The top reason why CafePress.com (includes DU Store) doesn't get sales...

[dhinojosa]

...or as many sales that they can potentially get is because....

THERE ARE NO BLACK T-SHIRTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everybody wears black T-shirts, black t-shirts are the best!! They don't look like pajama tops and people take black t-shirts seriously.
You can't ride a harley, much less a ten speed bike wearing white, ash, or yellow neon. Hell, if it weren't for black T-shirts AC/DC would be unknown. Metallica wouldn't have a following, and Beavis and Butthead would've looked like prissy little good boys. Imagine if you will this...



...on a black t-shirt. Wow!

Let me break it down for you:

On black t-shirt!??! People would say: Holy shit that kicks ass! Lets have sex now...

On a white/ash t-shirt? People would say: Didja get that at the flea market? Even worse, they'd give you coins so you can buy something nicer.


I would LOVE to buy all this DU shit til the cows come home, but I don't wanna wear prissy white, ash, pink or yellow neon shirt. :wtf: Give me a black fucking t-shirt.

NOW!

Ok done with my rant.

[ET Awful]

1. LMAO - Best rant I've read in a long time :)

"Holy shit that kicks ass! Lets have sex now..."

:rofl: :spray: :rofl: :rofl: :spray: :rofl:

[trotsky]

2. LMFAO

"Holy shit that kicks ass! Lets have sex now..."

Case closed!

[lenidog]

3. I hate white T-shirts

They are so hard to keep clean. There have been so many T-shirts I have wanted to buy but I wont because they are white.

[dhinojosa]

9. Yeah and I only wear em for jammies

:rofl:

[lenidog]

10. I don't wear them fro jammies

they get all icky under the armpits after a while and no matter what you do you can't stop it.

[XemaSab]

67. once a shirt is a field shirt

it stays a field shirt for that very reason.

[sui generis]

4. I've never seen a live smiting

:popcorn:

you may be right though

[Cha]

5. I'd like some black tee shirt

choices, too!

[Zuni]

6. very true

but also funny :spray:

[LastKnight]

7. its true,

i woulda bought stuff awhile back if it were in black...

[In_The_Wind]

8. I love my pink DU shirts

also my yellow ones and bright green ones ... but I agree that black shirts would be a nice option

[tridim]

11. Well, I know why they don't have black T-Shirts

But that doesn't excuse it IMO. It's the same reason you can't print on black paper with a bubblejet printer. Cafepress doesn't use screens, obviously. They just print the graphic on the shirt, or mug, or sticker.

[dhinojosa]

12. Wow, thanks for the vote.

LMAO.

[johnnie]

13. LOL

Funny.
But there is always this:

[dhinojosa]

16. Does Al Jolson know you're using that? nt

[johnnie]

19. I thought he used this

Unless he bought some white tee-shirts.

[Kellanved]

14. AKA "why spreadshirt.com / spreadshirt.de has a chance beating them"

Well that and things like better homepage integration and easier international shipping.

:D


www.spreadshirt.com (sadly the US store has very few options compared to the European ones).

[snot]

41. Sounds interesting. How does profitability compare?

[Kellanved]

61. for them of for you?

I actually can't answer either. I don't think their US business is profitable yet; for the customers it is pretty much like cafepress. Cafepress with black T-shirts ;-) .

[snot]

65. for me--thanks. nt

[swag]

15. Black tees pull the quality dames. It's true.

[tigereye]

22. and vice versa!

I hate white t-shirts.


Like the song says, sometimes good guys don't wear white!

[swag]

23. Oh, my god.

Can't tell you how many times I saw Minor Threat do that song.

On edit: but it was originally the Standells, wasn't it?

[tigereye]

30. apparently so

I saw the Cramps do it once, and some of my band buddies used to do it. Great song.

[leftofthedial]

17. that's a fact

[maveric]

18. I dont do well in white. Too many ketchup, mustard and hot sauce stains.

Black is beautiful!

[LiberallyInclined]

20. actually, i prefer red, blue, or gray...

black is too morose.

[IndyOp]

42. I will second your red or blue suggestion and add green, too!

Something besides white, pink, and neon yellow.

:kick:

[Patiod]

63. Definitely gray, and lots of XXL to wear to the gym

Someone needs to help them with their market research and do a DU poll on preferred t-shirt colors.

[tjdee]

21. Thank you, thank you, thank you. SO right. I hate white t-shirts.

I should say, white t-shirts with letters/words/pictures/animals on them.

This is actually one of the reasons I never opened a cafepress store (also, the not having of ideas, LOL).

I hate them so much. When people buy them for me, I feel so bad because I'm never going to wear them (plus, they usually fit like sacks, but anyway).

Plus, white gets really dingy/dirty really quickly.

I have about two white t-shirts. One of them fits really well and is a plain t-shirt, and one of them has a nostalgia value.

[Skittles]

24. I've never really thought about it but I think you are correct

I have very few white t-shirts - my favorites are all navy blue or black. :D

[dhinojosa]

25. Those are the best.

My girlfriend is always trying to buy farmer john looking clothes with all these colors too, and I always fight her on it too.

[benny05]

26. My issues with Cafe Press are thes, although I like the Black T-shirt idea

No offense to DU'ers who sell these things...or to the DU, who creates new shirts for revenue and promotion of the site, but I have a few things to rant:

1) Many of the shirts are too feminine looking...and I agree, not many prefer to wear pastels or white. They are also too small. I like shirts to sleep in, not show my overly bigger body who is in charge of a lot of people and we may be mouse potatoes.

2) They are limited in what you can say on the t-shirt otherwise there is not much revenue to be gained

3) I get so f****ng tired of folks who promote the products on their favorite blogs, even if there are good intentions. If they want to promote, get some good graphics and reasons why we should want to buy them.

[dhinojosa]

27. Wow, you had a lot to think about on that one...

Never thought about #2

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

31. They have regular, non-feminine looking shirts too

1.There are shirts for both sexes and in all sizes so your #1 really makes... no sense. In fact, I'm looking at the page right now for one and it has pretty much every single style t-shirt I've ever seen anybody wear.

2. They say what the person who created them wants them to say. If you want to create a shirt that says what you want... you could do that. You gain revenue based on how popular your graphic/slogan is.

3. I'm sorry, I honestly don't see anything wrong with promoting products on a blog. The reason for buying them is usually pretty straightforward - to financially support the organization or person selling them.

:shrug:

This entire thread gives me the "sometimes people complain just for the sake of complaining" vibe.

[benny05]

38. When the person repeats the promotion more than two times a thread

I think it's too much...

The person needs better reasons, than saying "shirts are being purchased, get them while you can" when it's likely to be the opposite in truth; otherwise why do they blitz the blogs?

I still think cafepress limits in what you can do with t-shirts...and I still think most of them are for the feminine market.

I know they make a few for the male market, but not for many...if you look at the sizes and the makes for the customers many are designed for overall.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

54. I guess

Though I remember at one point when Cafepress had absolutely NO female styles... because I remembered complaining about it to Skinner in ATA (granted, this was in like 2001, 2002).

[Guy Fawkes]

28. Great rant.

:rofl:

[uppityperson]

29. Exactly. Rant on. Black black black black black black black

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

32. Courtesy of George the screenprinting friend

Black t-shirts require more ink to print on, and that's why you don't often see black t-shirts being handed out for 5k runs, charity events, etc... they cost more to produce. I think Cafepress should offer them if people are willing to pay a bit extra.

[dhinojosa]

49. But wait

Tshirthell.com sells black t-shirts for 18 dollars and the DU shirts are 19.59. :wtf:

Something is wrong here.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

53. Different printers

:shrug:

[barackmyworld]

33. Cafepress's printing wouldn't work on black

They do something very similar to an iron-on that you could make at home in an inkjet. These wouldn't shop up on a dark shirt, and they would have to use an entirely different printing process.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

35. You're half right.

That is the way they do it... However, there are iron-ons for black/dark shirts though. I've bought them before and they've worked. =)

[barackmyworld]

62. Black iron-ons are more expensive

and they must be cut to size or there is a big white background. DU should just invest in a real screenprinter if there is the demand, because cafepress quality is garbage and screenprinting in large quantity does not cost $17.00 (like the base price of cafepress shirts)

[tyedyeto]

34. It's apparent you don't live in a desert.

Black shirts in the summer heat are killers, I tell ya.

[dhinojosa]

46. Born in El Paso, live in Albuquerque.....

I am a desert rat and feel fine in dark clothes. :)

[ailsagirl]

36. I agree-- black is much more my style

merchants take note!!

[Mr_Spock]

37. You know something - I agree with you!

My favorite t-shirt(s) when I was a kid were ALWAYS black. Aerosmith was the best :D Black is beautiful :D

[snot]

39. I TOTALLY AGREE--been whining to them regularly for several years! nt

[Dave Sund]

40. Plain White T's

Plain White T's kick ass! ;)

Seriously, check 'em out. Cool band. :)

[Mythsaje]

43. Yes!

And hoodies. I love black hooded sweatshirts. I'd love a DU sweatshirt in black.

And the weirdest thing is that Cafepress is really big in promotional items for authors too. Mugs, mousepads, T-Shirts (the romance authors sell quite a few studly images) on Cafe Press tees and sweatshirts.

That's where I first heard of them, actually...on reader/writer e-mail groups.

[SmileMaker]

44. My thoughts exactly! Black and other color choices would be great

Here's one of my designs

[Donailin]

45. o man, that was the first thing I thought of when i saw the winners yester

day. . I wanted to purchase a couple for my kids, the "Our Country is being run by shitheads" but there were no black tees.

[BiggJawn]

47. Good thing I don't have any 10-speeds.

Because I don't wear black shirts when I ride. Cars don't see you in black, especially at dusk.

I leave that for the kids riding the same dinky BMX bike they got when they were 5 years old.

[dhinojosa]

48. Hahaha...Touche'

:)

[BiggJawn]

60. White tee-shirts ARE lame, though...

They look, oh, so Skin-headish...

I like bright colours and always a RED shirt on Fridays.

[Senior citizen]

50. I agree.

I've got a drawer full of white tees that I never wear unless I run out of clean white undershirts, and then I choose the ones with the least writing on them. Most of them were bingo prizes or gifts, and I certainly would never have bought them.

My new grandchild lives in New York and I have to consider fashion if I buy him anything. littlelefties.com has shirts for kids in black, but not for infants. I wrote to explain to them that some infants live in New York and have very hip parents. Fortunately he's almost big enough for the toddlers sizes, which do come in black. They have a great one that says "Question Authority" and the "A" in Authority is the anarchist "A."

Somebody who knows how to print stuff on black shirts should make them available to DU on a custom order basis. I think people will pay more and wait longer for a shirt that they will wear, than they would for a shirt that they won't.

[name not needed]

51. Fuckin A!

Everything looks better on black t-shirts. Besides, lots of stuff wouldn't work on a white t-shirt. My friend's shirt, says "Fuck off and Die, Inc.", the name of a local hardcore band. That just wouldn't work on a white shirt, dammit.

[WillyT]

52. I Got Yo Black T Right Here, Foo !!!

:hi::evilgrin::hi:

Nice rant though, LOL !!!

[Nothing Without Hope]

55. Totally agree. Doesn't need to be as fancy printing, can even be just

one or two colors. The black background is ESSENTIAL. Their sales would skyrocket! I would buy some too, which I don't now because I don't buy white T-shirts even if they do have good stuff on them.

Excellent rant! :rant: Hope they listen and invest in a process for printing on black T-shirts.

[Kellanved]

59. posted it before:

check out spreadshirt.com :hi:

[Miss Chybil]

56. Kick for Black Shit - uh, Shirt

I'm with you 100%. And, another reason for black shirts - white ones make you look fat-ter.

[dhinojosa]

57. Oh yeah....

definitely

[LynneSin]

58. I have never EVER said Holy shit that kicks ass! Lets have sex now...

Not even to someone wearing a black tee-shirt

[greblc]

64. Cafe Press has sucky ball caps!

[micrometer_50]

66. If I'm going to be protesting in September,

I'll be more comfortable with a black or dark blue shirt.

Autum sun and all that.


I'm just saying.