from scratch. The picture below shows the end result.
Photoshop Button Maker - PSDTUTS
Winter Rec-Fest Button Design
Winter Rec-Fest kicks off with 2009 button unveiling - La Crosse Tribune
Amy Springer of La Crosse, Wisconsin designed the winning button for the 23rd annual Winter Rec-Fest in La Crosse. Purchasing the $1 button will get a visitor into certain events.
Obama Button Poster
DemocraticStuff.com is offering a very unique Barack Obama button poster.
The poster is $25. Here is a description of the poster…
Truly a unique piece. DemocraticStuff.com offered nearly 1000 buttons in support of Barack Obama in the historic 2008 election. This stunning poster features over 400 of our best. Each of these posters is hand numbered and limited to an edition of 5000. At 38-1/2″ x 25″, this keepsake print is ideal for framed display in any Democrat’s home or office.
Inauguration Buttons
The inauguration in Washington, DC is less than 10 days away. There will a lot of street vendors selling buttons, and some have already started. I’ve compiled some pictures of Barack Obama inaugural buttons on Flickr.
Inaugural buttons hawked by DC street vendors
Older inauguration buttons…
Online stores selling Obama inauguration buttons…
Button Making is a Social Affair
Making buttons can be a social event. If you search for “button making” on Flickr, you don’t see many people making buttons by themselves. Many organizations will make a party out of making buttons. It can be a fun and productive social event. I’ve attached a few images below and included a few images below.
Button making party - Flickr
Button Making Action - Flickr
NIU Button Making - Flickr
Button Making - Flickr
Button Making Sweat Shop - Flickr
Button Street Vendors - Perfect Competition
Political buttons were a hot commodity during the presidential campaign. With the inauguration only 10 days, buttons vendors are busy make commemorative Barack Obama inauguration buttons.
I happened to be in Denver several months ago during the Democratic National Convention. It was amazing to see all the button vendors. These small business owners were selling a wide-variety of buttons in a variety of sizes. Most buttons averaged about $5 (or 5 for $20). The cost to make one of these buttons was around $1.00. 500% mark-up on a product is pretty good.
Both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions lasted about a week. Selling buttons during an event like this is capitalism at its finest.
For sake of argument, I’m going to assume that several of these vendors had their own button machine. I’m also going to focus more on street vendors as opposed to vendors with their own booth at the convention or near the convention.
Why is a button street vending a perfect example of capitalism? Well, its a great example of perfect competition. For perfect competition, several conditions must be met.
- Low barrier to entry. A street vendor can start a business for a couple hundred dollars. It’s not a stretch to say anyone can start this business.
- Large number of small producers. When I was walking in Denver, I passed 5 street vendors in two blocks. Many of the these vendors had a piece of cardboard that displayed the different buttons they offered.
- In a perfectly competitive environment, every product is identical. This is the one area where the perfectly competitive environment breaks down a little bit. There is a lot of variation in what the button says.
- Perfect information between buyer and seller. As a consumer, it’s very easy to obtain information about the product and the competition. Researching the competition is as simple as walking across the street.
- Firms must be price takers. In laymen terms, the price that is charged for a button is set by the market. Because there are so many street vendors, a man charging $2 or $3 more per button is going to suffer because a consumer can just go across the street to buy a cheaper button. While walking through Denver, I noticed most buttons were hovering around $5.
If you are a small business owner, this may seem like a difficult environment to operate in. Not necessarily.
The beauty of a week long event like the DNC and RNC is immediate market feedback. After one day of selling buttons, you can already identify trends in the market. Maybe people are buying big buttons and funny buttons but not policy driven buttons. The next day you can adjust your product line. Each morning can bring an entirely new set of buttons. Each day, you can also see what your competitors are offering and at what prices. Often, a person buying a button will already be wearing a couple buttons, and you can see what people have already bought. Another way to differentiate yourself is location, location, location.
In my opinion, these are just a few reasons why button street vendors are an example of capitalism at its finest.
Pocket Mirrors
Button makers aren’t just limited to making conventional buttons. By conventional, I mean buttons with a pin in the back. Some button makers can make pocket mirrors.
TheTagLady over at Flickr has made her own picture tutorial on how to make a pocket mirror with her button machine.
If you are interested in buying a pocket mirror or two, check out some of the sites below.
Pocket Mirrors - PinkLovesBrown.com
Monogrammed Button Compact Mirror - BayVillageStore.com
Miss Bella’s Room - Etsy
Flirt Buttons - Etsy
50 Custom 2 1/4 inch Pocket Mirrors - Etsy
