Printfection Brags About Booming Revenue
Printfection posted on their blog today in a discussion that really amounted to bragging about their success in this very volatile economy. As we all know the current economy has left many companies and families struggling to make it to 2009. It is great to hear that in these troubled times that people are doing good but why boast? The post is centered around the POD world vs non-POD world and is suggesting that the POD industry is “rapidly gaining ground winning over new customers.“. Success is great and everyone loves a good story of rags to riches but when everyone is down is it appropriate to brag?
I find it interesting that they claim knowledge over all of the POD world. Previous statements have suggested that Printfection does $1-2 million a year which is great but compared to the larger players its really a drop in the POD bucket. I have often wondered at what size does your business have to be (in any industry) to be able to gauge how a particular industry is doing. Is it at 1, 5, 50, 100, 500 million a year.
I agree that the t-shirt business and POD is probably not hit as hard as other industries because our products are inexpensive and a reasonable alternative to expensive gifts. I can imagine that business is booming for most POD companies but I have wondered if at some point people perceive a $20 personalized t-shirt as too much. While I am not a die hard or regular shopper (or supporter) at Walmart I did have a recent experience that did shock me. Walmart was selling a wide variety of t-shirts for sale at $5-8 and it is nearly impossible to find a shirt for less than $15 (not even including shipping) at Cafepress, Zazzle or Printfection. Will people give up having a unique t-shirt to save a few bucks?
I believe it is the uniqueness that really makes a difference in what people are willing to spend for a t-shirt or other product. I remember as a kid picking out clothes at Mervyns and then showing up at school only to find out that one or more kids had the same clothes and t-shirts. It was awkward and frustrating but with today’s POD technology there is no reason to ever show up to school, work, or life wearing something someone else is wearing. People want to be unique and spending a few extra bucks for a different and fun shirt is worth it.
This is a random rant on my part but in today’s tough times something about the Printfection post just rubbed me the wrong way. I am sure their intentions were good talking about how it is important to grow and change as a company to be successful (AKA: do print on demand vs. screenprinting) but the underlying message was that they are doing well even when the rest of the country is struggling just comes across a little boasty to me.
noneZazzle Launches Zazzle UK
Zazzle launched a UK version of their web site today. What does this mean for the UK?
1. More relevant creating and shopping experience for UK residents
2. Pounds Sterling with VAT and custom duties in the product price.
3. UK users will determine the most popular products through sales and rating tools.
4. General language changes in the site text.
As far as obvious changes there aren’t many yet. There are a variety of language changes including the use of “basket” instead of “cart” and other changes like the spelling of “Colour” vs “Color” and “Customise” vs. “Customize”, “Favourites” vs. “Favorites”…you get the point.
It appears that all U.S. and UK products will show in both versions of the web site but the difference that should show over time will be which designs sell, are considered “popular” or voted up. There isn’t much of a difference yet in the designs or how the homepage looks. The one obvious change is that the large banner for Obama has been changed to a UK specific design contest for £2500. The goal of the contest is to get designers to created more designs related to British humor, pop culture, sports, and history. It will be interesting to see who the judges are since Redwood City isn’t exactly the hub of British culture. Hopefully the contest will help build some designs to make the Zazzle UK site unique.
The shipping charges are surprisingly competitive at what is equal to less than $5 which is about standard for most U.S. t-shirt orders but it will take 7-14 days for this standard shipping method. You can check out all the Zazzle UK shipping options and charges.
For more information check out the Zazzle UK press release. the Zazzle Blog or visit Zazzle UK
Zazzle Updates Logo, Brand and Website
Zazzle updated their logo, homepage, and general brand yesterday. I previously criticized Zazzle for designing their site for SEO rather than user experience. The new homepage is much better and does take into consideration of user experience and directs users to many of the things that make Zazzle unique such as the custom shoes, licensed content and music related products.
The new look definitely matches their recent direction in deals and promotions with music industry and the addition of a wider range of content. A few years ago their site had a very family friendly appearance and they largely pushed the licensed content (see our post on Zazzle web site design history). The designs were definitely not as edgy as places like Cafepress. Following the Zazzle’s heavy recruiting baiting, and bribing of Cafepress shopkeepers much of the same content was soon available at both locations.
The new homepage is way more user friendly and very clear for users as to where they should go depending on their interest. The first two boxes are very clear with “Create” on the left, “Sell” in the middle, but on the right the image that says Infinite One of a Kind-ness ended up being a waste of space since it just goes to a page of blah blah when it should just go to the shopping page. The rest of the homepage really is a good blend of products and themes considering the breadth of the Zazzle market. As far as the new logo goes, I really did like their old one but the new one really does look a lot more “hip” and goes well with the dark site. I think the best part of the new logo is the Z inside the circle. The dark header with the simple white text really does make the designs pop out of the screen which is quite nice.
If you want to hear why Zazzle did the update you can visit the Zazzle Blog.
Zazzle Shutting Down Affiliate Program at Share Results
The rumor is (as of 8/14) that Zazzle is shutting down their affiliate program at
We wish to inform you that the Zazzle affiliate program will be shutting down in Share Results for an indefinite period of time.
Zazzle’s affiliate program will be officially closed on August 22, 2008. As this program will be closing within one week, we ask that you please take down all your tracking links being used to promote Zazzle, including banner creative, content and text links, and any other tools used.
Right now that is all the info I have but I will add more as I receive it.
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Cafepress Updates Marketplace - Zoom Feature Threatens Image Security
Cafepress just updated their marketplace to allow users to view enlarged images while browsing the marketplace without having to click the product/image. A small orange magnifying glass was added to each image within the marketplace. When you click the button it shows you up to a 400×400 detailed view of the image. The zoom feature is great but I can see a lot of potential issues with image theft. The enlarged images are quite clear and large at 400×400 with NO overlay to prevent theft. While you can’t save the image it still allows for users to print screen the images.
Below is a view of the marketplace with the zoom feature and the enlarged “Captain Obvious” design.
Shopkeepers have the option to show the overlay for the design detail page but currently not on the marketplace zoom. To show how this might be an issue I did a print screen of the captain obvious design, cropped it to be just the image and I uploaded it to Cafepress to see what what an image of that size might look like on products. I didn’t resize or enhance the image, just uploaded it from a computer screenshot. Below is what the image of the design on a few products.
As you can see it is possible to create products that look like they are high resolution and ready to purchase. As someone who has experienced finding my Cafepress images taken and sold with low resolution copies on eBay, Zazzle or other sites the concern is real and Cafepress should add the sample overlay asap.
Printfection Launches Alpha Developer Platform and T-Shirt API
Printfection announced that they are opening their new developer platform and API for private alpha testing. The API will allow developers to make tools for both the creation and distribution of content. Printfection suggested that some of the tools that can be developed include a bulk uploader, desktop application, Google Base connectors, Amazon / eBay / and Google Adwords integration, or widgets to be used on your blog / Facebook / MySpace.
It is about time that someone created a open API system and we look forward to seeing the new tools that are created. Let’s hope that Printfection can handle whatever people create. For more information check out the Printfection Blog or signup for an API key.
Zazzle T-Shirt Review - Take II: Color Blind Printing
Almost two weeks ago I posted a Zazzle t-shirt review and expressed my disappointment with the print quality after spending over $40 for a t-shirt. After making my post I contacted Zazzle about returning the shirt for a refund (a Friday) and the following day I received my RMA number and was told to send the t-shirt back to receive the refund. Monday morning I received a call from a Zazzle representative who asked me what was wrong with the shirt and I explained just what I had said in my post about the misprinted white edges and very light ink. The rep then offered me my money back and a free replacement and of course I said yes. I am not sure if I got a call from the Zazzle rep about returning the shirt because of my blog post or if this is a standard procedure for some orders. Either way it was nice to have someone at Zazzle to take the time to find out what the problem was with the shirt and propose a solution. The rep informed me that he would make sure it would get printed correctly without the white edges.
The free replacement t-shirt arrived a few days later and it was much different than the first. The ink was much thicker and cleaner and there was no ghosting white outlines around the arrows. As you can see it still has the film that washes off that gives it a slightly shiny appearance gave a little glare in the picture. Check out the t-shirt design below.
The shirt looked really good for dark printing except for one problem. The colors that were printed on the shirt were not those in the preview. Below is an image with the preview on Zazzle on the left, the original shirt I received in the middle and the replacement on the right.
Below is a view of the first order then the second order results compared to the high resolution preview on Zazzle.
Zazzle T-Shirt Order #1
Zazzle T-Shirt Order #2
It really is strange that the grey turned completely blue, not a shade of grey but actually blue. The shirt looks okay because it is just arrows and there is no reason that the arrows can’t be blue. BUT the obvious problem is that I didn’t know I was buying a shirt with blue arrows. What if this was a graphic that required that colors be correct. This is not a complex graphic, it is only three colors with no gradients! Unfortunately this replacement order was also a disappointment.
noneCafepress Acquires Imagekind.com for an Estimated $15-20 Million.
It was informally announced this morning that Cafepress purchased Imagekind.com for an estimated $15-$20 million. Imagekind is a marketplace of member created art that is printed on demand. The model is similar to Cafepress where the artists set their own price markup but it is focused specifically on prints. Prices of the artwork range from $5 to $500.
Imagekind was founded in 2006 with $300K used to purchase printing equipment, hire staff and web site development. In February 2007 Imagekind raised an additional $2.6 million in funding and was valued at around $7 million. Imagekind had turned down offers in the past to be purchased by Amazon.com. It is likely that both Art.com and Zazzle.com were also involved in recent negotiations to purchase the growing print on demand company. Imagekind has grown quickly to over 750,000 art images for sale by over 50,000 artists worldwide.
For more information on the deal check out Venture Beat or an older article with a few facts about Imagekind at the Seattle Times. You can also follow the story at TechCrunch.
Zazzle T-Shirt Review - $43.91 and all I got was this lousy t-shirt
It took me a long time to get around to buying a t-shirt at Zazzle. Last month I decided to order a t-shirt for my t-shirt packaging review and to check out their print quality. In general I prefer to wear simple artsy t-shirt designs without slogans or brand names so I had to dig pretty deep at Zazzle to find a design that I liked. I came across this simple design made up of grey and white arrows that start in the middle of the shirt small and get bigger as they move out.
I chose the Edun Live organic t-shirt that is made in Lesotho from 100% African cotton. The total price for one sided printing of these standard black organic t-shirts was $35.95. It was officially the most I have ever paid for a t-shirt.
The shirt arrived in a fancy shiny dark silver packaging with a small Zazzle logo in the top left corner. The packaging is indeed eye catching and the dark colored bag almost makes it look like you have ordered some type of suspicious.
Inside the package was my Edun live t-shirt, an invoice, a $5 off coupon and a card with a short letter suggesting that the t-shirt may have a film on it until it is washed.
The shirt itself was nice and fairly thick but unfortunately the print was a complete disappointment. Before I show you the printing here is what the image looks like on the Zazzle web site. The left is the design view and the right is what it looks like zoomed in at high resolution. The design has different colored arrows in two different shades of grey and white.
Below is the design closeup of the actual shirt printed by Zazzle. As you can see it has white outlines over almost every single arrow.
One more closeup to see how bad the white outlines are. When you compare this image with the design preview there is no suggestion of white outlines. It just looks plain sloppy when printed.
The design was created by one of their members so it is hard to know what the original resolution of the image is but it doesn’t matter. The “high resolution” preview showed one thing and the final print was not the same.
If this shirt was $12 I would be disappointed but not as disappointed as I was after spending $43.91 with shipping for a badly printed t-shirt. And yes, I did submit for a full refund and I am waiting to hear back if the “Zazzle Promise” will be kept.
What is so funny is that the t-shirt has a 5 star review based on 12 votes but who was voting? It was obviously rated by people who just thought the design was kind of cool but never actually bought the shirt. It is ridiculous to have and center design ratings from people who haven’t even seen the shirt before. People should vote with their dollars and not with a left click on the mouse.
noneCafepress Drops all New York Affiliates
Cafepress announced that as of July 1, 2008 all their affiliates who live in the State of New York will be dropped. Cafepress is one of many companies who dropped NY affiliates due to new legislation passed in New York that has impacts on “tax registration, collection and remittance”. Before the NY legislation if a company didn’t have a physical location within a particular state then the state could not require that they pay state taxes. The changes in NY now require that companies from all ecommerce sites with affiliates (including Cafepress and other t-shirt companies) based in New York state pay state taxes. New York was estimating to raise $50-$70 million in taxes but the plan has backfired as many companies have pulled out of New York or filed lawsuits (Amazon.com) against the state.
I am sure other t-shirt companies will follow but I haven’t heard any specifics. You can check out a list of other companies who also have dropped their NY affiliates at abestweb.com and watch a video of Shawn Collins at Affiliate tip on how this whole mess started. Marketing Sherpa also has an article about whether or not the legislation will spread to other states.
Surprisingly there are NO designs on cafepress for “New York affiliate“. Not sure if there truly aren’t any designs or if the terms have been blocked to avoid controversy. But I did find a couple over at Zazzle.
