# CustomDropship?



## Konstruktive (Sep 10, 2007)

Hey

Has anyone used them? Anyone know anything about them? There prices are alot cheaper and shipping is free to like anywhere in the world. They are located in Australia but go through a factory in hongkong.

Thanks


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## Xeon (Aug 11, 2007)

If you look carefully, they seem to be the same company as Arts Cafe - Custom T-Shirt & Other Popular Products, just under different names.
I'm awaiting a wait-and-see attitude to this, but if these guys can pull it off, they'll make a huge revolution in the POD industry.
It's better to wait and observe now. 

Good day,
Xeon.


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## Konstruktive (Sep 10, 2007)

I might order one, see how the quality is!

Thanks


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## roseroyce (Sep 5, 2007)

Xeon said:


> If you look carefully, they seem to be the same company as Arts Cafe - Custom T-Shirt & Other Popular Products, just under different names.
> I'm awaiting a wait-and-see attitude to this, but if these guys can pull it off, they'll make a huge revolution in the POD industry.
> It's better to wait and observe now.
> 
> ...


Please let us know how the T turns out.


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## Konstruktive (Sep 10, 2007)

That would be wicked! I think that they are all under ArtsCafe's super VIP option.

Xeon im the one who posted that on the printfection forum 

Thanks


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## Xeon (Aug 11, 2007)

LOL, then it must be you who told me about ArtsCafe and Customdropship!
S*it....I've totally embarrassed myself.
What a small world this planet is! 

Good luck!
Xeon.


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## nadiboy (Jan 10, 2007)

Up to 3 weeks for shipping seems a little long. It will be rare finding a customer willing to wait for that period.


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## Konstruktive (Sep 10, 2007)

On the proper site Arts Cafe - Custom T-Shirt & Other Popular Products it says like 10-14 days

Thanks


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## toonsign (Apr 24, 2005)

Good morning,

To answer your question, I have ordered products (clock, t-shirts, etc...) from them and am very pleased with the quality. My customers have no complaints and the 8-14 day production/shipping time frame has not been a problem.

I received my shipments in 8 days without any problems.

I am a Super VIP owner and recommend that if you decide to try it, start with the free store first. This way you can learn how to setup your store and start marketing your store. Eventually you may wish to go to the VIP program where base prices are a lot less and the 'Make Your Own' is included..

I do not recommend the Super VIP program until you start generating some income and learn how to take care of your own store(s) before tackling your member stores.

There is an online How To manual which shows how to build your store and it is free . I suggest reading it prior to starting your store.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

Hope this helps.

Toonsign


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## Xeon (Aug 11, 2007)

Hi Toonsign,

I visited your shops and it's totally awesome.
I've just left Printfection and is considering either CP or Customdropship.

I dunno whether you have tried CP before, but how is Customdropship's print quality compared to CP's?
My concern with CP is that I'm afraid of the many complaints about their printing quality (colors running off, images stamped off-side on shirts etc.)

In terms of product variety, CDS owns every POD company I've seen till now, even CP.
But urmm....er-hem...as their products are printed in China (many recent health issues in products worldwide) and they've some spelling mistakes on their site, I need to consider this carefully.

More details from CDS's shopkeepers would be great, though.

Good day!
Xeon.


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## Konstruktive (Sep 10, 2007)

Hey

I dont think you should go with CustomDropship, i would go straight to the source. Go to ArtsCafe. Xeon since they support your country maybe you could do us all the favour of telling us the quality? They are a damn load cheaper than Cafepress and the shipping is free and we can set a fee on it to make extra profit!! 

Can you PM me your MSN XEON!

Thanks


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## Xeon (Aug 11, 2007)

LOL, Kon pal....I regret to say that I'm gonna choose CP for now.
CDS really rocks, but it seems that they're using shady marketing methods which I'm not too comfortable with (for e.g: ArtsCafe = Customdropship = Fun-Tees = You-Print-Online.com etc.). 

Maybe in future when it has been proven, yeah.
Like I said before, if CDS do it right, they're really going to revolutionized the POD industry.

See you!
Xeon.


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## Konstruktive (Sep 10, 2007)

Hey

How is it shady though? Its ArtsCafe (im pretty sure there the base) and there allowing others to open there own PoD and promote them?

Thanks


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## toonsign (Apr 24, 2005)

Hi,

To avoid any confusion, ArtsCafe is the BASE source. They do the printing, packaging, shipping, etc...

AC offers (for a $100 a month fee) the opportunity for anyone to become a Super VIP storeowners (like me). A Super VIP owner's (like me) responsibility is to take care of all of their VIP, Reseller, Premium and Free storeowners. We provide help, tutoring, design, etc... for all of our own storeowners.

ALL storeowners - from Super VIP down to the Free store owner, do their own marketing for their own store(s). As a Super VIP owner, I provide my own 'How To' manual, T-shirt Mall (to help advertise all storeowners designs), forum, etc..

Super VIP owners also set their own base pricing for VIP, Premium, reseller and Free stores.

I, like other Super VIP owners, started with either a basic (free) store or VIP store, order sample products to check delivery, quality, etc.. and decided to pursue setting up others in their own POD service.

All storeowners who join any Super VIP storeowner, do not know that AC is the base. One of the few requirements that AC has for each Super VIP storeowner is to have the Super VIP responsible for all of the stores under them. And I agree.

All my storeowners come to me for help, questions to be answered, etc... I let AC work on improving their processes and product developement. AC's goal is to offer 400+ product by the year 2010.

Sorry to be so long on this but I thought this should be cleared up.

Thanks,

Fred
Melbourne FL USA




Konstruktive said:


> Hey
> 
> How is it shady though? Its ArtsCafe (im pretty sure there the base) and there allowing others to open there own PoD and promote them?
> 
> Thanks


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## toonsign (Apr 24, 2005)

Hi Xeon,

Hope I can clear this up a bit.

ArtsCafe is my base supplier, just like cafepress is to others. AC prints, ships, just like CP. The big difference is, AC allows others to become Super VIP storeowners. These Super VIP storeowners can allow others to create their own stores, under that Super VIP owner.

As an example: I am a Super VIP owner. My Super VIP site is fun-tees.com. I own my own VIP store at you-print-online.com. I also own a few free stores at fun-tees.com/palmbay for one. This store is for school fundraising.

Fun-Tees, You-Print-Online ( that's me ) and all stores under me (includes Free, Premium, Reseller and VIP), are serviced by Artscafe. AC fills both my own orders and orders from my own storeowners who come under my Super VIP program. Yes, there are other Super VIP owners but I don't know how many there are, nor do I care. My only concerns are my own storeowners to help them get setup, advertising and help them make sales.

The difference between AC, CP, PF, etc.. is, AC is the only POD service that allows others to setup their own POD service to new storeowners. 

I've been printing t-shirts and such since 1987 (sublimation and pigmented in '01) and have both seen and had customer comments to give me enough confidence in product quality, pricing, delivery, etc... that I print nothing (semi-retired) and let AC do it for me.

Hope this helps.

Fred
Melbourne FL USA



Xeon said:


> LOL, Kon pal....I regret to say that I'm gonna choose CP for now.
> CDS really rocks, but it seems that they're using shady marketing methods which I'm not too comfortable with (for e.g: ArtsCafe = Customdropship = Fun-Tees = You-Print-Online.com etc.).
> 
> Maybe in future when it has been proven, yeah.
> ...


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## toonsign (Apr 24, 2005)

Hi Xeon,

Am I corrdct in assuming that when you refer to Custom Dropship, you are referring to ArtsCafe? If so, the term Custom dropship is just a keyword/phrase.

Yes, I've been with CP since 1997 and I still keep designs on there for sale. CP shops reach customers that my own stores don't reach ,and my own You-print-Online store reaches non-cp customers.

I have ordered t-shirts (in colors), a clock, mousepad, etc.. and am both satisfied and confident in the product print quality, product quality, delivery that I am a Super VIP storeowner ($100 a month fee).

I cannot speak about the CP issues.

CDS (Custom Drop Ship?) is it's own POD service. The only people they service are their own retail customers, other VIP, Reseller, Premium and free stores under their program, AND all Super VIP owners and their owner stores under each Super VIP's program, including me.

I've had no issues about health problems and yes, I do inquire with my customers to be sure they are happy with their purchases and any questions they may have. Yes, we do have access to our own retail customers.

Spelling - you should have seen it in June. YIKES! It was bad, but, my concern was product quality, servicve and being satisfied, we worked with them to improve the spelling, text ,etc.. .They're better but a bit more work is needed.

I have to say though, whenever one of my owners has a prblem with their store(s), if I can't fix it, AC takes care of it usually withing 24 hours.

By the way, one of the nice things about a free store is, all free stores (including Premium and VIP) can be linked together so customers do not 'leave' your store.

If you need more information, always feel free to contact me directly.

Hope this helps,

Fred

Melbourne FL USA




Xeon said:


> Hi Toonsign,
> 
> I visited your shops and it's totally awesome.
> I've just left Printfection and is considering either CP or Customdropship.
> ...


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## Konstruktive (Sep 10, 2007)

So the quality of AC is good?

Thanks


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Konstruktive said:


> So the quality of AC is good?
> 
> Thanks


That's what Fred has experienced so far (as evidenced in his last few posts )


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## Xeon (Aug 11, 2007)

Thanks a lot for enlightening me, Toons!
Really, I must be real dumb not to understand the relationship of AC, CDS and other similar-looking AC stores.
But then, the whole concept to me is even newer than the POD concept, so you can't blame me either. 

*From Toons:*


> The difference between AC, CP, PF, etc.. is, AC is the only POD service that allows others to setup their own POD service to new storeowners.


That's the gist of it, I guess! AC lets people setup their own POD companies but everything is powered behind the scenes by AC! I've become smarter.
Hey Konstructive, since that's what you've been looking for, look no further: AC IS FOR YOU!

My only reservation is that you know, if you're a new storeowner like me with limited marketing funds (hundreds to a thousand at most, and not millions etc), CP does give you an good starting point in sales cos' they're ranked very high in search engines. I mean, search for "(any subject) apparel" and you'll see a CP store within the first five of the search engine results, and their marketplace really brings in sales.
Problem is their quality is worth re-thinking.

By the way, Toons.....regarding ArtsCafe, do you know whether it is possible to customize the look of the store so that it looks exactly the same as my website appearance?
It would be good if it's store management / customization abilities can be as flexible as CP's.

Thanks for everything, though. I'll study my options again! 
Xeon!


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## toonsign (Apr 24, 2005)

Hi Xeon,

Don't worry about it. We've all gone through the learning experience and hopefully, I can help others.

As far as customizing your store to match your website, I'm not positive but I think the VIp stores can add their own HTML for custom pages. I don't think the free/basic stores can but the all stores can use the templates that are available.

Hope this helps.

Toonsign




Xeon said:


> Thanks a lot for enlightening me, Toons!
> Really, I must be real dumb not to understand the relationship of AC, CDS and other similar-looking AC stores.
> But then, the whole concept to me is even newer than the POD concept, so you can't blame me either.
> 
> ...


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