POD For You! » Latest News

Cafepress: Business Cards Temporarily Deactivated

Kayecee — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:51:51 +0000

Posted by Dafna at Cafepress:

Just a quick announcement: business cards have been temporarily deactivated due to production issues. There is no action necessary on your part, this is purely informative. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

CafePress: Base Price Increases & New Service Option Plan

Kayecee — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:34:21 +0000

Per the announcement from CafePress today:

Click Here To Join The Shopkeeper Discussion!

******************************************************

Announcing Base Price Increase and New Service Plan Option

Apparel Base Price increases

Beginning July 21, 2011 CafePress will implement Base Price increases to apparel products. Given the rising cost of goods, it was determined that a modest price increase was a necessary business decision.

We came to this conclusion only after carefully considering the impact to our members. No action is required, as the price adjustments will automatically be added to products. You will retain your current mark-up.

Click here to see a complete list of products which, beginning July 21, 20011, will be affected: http://announcements.cafepress.com/?page_id=463

New Service Plan Option for Premium Shops

To meet the changing needs of the CafePress community, we’ve also added a new service plan option for Premium Shops. Starting July 21 you can either choose to pre-pay for monthly Premium Shop fees (the current available option), or choose the new no up-front fees plan.

The new no up-front fees plan means you no longer have to pay for Premium Shops unless you earn a commission. You can now open more Premium Shops without worrying about the cost. Here’s how the new service plan option works:
Rather than a $6.95 monthly fee, members will be charged 10% of their monthly royalty (with a maximum monthly payment of $10).
Note that this fee is 10% of the royalty, NOT 10% of sales.
Example: if you earned a $30 royalty in April, we’ll deduct 10% ($3.00) and mail you a check for $27.00. But if you earned $300 in royalties, we would deduct only the $10 maximum – not the full 10% (which would be $30).
Or, if you have a valid credit card on file, you are on the pre-pay plan and this new service plan will not affect you. Your fees will remain the same at the standard rate ($6.95 a month, $18.45 for 3 months, $34.95 for 6 months or $59.95 for 1 year).

Thanks again for your support as a CafePress member. We’ll keep you posted as we find new ways to enhance your selling experience. If you have any questions, please contact customer service by email or call (877) 809-1659.

Best regards,

CafePress Team

Warning: .be Facebook Phishing Scam

Kayecee — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:18:09 +0000

Yet another Facebook phishing/spam attack is on the prowl. Beware if you receive a message with the title, “Look At This.” You should NOT click links to the following URL’s:

goldbase.be
greenbuddy.be
silvertag.be
picoband.be

*edited to add: it appears that several more .be URL’s are now surfacing*

For information about what to do, you may visit this page at Mashable: http://mashable.com/2009/05/24/goldbasebe-facebook/

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Imagekind Gets A Makeover For Their Artwork Page

Kayecee — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:13:27 +0000

Ok, boys and girls! Time to mosey on over to Imagekind and check out their snazzy new artwork pages. They’ve reworked the artwork page to make shopping easier for their customers by making it quicker to shop for products. The changes include the following:

1. Satisfaction Guarantee prominently posted.

2. Single Click Shopping for those customers who don’t need to wade through all of the options.

3. No more going from page to page to choose options. Customers can now choose the product (print, canvas or greeting card) on the same page!

4. Displays a few more pieces of art from that artist’s gallery.

5. Quicker load time.

6. Related tags, colors and categories are featured on the page to help customers find the perfect piece.

So what do you think of the changes?

Interview With Daniel From Skreened.com

Brian Gryphon — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 07:01:57 +0000

Ok… I’ll admit it… I’ve been stalking someone. No! No! It’s not what you think! I’ve been stalking Skreened on Twitter. I look at a LOT of POD companies… there’s more of them out there than you think. Quite frankly, a lot of them leave something to be desired and I take a quick looky-loo and mosey on off. Something about Skreened intrigued me though, so I decided to lurk in the background and furtively watch them. *insert James Bond music here*

I’m pleased enough with them that I’m currently working on my own shops there AND they get their own Skreened forum here!

Imagine my delight when one of my valiant mods mentioned that he was going to interview them for his site and would write up something for POD For You as well! Brian visited Skreened yesterday and sat down with the owner, Daniel. You can see Brian’s two part story, complete with pictures, at Selling Out on Digital Gryphon. Part one is already up and part two shall be coming tomorrow. As a complement to his story, Brian provided the following Q&A to us. Enjoy!

Brian: Who came up with the idea of Skreened? When? And is what you have now what that first idea was or has it changed?
Daniel: It was me, I came up with the idea. Now to say that I came up with the idea is a misnomer because I was definitely aware of CafePress and Zazzle at the time, so in a sense we are standing on the shoulders of great companies.

Brian: No idea is totally..
Daniel:Yes- it didn’t happen in a vacuum. I was working as a designer for Nationwide Insurance at the time- and I wanted to start a T-shirt site. And so I could either design all the t-shirts or I could help people design them and print them and have a whole community based around it. That sounded a whole lot more appealing; a community of designers – not me to just try to crank out five good designs a week (I’m not that great of a designer). So the business model had been kind of pioneered by these other companies and then we got into really sourcing it. It didn’t start being an Ethical company so in a way what’s changed is that.

I started off wanting to be kind of ‘The Hipster Designer’ niche. To some degree I think some people would call it that, and to some degree it’s more general, I think it’s a little broader appeal than that. But definitely holding strong to not exploiting people anywhere along the supply chain; something we hold really dear.

Brian: Did you specifically change to become ethical or did you just put a name on what you’d always been?
Daniel:In the process of sourcing and discovering some of the things out there, and some of the practices, we made certain decisions that put us squarely in what we could call ‘ethical’.

Brian: So it wasn’t a business decision that said “let’s be ethical” – it was that when presented with the evidence you made the obvious choice.
Daniel:Yes- and the same thing with being ‘green’ – it was like the whole kind of trend in Marketing happened and we took a step back and said “are we doing all this stuff, kind of already?” and we’re like “ya we’re doing a lot of it. Is there some more stuff we could do? Ya- let’s put it on our ToDo List and we’ll just keep moving in that direction” And one of those things was the packaging which is great.

Brian: How is Skreened different from:
a traditional screen printer,
from the walk-in t-shirt shops (‘head shops’),
other web-based POD sites?
Daniel:it is different from a Screen-Printer in that we do ‘on demand’ (obviously) and the technology makes that different- we use ‘direct to garment’. That gets into the difference from head shops and the iron-on places in that it’s a huge quality jump up when we’re dealing ‘direct to garment’ digital print from something that gets ironed on.
And then ‘how are we different on the web-side?’ – which is really where the story is for us. In that we are 100% ethically made in the United States under supervisory labour laws and good things like that. So we’re really pushing being an ethical company; being responsible as far as where we’re sourcing our garments from.

Brian: You mentioned before we started; the store front is fairly new.
Daniel: We started in Sept 2006; production facility was basically just me in a room with a printer. We’ve actually grown, had a lot of growth, in the last 6 to 8 months; since we opened up the retail store. So we’ve got our Production Facility and our Retail Store sharing the same space. And anybody can come in with a Zip drive or whatever and get whatever they want. They can also order off the web-site. So if somebody in Arkansas uploads to Skreened anybody in Columbus can come in, search that design, and buy it. So we’ve got a secondary, retail, outlet for their designs.

Brian:On your website you mention that you also offer traditional screen-printing for a minimum 25 pieces- where is that done?
Daniel:We have another facility we share for that.

Brian:Roughly how many shops, designers or designs are available?
Daniel: Since they’re dynamic numbers just go to the site. Just do a search and don’t type anything in, hit “Search” .. I know we’ve got about 12,000 different designs up. What some other places do is multiply that by the number of products you can get it on and you come up with millions; so our mulitplier is somewhere around 800,000.

(I did check the site; 2,786 stores with 12,637 unique designs)

Brian: From the website it looks like you can print pretty much the entire front of a shirt.

Daniel: Yes- that translates to 11 x 17. This is one of the things I want to feel more comfortable about; that preview would be analogous to a Men’s Small. So if someone were to get that on a 2x or 3x it would not look the same.

Brian:I see you can print on the backs; is that for everything, and is it the same print area?
Daniel: Yes and yes.

Brian:You have some bright colors; are you planning on offering Dark Colours; printing on a white underlay?
Daniel: We have the technology to do that; it looks bad and it costs a lot. I’ve played with it (done it as a special) but I don’t think people will be happy with the quality.

Brian:If someone has a file that is significantly smaller- not wanting it bigger, but say the print area is 10×12, does your uploader allow the artist to position it?
Daniel: Yes you can scale it regardless of resolution (at this point) and place it wherever you want; it’s a complete drag & drop- drag & scale operation.

Brian:Are you looking at adding either more apparel or anything non-apparel beyond the totes? Say- anytime later this year.
Daniel: Yes.

Brian:And that’s all you’re going to say? [laughter]
Daniel: We’ve got one thing coming out that we may brand under a different name; way may launch a separate brand ‘Powered by Skreened’. We’ve done some prototyping, If you sniff around Twitter you may- well enough about that.

Brian: Do you offer, for anyone who sets up a shop, any customization of the layout?
Daniel: When we re-launched our site the other week, one of the things we did was get everything in line css-wise so that all of those things can be toyed with- customized. I think it’s even to the point of where we have a tab that says ‘customize your shop’s css’ ready to be enabled.

Brian:Later this year?
Daniel: Absolutely- it’s going to be tested and verified in the coming weeks.

Brian:What’s your policy on ‘mature content’? Anything from gross humour to a leather pride flag… where’s the limit?
Daniel: Hate speech. It’s at our discretion; after years of doing this I don’t believe we’ve had anything that’s really crossed the line. I’ve found a couple of things that tempted me, and I’ve erred on the side of letting them stay up. Anything that is considered Hate Speech is not appropriate for this site.

Brian:Other than that…
Daniel: Other than that… it’s not a public forum, it’s not ‘free speech’. It is paid speech so we have the right to take down anything, but we’re pretty loose with what’s appropriate. We get far more things that are just ‘bad’ than ‘morally bad’. Oh- pornographic stuff. I don’t think that (genitalia) would be appropriate in explicit illustration or photographic nature.

Brian:Given this opportunity to speak to designers actively involved with PODs elsewhere, what can you say to interest them in looking at you as another source?
Daniel: In one sense it’s more of an argument of ‘why not?’ Here’s another sales outlet that costs nothing…it’s going to take a certain amount of time to set up. So it’s that; is it worth investing my time to upload my files, describe and tag them?

Brian:There are companies around the world agressively pursuing people. Some of them are companies that I flatly refuse to give any time to; for a variety of reasons. Some of them coming back to your Ethics argument, others to quality. But there are still a dozen companies that I or any designer could use for their next shop- so back to the question: why Skreened?
Daniel: This may be tipping my lack of ‘business acumen’, but I don’t think we’re for everybody. I think we’re for people that care about Human Rights. I think there’s, you know a lot of people want the cheapest thing and they want to get it out there and make a buck. They don’t care what happens along the supply chain. We’re not that company.

“We’re a company for people who create original things; if people are reading this and they want to rip off.. the underbelly of POD , people that are just ripping stuff off the web; No Thanks! That’s not a good faith use of our site. We produce a high quality image; we use high quality garments, we verify where stuff comes from. We care about what we’re doing.

“An example, someone (not a customer or shopkeeper) emailed me a long, long email. I get back to her with a long, long email within the hour. I own the company. Michelle would have done the same (Michelle is in charge of Customer Service). Joe prints, Sharon ships, Michelle prints; you can get ahold of us.

Brian:Who is Michael?
Daniel: Mike is our web developer. You can tell us what you like, what you don’t like- and we change it. We’ve got this system in place; it works fairly well. There are some bugs; tell us about a bug and we fix it. It’s people- you know who you are dealing with.

Brian:I can’t say how many readers will suddenly decide to visit Skreened.com and sign up for a shop- but is your new site ready for it?
Daniel: Yes. Our new site is ready and able to handle hundreds more designers.”

Brian Gryphon has been producing photographic images for over 30 years. He operates a number of POD shops that offer his floral photography on apparel, prints and other merchandise. He brings experience in commercial and retail sales, marketing, management, and commercial art + design; as well as college training in business techniques, programming and applied arts. Brian is also a published author, poet and photographer. He started playing with computers by programming basic for an IBM-XT and continues to design and operate a number of web-sites; business and personal. He can be found Twittering as well as on-line on various forums and Instant Message services. Or else he may be at the world-famous Whetstone Park of Roses or the local ‘no-kill’ rescue shelter.

Brian Gryphon can be found at digitalgryphon.com or digitalgryphon.net .

Random Posts

CafePress One Day Shopkeeper Sale – Tuesday, March 24

Kayecee — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:45:35 +0000

New Topic by AngCP – “One Day Shopkeeper Sale - Tuesday, March 24”
23 March 2009 05:34 PM

———————–
Hello!

We’re having a one-day Shopkeeper Sale tomorrow, March 24. It’s a perfect time to stock up for Spring (and check out the new organic apparel)!

Here are the details:
$20 off orders of $100*
Coupon code: *20DAY1*

$10 off orders of $50*
Coupon code: *10DAY1*

* Save $20 off purchases of $100 more, or $10 off purchase of $50 or more. Offer excludes shipping charges and applicable sales tax. Excludes Gift Certificates, Flip Minos and bulk orders. Coupon code must be entered at check out. Promotion starts on March 24, 2009, at 12:00 a.m. (PST) and endson March 24, 2009, at 11:00 p.m. (PST).

Happy Shopping!

[cpgrid prodtypes="17" return="3" preview="3"]shopping[/cpgrid]

Imagekind Now Offers Framed Rolling Stone Covers

Kayecee — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:05:54 +0000

Do you have a website that would be suitable for Rolling Stone gifts? You can now offer Rolling Stone Authentic framed covers from every decade at Imagekind. Great gift items to promote on your sites! The Imagekind affiliate program is currently available on ShareASale.

Greeting Card Universe Announces New Shipping Options

Kayecee — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 23:57:57 +0000

Greeting Card Universe has announced new shipping options:

*Standard (3 – 7 business days from ship date)

*2nd Day (2nd business day from ship date)

*Priority Overnight (next business day from ship date)

*International Shipping (typically 7 to 20 days)

These new options can be found during checkout under Shipping Method next to the Promotional Codes box. For the international shipping option, Greeting Card Universe is unable to designate any packages as gifts and certain countries may charge additional fees.

CafePress Adds Organic Apparel Items

Kayecee — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 23:28:24 +0000

CafePress has made several additions to their organic apparel.

Organic Men’s T-Shirt

Available in white
Manufacturer: Econscious
Ring-spun 5.5 oz. organic cotton
Sizes: S-2XL
Base Price: $22.99

Organic Women’s T-Shirt

Available in white
Manufacturer: Econscious
Ring-spun 4.4 oz. organic cotton
Sizes: S-XL
Base Price: $22.99

Organic Fitted T-Shirt

Available in natural
Manufacturer: American Apparel
Fitted for a fashionable look
Sizes: S-2XL
Base Price: $19.99*

Organic Women’s Fitted T-Shirt

Available in natural
Manufacturer: American Apparel
Fitted for a fashionable look
Sizes: S-XL
Base Price: $19.99

Organic Toddler T-Shirt

Available in natural
Manufacturer: American Apparel
Reinforced shoulder construction maintains shape through multiple washings
Toddler Sizes: 2, 4, 6
Base Price: $18.99

Organic Kid T-Shirt

Available in natural
Manufacturer: American Apparel
Reinforced shoulder construction maintains shape through multiple
Kid Sizes: 8, 10, 12
Base Price: $18.99

Baby Organic T-Shirt

Available in natural
Manufacturer: American Apparel
5.8 oz ring-spun baby-rib organic cotton
Cleverly-constructed neckline designed for easy one-and-off
Baby Sizes: 3-6, 6-12, 12-18, 18-24 months
Base Price: $16.99

Baby Organic Bodysuit

Available in natural
Manufacturer: American Apparel
5.8 oz ring-spun baby-rib organic cotton
Cleverly-constructed neckline designed for easy one-and-off
Baby Sizes: 3-6, 6-12, 12-18, 18-24 months
Base Price: $18.99

* Price increase from current apparel being sold – effective March 23, 2009.

[cpgrid prodtypes="111" return="3" preview="3"]save the environment[/cpgrid]

Cisco Systems Buys Flip Video Maker

Kayecee — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 22:27:56 +0000

Flip Camcorder

Cisco Systems is giving their competitors a run for their money with another step towards becoming a major player in the consumer electronics niche. On Thursday, Cisco Systems announced that it has acquired Pure Digital Technologies for $590 million in stock and an additional $15 million in incentives to Pure Digital employees for retention purposes.

Pure Digital is well known for the Flip mini camcorder that it introduced in 2007. The camcorder has been a huge hit with consumers because of its affordability, tiny size and its ease in uploading videos to the internet through a built-in USB connection.

In 2008, Pure Digital and CafePress teamed up in a promotional effort which allowed CafePress shopkeepers to create custom designs for the Flip and offer them to customers in their shop. As of now, I don’t forsee a change in that agreement and suspect that CafePress shopkeepers will be allowed to continue with this endeavor.

[cpgrid prodtypes="234,236" return="3" preview="3"]thehottees[/cpgrid]

POD For You! » Latest News

Cafepress: Business Cards Temporarily Deactivated

Related Articles:

CafePress: Base Price Increases & New Service Option Plan

Click Here To Join The Shopkeeper Discussion!

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Warning: .be Facebook Phishing Scam

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Imagekind Gets A Makeover For Their Artwork Page

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Interview With Daniel From Skreened.com

Random Posts

CafePress One Day Shopkeeper Sale – Tuesday, March 24

Related Articles:

Imagekind Now Offers Framed Rolling Stone Covers

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Greeting Card Universe Announces New Shipping Options

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CafePress Adds Organic Apparel Items

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Cisco Systems Buys Flip Video Maker

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