Planning on another Merch Drop soon!

Hey friends :3. So it's been a few months since the last Merch Drop. I'm planning on hosting another one soon! I still have tons of envelopes, stickers paper, and photo paper left over from the last one. I'd like to put that material to good use!

That said, the merch drop is gonna look a little different from previous ones. Here's what I'm planning:

• I'm planning on having these drops cost $25.00 USD.

• I unfortunately need to limit shipping to USA addresses only once again. For the life of me, I cannot figure out a sustainable way to ship internationally. Every freight company I have access to as a small business adds a surcharge of +$30.00 for every shipment out of the country. I cannot, in good faith, ask anyone to pay +$30.00 extra dollars on top of $25.00 for some stickers and prints. I haven't been able to get good advice from anyone on how to better manage these high costs.

• I will only be taking orders from folks who can receive the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a carrier. USPS usually charges me $5-$6 to ship with them. FedEx and UPS have charged me up to $15. I have to stick with USPS to make this sustainable.

• I'd like to see if I can make Merch Drop a single item purchase that can be bought through Patreon's store front. I don't want it to be a separate tier like last time. I mostly want to avoid having long-time Chordies miss out on their legacy pledges.

• Merch drops won't be monthly. Planning monthly shipments was quite stressful. I'd like to be able to take breaks for cons, planned trips, holidays, etc. Some drops may be happening during back-to-back months, but I'm not planning on doing it every single month.

• Drops from now on (unless this idea is unpopular) will be for a specific collection of items curated by me. I won't give customers the option to choose which items they'd like most. I'll advertise exactly what will be featured in each drop. Plus, I'll add some surprise extra goodies like I always do! In essence, each drop will be "take it or leave it". This makes things easier on me since it streamlines the printing/cutting process.

• For the first Merch Drop of 2025, I will only be taking five (5) orders. If the workflow feels right and I can manage more, I'll allow more slots. Taking up to 10 orders was really taxing. Especially since I was dealing with a finicky printer and other low-quality equipment.

• I'd like to work on Build 7's public release, then get to work on planning the Merch Drop during June, and officially offering the merchandise in July 2025. This is my current plan and things may change.

• Merch Drops will be advertised to Patreon subscribers first. After 24 hours pass, if there are any slots left, I'll advertise to the public. I want to make sure you guys get first dibs.

Phew! That's a lot of info. So, if you guys have any questions, feel free to ask them below!

Side note, if you have any ideas for merch, let me know!