As a business owner that offers decals (stickers) for sale, I feel compelled to chime in here.
First off, I offer decals because members have repeatedly asked for them. Not because I feel they're some marketing gimmick. As Matt said above, decals are not an impactful form of advertising. People like to show their affiliation with products/companies, and many members here are proud to display a BassResource decal on their truck/boat/trailer/wife's forehead, etc. I'm happy to incorporate the wishes of our cherished members. Again - they asked for it.
Second, as a small business owner, I don't have the buying power to get discounts on huge volumes of decals. At a cost of $1 - $4 per decal on average (depending on size), I can't afford to give away hundreds of decals. In addition, when you add the mailing costs of $3-$8 per order, it adds up pretty quickly. So I "sell" them, but not at a profit, at cost. I'm just recuperating the expenses.
As for our gigantic line of embroidered apparel that we sell - we get none of the money. None. Nada. Zero. Zip. The orders are made-to-order through a third party that handles it all for us, including shipping and customer service. It's a great small business just a couple miles away from us that offers outstanding, personalized customer service. Ensuring our members get top-notch quality and service is more important to me than making a buck off a shirt.
As for our tournament jerseys - same deal there. We make zero dollars off every sale. We don't get a dime. Again, quality made-to-order garments from an outstanding company.
Bottom line - it costs $$ to manufacture these items, and while larger companies might be able to absorb some of the costs (which I doubt, given the volume), small businesses like ours can't. So the costs are passed on to the consumer - at cost.
If I could give it away, I would. But I don't have thousands of dollars of extra cash just laying around. I don't know anyone who does.
Hopefully I've shed some light from the other side of the fence.
