Porter Loves Merch: 

Hello all-

 

Thank you for your patience. The interest people have shown has spurred us to really dig into our proposed idea and answer a number of pending questions…which, of course, led to more questions.

 

This experiment in retail is a new venture for us, and we want to be as thoughtful as possible to make it beneficial for all involved. Here's a quick summary of what we've come up with, followed by a link to a form that will collect additional information from you.

Our Values

Porter Loves values community, collaboration, authenticity, social change, and breaking rules of convention. We want to support organizations and collaborate with creators who share these values. The organizations we will help with this project work in pursuit of environmental preservation, reproductive rights, democracy, the arts, disability justice, racial justice, the rights and human dignity of immigrants, refugees, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, etc.

 

When you work with us, we'll provide a list of organizations we've identified as candidates for support, and you will have the opportunity to pick which one you'd like your work to support. You can also suggest other organizations. Our focus is on small, local causes. While some regional and national organizations may come into play, we're still emphasizing smaller places where this contribution can make a real difference (think SisTers PGH versus Trevor Project, or Generation Common Good versus the ACLU.) No shade to those larger places - they do important and valuable work.

Hypothetical Price Breakout

For a frame of reference, an item that retails for $100 ($107 with sales tax), the artist/collaborator/you would get $55, the benefitting organization for that period would get $20, and Porter Loves would get $25 ($32 including sales tax.)

 

Timeline Draft

Quarterly drop/launch dates will align with calendar year quarters (Jan 1, April 1, July 1, Oct 1) or the nearest business day.

 

For a hypothetical Jan 1 drop, we envision a timeline that looks something like (please note that for timing, the earliest collab launch that seems reasonable as of now is January 1, 2026):

 

Product Inspiration

This is not prescriptive - we just want to share inspiration points of creative small business merch collaborations we love:

 

We can provide logo, photo, and color palette information at any point to inform your creative interpretation process.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

We will draft a standard collaboration agreement that outlines roles and responsibilities, payment timelines, and other key details. However, Porter Loves will be responsible for marketing and promotions, credit card fees, collecting and remitting sales tax, and handling shipping and logistics. Furthermore, any discounts or promotional deals offered at any time will be funded by the Porter Loves share.

NEXT Steps

Fill out the form below to share some information with us. There is also a place on the form for you to ask us questions, request we set up a meeting, etc.