Along with the rest of the readers of Make, I’ve discovered Ponoko. It’s a service where you upload your designs for things that are cuttable with 2D CNC machines, in wood or plastic. Then they list your product for sale.
The tricky part is where they have federated all the automated mills they can find… that way, the consumer is basically shipping only from the nearest factory, and thus saves on shipping. I like this because it is also more earth-friendly (which is also connected to why it is cheaper).
All they need now is to make it more like Cafepress, where they handle the billing and the shipping… With Cafepress, you set the price above their costs and just collect the difference for a profit. Related is Zazzle, which decouples the design from the product.
With Ponoko, right now you still collect the money and arrange shipping yourself, but they ship it directly to the customer for self-assembly designs.
My first design requires zafu, which in turn will require buckwheat hulls. Thus far my cheapest source for buckwheat hulls is $3 per pound, and is… far away. Because buckwheat is seemingly all grown far from me.