Cafepress alternatives

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azraelswings

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Does anyone know of services similar to cafepress that make higher quality merchandise? I did an order with them and was entirely displeased with the quality of their products.
 
I'm not that familar with Cafe Press when it come to audio products. What was wrong with their service? Packaging quality or something else? Are you looking for someone to do a short run of cdr's or actually press and distribute an album? Have you looked at Mixonic.com or DiscMakers?
 
dollarcd.com is pretty cool, but really nothing like cafepress
 
Haha sorry guys, I meant Tees and such. I put it in marketing and publicity because thats where I figured merch stuff belonged. I ordered shirts from cafepress and they were just not at all up to snuff IMO
 
azraelswings said:
Haha sorry guys, I meant Tees and such. I put it in marketing and publicity because thats where I figured merch stuff belonged. I ordered shirts from cafepress and they were just not at all up to snuff IMO
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I'm glad you posted this. My band was seriously considering doing the CafePress thing. I would've ordered some stuff as a test run before we launched it on our site. But I think you just saved me the trouble.
 
Scottgman said:
I'm glad you posted this. My band was seriously considering doing the CafePress thing. I would've ordered some stuff as a test run before we launched it on our site. But I think you just saved me the trouble.
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Well man, here's my thoughts on what I got:

First of all, they put the logos on 3 shirts in the wrong place. Not a huge deal, they sent replacements next day air.

The women's custom tanks I ordered looked pretty bad once they were worn. Breasts stretch the fabric enough to tear little cracks in the artwork, resulting in a very shitty looking garment.

As for the regular men's tees, they came out fine, I really cant complain about them. I suppose it depends on what you want to sell but I would only use them for select items. Also, they're rather pricey.
 
azraelswings said:
I suppose it depends on what you want to sell but I would only use them for select items. Also, they're rather pricey.
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Thanks for the info! That really does help. We were discussing this stuff last night and wondering if it would be better to just get our own shirts made and sell direct from our website and at gigs.

However... I just can't let go of the idea of having my picture on the front of a woman's thong! That would be too cool!
 
Scottgman said:
Thanks for the info! That really does help. We were discussing this stuff last night and wondering if it would be better to just get our own shirts made and sell direct from our website and at gigs.

However... I just can't let go of the idea of having my picture on the front of a woman's thong! That would be too cool!
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::can't help but chuckle::

I think that a thong, you could probably get away with.

Really though, to sell direct at gigs, I would DEFINITELY look around to find a local shop that can print them for you. Reasons being:

1. Price. A particular shop around here will print shirts, no minimum order, for $7-8/shirt. Cafepress charges what? $13 or something? I don't know if you'll find a shop that cheap in your area, but if you can, you can sell shirts for cheaper, so more people wear them, or you can generate more $ for the band. Either way, cafepress gets a hearty "fuck you."

2. Choices. Cafepress can't do black shirts. Most locals can.

3. The aforementioned quality problems.

Having a cafepress shop is probably a good idea if you tour out of your area enough, reason being that people can buy things from your shop even if they couldn't get their hands on merch at the concert. I'm from southern CT, if I play NYC once every few months, people can at least check my website and buy some stuff if they want. Odds are not many will, but its something I'd like to account for.

Still, I'd like to find something higher quality than cafepress.

BTW, if you're looking to have buttons made, I know a little mom-and-pop operation that'll do 100 for $15. If you're interested let me know and I'll dig up the website.
 
i printed some shirts from Cafepress to test em like a year ago, and i didnt liek the quality of the iron-on transfer that they use. after lots of washing it looks even crappier. as for alternatives, i don't really know haha, but i'd probably not want to use cafepress anymore.
 
I always went the embroidered type of shirt. I just charge a little more for them since they do cost more. But I found that the public would rather buy something that wears well.
 
Although I don't know of any online service that both makes the maerch and hosts your store, you can do the two separately. Here's a thread on online stores aside from paypal: https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=159189

Then just google "custom shirts" or something and sort through the results and find something that suits you. www.customink.com is supposed to be pretty good, but definately check out the alternatives. What you'll do is order the shirts, store them at your house, and then use the online store to handle customer service and everything. They should be able to cover payment options and shipping charges. Then all you gotta do is ship the stuff to the person. Details should be on the online stores' website. I've never actually done it this way, but it seems to be what almost every band does.

Only downside is that you usually have to mass-order the shirts in advance and if they don't sell, then you're stuck with a bunch of shirts.

Good luck!
 
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