Funzo T-shirts

Introduction
A brief overview of what happened to Cafepress and some recommended alternative print on demand and order fulfilment options available to artists and designers.

Many designers that were previously members of Cafepress were forced to remove all their designs after the company royally screwed them on commission changes that went into effect late 2009 and have since closed their stores or deleted their products from the marketplace.

Products purchased from the Cafepress marketplace now only earn 10% for the designer, instead of the original markup difference which was previously set by the designer. For example if someone was charging $20 for a regular white t-shirt, Cafepress used to charge the shopkeeper/designer a base price of $13.99 for the t-shirt, and the markup difference ($6.01) would then be credited to the shopkeeper. With the new marketplace pricing scheme Cafepress will still sell that t-shirt with your design for $20 total, but they will only pay you 10% of the sale ($2). In essence, Cafepress is now stealing that extra $4 on top of the profit they are already earning from the base price fee for every shirt sold via their marketplace.

Considering other apparel printing companies charge only around $3 each for bulk orders of printed shirts, and cafepress is already charging approximately $14 base fee for a basic white shirt with a one sided print, it's a reasonable estimate that they are already making approximately $10 profit for every shirt sold even at full price from your store. Along with some other recent changes on Cafepress, most shopkeepers are now earning around 10-20% of what they used to earn, with Cafepress now pocketing the extra 80-90% for themselves.

Here are some comments from current and former Cafepress Shopkeepers

(Comments from actual shopkeepers that we found on various message-boards via Google search)

" Cafepress has literally devastated me financially after spending 4 years full time building a business based on their fulfillment services and marketplace."

"We are now having to compete with Cafepress, to sell our own designs. I have had a monthy income reduction of about 60-70% since their new policies took affect."

"Hello Cafepress Shop Holders… I am also a shop holder who got my store making an average of $250–$450 a month, Last 3 Christmas’s I made over $1,000 each time. Now I get maybe $70 a month"

" I’ve had a premium shop there for 4 years and have gotten screwed over like everybody else effective 6/09. I closed my shop, deleted all images in my media basket,...But my images are still rolling around for sale on their marketplace!!! I am furious! How can I get C.P. to remove my images?!"

Alternative POD Services
Independent t-shirt designers, artists and graphic designers. If you are interested in selling your designs online, in this article we will be featuring a list of good alternative POD (Print on Demand) companies you can try. Also, if you have a website we would like to exchange links, check out our links page for more information. Some of the more popular Cafepress alternatives we see recommended or suggested most often by other sellers include Skreened, Spreadshirt, Zazzle, and Printfection. (More details and links to be added here shortly)