# very unhappy INKSOFT experience



## jmcgurren

Hello folks, here to express my extreme displeasure in inksoft. To start out here I would just like to say that I spent a few thousand dollars and 100s of hours of time for little to no sales.
You might say this is my fault, however it wasn't until after I signed up that I discovered that there is no way to do any type of worthy SEO with inksoft. Yes they have an SEO tab inside the program but it is never going to help to get you any type of rankings. I tried to hire a well known and respected SEO company (higher Visibility) to do SEO for my inksoft site and they told me the fact that there is no access to writing custom content for the home page or any other important pages would be the main factor in not making it worth investing into SEO. 
Regardless of the SEO, there were so many basic functioning issues with the software. From design category configuration to product configuration there were a lot of times where I would do something and it just would not stick. The action I performed would just revert itself. I think I wasted 20 of the 100s of hours just calling tech support to tell them something was not working and have them try to fix it in the back end. When I actually canceled I had an on-going issue where about half of my stock designs/categories were just disappearing off of my site. I would load them back up and check the next day and they were gone again. Inksoft actually could not figure it out and never did. They escalated it to the highest level tech support and still told me no one knew the issues but "they were working on it". I will hand it to the tech support people, SOME of them do work with you and call you back and really try to figure out issues, but I should not have had to call them so many times if they had a good piece of software with no bugs. 
It takes A LOT of time to set up products. They make you think that its just a plug and play thing from your suppliers catalog, however most suppliers are missing certain colors or don't have photos of the back of the shirts, etc. There are so many things to configure in one product that each will take you 15-20 minutes to figure out, and then you will have to go back and fix something again, guaranteed. multiply that by how many products you want to have on your site and you are spending a lot of time just on the product configuration and thats not even half the battle.
Image size of the pre decorated products/designs is tiny, not large enough for anyone to want to purchase a shirt with any type of detail that they cannot zoom into and see. My shirts are detailed. When I e-mailed JP about this he just wrote me off saying there were other issues that were much higher on the list and there was nothing that could be done at the moment. I said OK can you tell me an ETA on when it might be updated and he said simply "no".
I think the most important thing that should be noted is that their HTML 5 "mobile friendly" gimmick is just that... a gimmick. Inksoft websites do not work on a phone. The design tool shows up, and seems to work, however if you actually try to design and order a shirt you will quickly quit because it is impossible to move the image around on the shirt, resize, etc. I had a number of people tell me that they tried but it was too frustrating and they quit. 
I called today to ask them if there was an help with a refund of any kind (not full) that they could offer me for my experience. I mentioned that I made no money off of their software and had numerous issues. They told me no. I told them I would write this review and hung up. 
End of story just thought I would share my experience so this doesn't happen to you. Then again, I am sure there are others who are making it work for them, I just don't see how. I was going to sign up with deconetwork, I just though the "you get what you pay for" motto was in effect in this case since insoft is so expensive. Turns out I was wrong. I would probably have been better off with Deco, though I am now turned off to any type of online design e-commerce service.


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## tshirtkurt

Dang! I have been looking at them for updating my site.
Did you cancel and get your money back?


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## jmcgurren

Canceled yes. They wouldn't give me a penny back.


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## BobMotep

I've messed around on Alpha Broder's site with the InkSoft design thing and thought about getting it....not now. I really don't have that much patience to fiddle around with stuff like that so you have saved me money and time


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## johnchesley

I have been using inksoft for about 2 years. Most of the issues that I encountered were because of MY general lack of knowledge. They were extremely patient with me, and now I am very happy that I chose them.
There were a few bugs that they took care of. I tried deco-network before trying inksoft, and at the time, they couldn't do anything right! They kept charging me a monthly fee but couldn't get anything to work. Just promises to call me back, which they stopped doing before getting the program functional. I want to make it clear that my experience with deconetwork was several years ago, but at the time, they were ridiculous!
I think that eventually one company will become dominant, but until that time expect to have issues with which ever provider you chose.But you must exercise patience!


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## johnchesley

Oh, I forgot to mention something about SEO.
Please keep in mind that I don't have personal knowledge but just a suggestion that MIGHT help.

Could your webmaster concentrate on SEO for YOUR website and have people reach your inksoft site from there? It seems to me that it would be more productive to promote your own site first and then direct them to your design site. Realize that I really don't know about these things, but it seems feasible to me.
Best Wishes.


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## marzatplay

Thanks for the review. Try Deconetwork as it has no set up fees. Try their lowest monthly plan. The worst you'll loose is $50.00


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## visionalfreeman

Thanks for the review. I don't think I'll be using them anytime soon.


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## jmcgurren

Patience was certainly at play here johnchesley. I was more than patient. 3-4 months of patience with getting set up. Bottom line is things don't work well that should and posting my experience here is something I would never have done if they even offered me $200 back out of about 3k. Look at the business they may have lost due to this post. I told them when I called that I would have to share my experience on TSF if they were unwilling to help me at all. And they said sorry do what u need to do- didn't seem threatened by it. So it is what it is.


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## hitthespot

I've been an Inksoft subscriber for 3 years with the same experience. We've tried to hire several people to help get our website noticed and they've all said there is nothing they can do. I give up with Inksoft. As soon as I find the right replacement we will no longer be using them. thanks for the review and confirming what we've found as well. Don't waste your money with them.


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## johnchesley

Articulate,
I am sorry it didn't work out for you. If you find something you like better, I would love to hear about it.


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## Screen Medics

JMCGURREN,


We also use Inksoft and I have noticed that shirt backs and important details are not showing up in the pics. It is kind of nice that the "Alpha Products" are easy to add. I have a question for you, did you end up modifying the names and the descriptions of the garments? I feel the stock descriptions and item names are pretty awful?


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## johnchesley

The stock names and numbers are provided by the distributors. I must agree that the distributors don't do a very good job at that sort of thing. Some of the distributors,(SanMar and ACC), use the manufacturers SKU while some others, (S&S), use there own SKU's. You also have to depend on the distributors to keep up with products that they discontinue.
As far as missing information on the art, that will sometimes happen when you change your art into their suggested SVG format.


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## Screen Medics

John,

Were do I find more out about the inksoft preferred SVG Format?


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## johnchesley

It is just another vector format, such as CDR or EPS or Illistrator. When you are preparing to save a vector file, look at the file format options. One of the options should be SVG.


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## jmcgurren

Yea I modified everything... even the CSS for the entire site. Spent soo much time for nothing... not to mention way too much money.


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## jmcgurren

The funny thing about his is that all they needed to do was refund me a small portion of my money (even a couple hundred dollars) and I would have saved them a lot of lost sales with this post. The executive JP Hunt will not make any exceptions to make his customers happy. I think I learned that fully when all I had asked for was a tentative time stamp on when they could fix the image size issue and he responded by telling me that there is no timeline and plenty of other issues way ahead of it on the calendar. This is when I knew I was going to cancel their service. Hi response alone seemed rushed and annoyed becuase I had asked multiple times. I also felt this "rushed annoyed" feeling with some of the techs there. Some of which would say they were going to call me back with a fix to my problems almost every week and I would never recieve a call back. When I called again they would act like they didnt remember me.


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## David1962

I embed the web designer on my own site. This way I have complete control over SEO. Not Inksoft. We are having success with it. You have to work with the technology to make it work for you. There is no magic bullet software out there right now. You're right it's not plug and play. If it was everyone would be using it.


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## jmcgurren

Then they shouldn't market it to seem like magic bullet software. Looks like they are smart though, because they get you with a few thousand up front so when you figure out that it doesn't work well, you can't get a dime back. Just my opinion.


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## David1962

Hope you find a software to help your T Shirt Co. Customers love to design their own T's. I looked at Deco, I considered their support and had second thoughts about dealing with a Company outside the U.S. Don't give up trying to find something that works for you.


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## HumbleShirts

Building an independent home page in which you CAN control metadata is pretty super simple. Just put a link to the designer software on the home page and users that get to your site will click it then. You don't need access to the InkSoft HTML source code on their root page, just embed their root page into an inline frame on your site or have clicking the link open a new window or whatever you want it to do. This way, all SEO work can use your HTML metadata freely and route all traffic to your one page.

I can't imagine that they didn't explain this to you. I bet you just don't understand the issue here and what responsibilities you, as the site owner, need to maintain yourself.


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## Screen Medics

HumbleShirts said:


> Building an independent home page in which you CAN control metadata is pretty super simple. Just put a link to the designer software on the home page and users that get to your site will click it then. You don't need access to the InkSoft HTML source code on their root page, just embed their root page into an inline frame on your site or have clicking the link open a new window or whatever you want it to do. This way, all SEO work can use your HTML metadata freely and route all traffic to your one page.
> 
> I can't imagine that they didn't explain this to you. I bet you just don't understand the issue here and what responsibilities you, as the site owner, need to maintain yourself.


Ok, so meta data can be controlled on the homepage - great. But what about all of the categories and product pages and design tool? They are important as well, this is an issue that inksoft should address but refused to and that is why this gentleman left the service. When you build a website it is possible to not have to make compromises.

You have pointed out a band-aid that requires a website to have two urls and only allows custom meta data on one of those URL's CONGRATS!


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## HumbleShirts

Screen Medics said:


> Ok, so meta data can be controlled on the homepage - great. But what about all of the categories and product pages and design tool? They are important as well, this is an issue that inksoft should address but refused to and that is why this gentleman left the service. When you build a website it is possible to not have to make compromises.
> 
> You have pointed out a band-aid that requires a website to have two urls and only allows custom meta data on one of those URL's CONGRATS!



Sounds like you're one of those guys that want to pay some money and expect sales to just roll in. That is precisely why many of InkSoft's subscribers fail. You are not paying them to drive traffic to your website. You're paying them to provide a tool to help sell shirts or other decorated materials once browsers have landed at your site by YOU using proper SEO techniques.

And don't bother congratulating me on anything. All I did was point out the "key" to a successful internet presence and you obviously don't get it. Can't much help you out anymore than that.


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## Screen Medics

HumbleShirts said:


> Sounds like you're one of those guys that want to pay some money and expect sales to just roll in. That is precisely why many of InkSoft's subscribers fail. You are not paying them to drive traffic to your website. You're paying them to provide a tool to help sell shirts or other decorated materials once browsers have landed at your site by YOU using proper SEO techniques.
> 
> And don't bother congratulating me on anything. All I did was point out the "key" to a successful internet presence and you obviously don't get it. Can't much help you out anymore than that.


We are inksoft customers and we have successfully implemented an iframe and the store currently has two urls. We had performed custom CSS on the inksoft side and are utilizing Wordpress for the other side.

HumbleShirts, I think you have confused this thread with a different one because the discussion is not about them driving traffic to a site. The discussion is about us driving traffic to our sites.

This discussion is also not about failing at inksoft, it is about leaving the service because it does not provide the things we are looking for.


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## jmcgurren

Humble shirts - Apparently you read only one part of my post which was about SEO. There were plenty of other problems with my ink soft experience.... Like my design categories disappearing off my page. The inks soft techs NEVER figured it out. it took weeks to get them to call or email back with a reply that stated that they didn't know the problem at the moment and would keep trying. Or how about the fact that the design images are so tiny that the purchaser cant see any detail in what they are buying especially for the predecorated products. 
To me, paying a $2500 initiation fee and $300 per month for linking to another site from a separately hosted home page seems absurd. I didn't need them to tell me how to do this, nor do I need you to, it is hardly a workaround. All that does is fix SEO for one single page. Not to mention who wants to pay to have a website hosted on multiple platforms. For the amount of hours I put into building out the site I still wonder what the their initial fee is even for. They do absolutely nothing to get you set up besides hand you a log in.


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## HumbleShirts

Man, look. I was just responding to the other guy. No need to get your panties all in a wad. Sounds like you're mad.

I was just offering insight and alternatives. Sorry I struck a nerve hoss.


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## vizualbyte

I remember when I got contacted by them about 2 yrs ago to license part of my portfolio so they can use the designs on their platform. I have a track record of selling my clip art from sotck photo sites like shutterstock and istock so when i quoted them my price, they prob thought it was too high for them.

I feel better reading this post somehow


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## jmcgurren

Wow bro you respond to my intial post telling me you bet I dont understand the responsibilities I have as a site owner, etc.. I respond to you explaining the situation further in a perfectly logical way without using anything derogatory toward you, then you respond back as if I was mad and my "panties are in a wad". Lol I could care less I am done with posting in this thread anyway I was initally trying to expain a real life situation to others so they can see the facts, that's all. Good day.


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## NeoCop

I was considering getting this program. The people I spoke to from Inksoft didn't not seem very friendly towards a potential new customer. I obviously asked about a better deal or lower subscription rate and was told flat out NO.
Thank god I didn't invest my money in this company.
Thank you for the post.
Back to the drawing board.


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## Screen Medics

NeoCop said:


> I was considering getting this program. The people I spoke to from Inksoft didn't not seem very friendly towards a potential new customer. I obviously asked about a better deal or lower subscription rate and was told flat out NO.
> Thank god I didn't invest my money in this company.
> Thank you for the post.
> Back to the drawing board.


I am an Inksoft customer and it is very likely I will be leaving. People on the boards have been recommending Deco network. Apparently it does not have the start up fee and you can get started for $40 or $50 for a month subscription and see if it will work for you. If you don't like it - you are only out $50.


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## jmcgurren

That is funny that they told you no because they actually did give me a discounted rate when I asked. Not sure why they pick and choose who they give a lower rate to....


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## DonR

Just curious, how much would you guys pay for a custom system that did everything that you want.


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## NeoCop

Is there a custom package that will do everything we need?


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## DonR

Of cause it depends on your needs, but the key word is "custom". Custom systems can be created that will give you a good full function online designer, instant quotes, product listings, clip art, templates, full job control, and the seo you want. However, we are not talking about a few hundred bucks or even a few thousand. So how much would it be worth to you?


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## garagegirl

Thank you for this post. Every day I struggle with wanting just a design lab. I don't want to spend hours inputting shirt styles, costs, and the hoo-haw that comes with e-commerce. I'd just like to have an online design lab where they can pick clip art, fonts, layout and then email it to me. Call me with, "I want a short sleeve tee in purple, cotton, what is the cost, and here are my sizes. It just feels like every one of these web tools make it so complicated on the back end that I would be spending money and time that I don't have to mess around. I very much appreciate your personal experience. I'm just not there yet.


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## jmcgurren

Garagegirl did you know that deconetwork offers what you are saying you need for free? I currently have it on both of my websites www.articulatecreation.com and www.wickedsicktees.com. It's an external site called deco catalog that allows you to pick from a supplier, it loads in all the products from that supplier and you can pick and choose what you want and don't want on your site based on apparel style categories. The way it works is there is a design tool and the customer can design and upload designs to the item, choose colors, sizes, quantity, etc... Basically place a full order. The only difference is that the customer cannot pay and finish the ordering process on the site. Instead they download a PDF of their order and design details and/or email it to you and you get back to them with pricing and stuff. Pretty cool that deco is offering this for free... Hats off to them. At some point I may upgrade if I decide I want to... Taking a break from the online designers after ink soft and this made it an easy and quick workaround for the time being.


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## jessica873

jmcgurren said:


> Garagegirl did you know that deconetwork offers what you are saying you need for free? I currently have it on both of my websites Londonderry Custom T-Shirt Printing | Articulate Creation and Wicked Sick Tees | Original Boston Apparel. It's an external site called deco catalog that allows you to pick from a supplier, it loads in all the products from that supplier and you can pick and choose what you want and don't want on your site based on apparel style categories. The way it works is there is a design tool and the customer can design and upload designs to the item, choose colors, sizes, quantity, etc... Basically place a full order. The only difference is that the customer cannot pay and finish the ordering process on the site. Instead they download a PDF of their order and design details and/or email it to you and you get back to them with pricing and stuff. Pretty cool that deco is offering this for free... Hats off to them. At some point I may upgrade if I decide I want to... Taking a break from the online designers after ink soft and this made it an easy and quick workaround for the time being.



Hey just checkced out you wicked tees site. Took a quick look at the designer tool. Do your customers like using it? I noticed how it had options for printing embroidery and screen printing. I'm assuming the printing is dtg? 
I've heard so many bad things about inksoft from this board it hard for me to justify buying. The idea is great, but for 2k upfront and no trail period its hard for me to take that jump.


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## jmcgurren

Hi,
Yes most printing I do is DTG but I also offer embroidery and screen printing so I left that as an option on the site. I have only had a few customers attempt to use that tool since the site has been up, but I have not had any complaints like I did about inksoft, and, it's free.


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## plugintois

Jeez, REALLY sorry to hear of your experience. Yeah, I felt the SEO function and capability was sub-par and wouldn't be capable of keeping up with other sites, that's why I'll be integrating my InkSoft store with WordPress. Then I can use whatever theme and SEO plugins I want. I can create blog posts and so on.


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## stevegamble

Wicked tee's is pretty nice!

Setting up Inksoft here.. and we have No Art and No Art Catagories.
Actually Just one - Business (because we set that up) and added 80 pieces of art.
After a few minutes to do that.. I realized that to load 12,000 pieces of art may take a very long time?

I thought Inksoft came with Art.
Design Idea's and and clip art ?
We have to load this all ourselves ?

I called tech support, but they didn't know why we could not get design idea's catagories loaded and are taking the issue to the team to figure out.
I can tell you if Inksoft Tech support can not do it, I will not be able to.
I am sure refunds are not an option, so we muddle through..
But since nobody is answering me from Inksoft I thought I may start asking questions here with current users of this software.

Can't load a product.
Can't load a design idea category.
Can't create a "Printable area" square turns to squished rectangle.
Error 404 "Darn It"
Can't activate cart "Cart Disabled message"

Can't get a live person to help us, email response is good with message that this is being sent to Tier 2.
I do have a family member with a Masters in Computer science who is laughing at me, after they tried and said somebody is purposely making Inksoft FAR TOO Complicated beyond what is needed.
We're not splitting the atom here, just wanting to sell a few shirt designs by the 10's of thousands albeit.. but a simple process with the cart and art set up should be attainable. ?

Anyone here resolve issues like this ?
Any trick to getting the site to have the clip art and design adea's loaded ready to "Manage" ?

I find lot's of "Manage your art" video's and tutorials - BUT To manage it , you need to already have it ?

Couple more days of consulting tech and I'll give up..


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## jmcgurren

loading all that art is going to take you FOREVER. Also the art images are very small especially on predecorated products if you choose to list some of those for sale. Inksoft is the worst. Way too long to do everything and most of the time the tech people make you feel like you are bothering them, they will tell you they will call you back and 80 percent of the time they never will. I guarentee they wont refund you any money for the set up fee but you should tell them you are taking them to court because you barely even used their software.


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## jmcgurren

... dont let them fool you. "Setting you up" is not worth $50 nevermind $1500 or whatever it is. They literally do NOTHING aside from grant you access to their platform yet they make you think there is all this work that goes into "setting you up". (If that were the case then similar companies like Deconetwork would not be able to set up for free.) The only work setting up is on your end, and there is a friggen LOT OF IT!!!


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## jmcgurren

... oh one more thing,... thanks for the compliment about Wicked Sick Tees!


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## stevegamble

Wow!
I wouldn't take them to court, but it is not right to charge me the up front cost and then have the software not work with Error 404 , which it seems like they fixed after 1 week of sending to Tier 2 for investigation since reg tech support could not resolve.

Which means their is bugs in it I might be led to believe ?

Yes Loading art will take me months.. No Way will I do that ?
I was led to believe that art was their to Manage and not have to load it piece or page by page.

Wicked Tee's site is AWESOME, and I LOVE the shirt designs !!
I hate the art that comes with Deco and the online designer looks way to intimidating vs Inksoft.
the full colour design idea's to play with on Inksoft and the large button all Apple looking designer is what brought me here..

But the aspects of the Deco platform "seems" better.

I do hear complaints about both companies regarding service, but time will tell.. and I like to voice the Good and Bad, and so far the service has been ok with Inksoft - Not stellar, but they seem to be trying to help. But if it is back and forth with them as there tech team learn the system - how the heck are we Newbie's suppose to stream through it ??
They keep changing the software drastically with the back end, so learning it is impossible for there staff as well as us ?
Just starting to get confused - and wondering if it is just us or has Inksoft changed ..for the worse ?


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## HumbleShirts

This is not a good thing. I have purchased things from J.P. Hunt on several occasions when he worked for Craig Mertens at Digital Art Solutions. He is an excellent salesperson. I have recommended the Inksoft solution and referred business to them but now I am having some regrets doing so. I do wish that they would work a little closer with those small shops that cough up those big bucks for their solution and clarify up front all the nuances that will be required of them to setting up their site. Touting that it's "set up and ready" is certainly misleading based on the reviews I am seeing out there and within this thread.

I understand that due diligence is required on the end user to ascertain the feasibility of the product prior to purchasing but I would think that Inksoft would rather lose a sale than hype up their product to a point in which an end user pulls the trigger before they know what they are in for in the setup process. But that goes back to salesmanship and their "no refund" policy. That works more like a gimmick than it does a in the essence of working with a "partner". It's that "partnership" type relationship that appears to be lacking in this scenario.

I will be the first to say that I have been on the fence for quite some time on signing up for the product. I have been involved in conference calls and pre-sales conversations with several referrals to them.

I have to say that rather than me getting closer to doing something myself with them, I am getting further away now and have some regrets in referring some people to them.

The industry really needs a solution that works and can support their entire base of customers. I know there are some people that are never going to be happy and frankly, they should have a better process of vetting out end users better and letting them know that this wasn't the solution for them rather than take their money and hang them out to dry. I don't think it would be very hard with the experience they have to develop a questionnaire that would help the vetting process. But...I guess that's not salesmanship, that's more of a long term business plan and that may be where Inksoft lacks in business acumen.

Who's to say, I guess. I don't sit in their office and I am not privy to their business strategies.

I guess, in a truly liberal world, you get to always blame someone else for your woes rather than look at investments like this as a risk/reward process and preparing to lose the investment if it doesn't fit your needs perfectly.

Such is life. Just get back to the business of making money the best way you know how.


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## jessica873

I recently went thru the decision to do inksoft or deco. (About 2 months ago). I chose Deco because of all the bad complaints with Inksoft and the upfront cost. Deco was pretty easy to set up but you will need to add the extra $10 page management add-on so its not really $89 a month. Loading/uploading the artwork is pretty easy. 
That's just my experience from the two months I've used it.


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## Cortwrong

I was in the t-shirt business for 6 years and used Inksoft for 4 of those, and have since sold the t-shirt business and started a web development business. I would like to give my two cents.

First and foremost, the SEO part of Inksoft's platform does what it is supposed to do, and it would be a huge security practice failure to allow an outside developer access to modify their application; even if it was only to add meta data. Secondly Google has made SEO all but obsolete (SEO professionals no need to reply). 

I found Inksoft very intuitive and was up and running two days (pardon the boast). I used Inksoft more for artwork approval than for actual sales, however I did have several sales by promoting my website on Facebook. The real value I found in Inksoft was the legitimacy it gave to my business. Having a website of this quality instills confidence and promotes the professional image of your business. Also, any company who is going to compete on the level of Custom Ink needs to be large enough to have a dedicated team of web developers to build a custom web application specific to that business.

The $200.00 a month I spent on the site paid for itself many times over. After about 3 months Google found my site through Facebook. The more you promote your site on social media,with links to specific products or specials, the higher you will find yourself on the search results especially when someone searches for the product you are listing in the link. 

It does, however cost a lot in hours spent keeping up with things on the site. It is my opinion that, even though there are several options that are "automated" like linking your blank inventory to San Mar and S&S Activewear you still need to dedicate at least an hour or two a day to maintain YOUR site, regardless of who you purchased the application from.

After all you spend countless hours in prep to print a job how many hours is it worth to make your jobs as visible to the internet public as possible. In summary: Inksoft is WELL worth the cost and effort.

I also think it is irresponsible to give bad word-of-mouth to a company for your dissatisfaction when the problem was more likely to be your unrealistic expectations or misunderstanding of the platform than to have been a failure of their product. I highly recommend Inksoft.


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## jmcgurren

Linking products to the catalog is by no means automated. Once it is in your site you still have to change everything about the product including product category, description, print areas, decoration type, etc. it takes at least 5-8 minutes per product to do this once you get the hang of it. With tons of products this is a lot of time. Uploading artwork is extremely slow, organizing them by category is slow and doesn't stick half the time. It is also very buggy and errors occur often. By the time I quit using it there were actually multiple things that they had "escalated to tier 2" that they never could figure out. 
Steve, try using an iPhone or iPad / tablet to play with the online designer. Unless they fixed it, it is damn near impossible to finish a design and checkout without giving up on it. I had multiple people complain about it saying they left the site without finishing it. 
Bottom line is they shouldn't be charging so much money up front acting as if they are setting you up when they do nothing. They should also fix the problems with their software and make some things speedy especially uploading artwork. The user should be able to select a list of 1,000 of their own art pieces at once and click upload. Instead you have to do one at a time and it takes inksoft like 10 minutes per design to "render" or whatever they call it. If you try to do too much at once don't expect it to even work or show up that day. 
Glad your experience was better than ours for your sake, but just so you know my expectations never exceeded their demo videos and what they made the software out to be. JP hunt treated some of my requests for features to be fixed as if I was a peasant and there were many others more important with better issues. He didn't even respond to a few of my emails and then I felt I was annoying him. Well sir, I paid you a lot of money for your software so acknowledge the issues and get them fixed. I doubt it is rocket science to figure out how to make product images zoom, yet he refused to give me a date on when that could possibly happen or if it even would. 
Thanks again Steve! Good luck with your venture with inksoft hopefully it turns out better than mine.


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## stevegamble

Many of the problems I had are being resolved smoothly by Inksoft.

The problem was (Sorta) a nobody's fault situation.
I had tested Inksoft - suspended the site until our brick and mortar infrastructure grew and became more solid in order processing before attacking the online push...

Then when re activating - we found so many changes (again) that setting up was a new learning curve and for some reason my webstore licence would not take in the new back end set up properly and Nobody I spoke to knew off the cuff how to quickly remedy this or that the reason for our difficulties WAS this reason mentioned here.

So I was frustrated.. why can't this get fixed, what happened to Inksoft software, bugs etc.. error codes, nobody can help, if they don't know , how can I know..situation.

So.. I start asking around to other users.. 

Now that "everyone" knows what happened (A VERY Rare situation, where a suspended site gets reactivated after back end changes - and behold - bugs).
I totally understand how everyone at Inksoft would not know right off the bat what is wrong.. IN HINDSITE.

I do NOT think Inksoft is expensive.
I do think you should be able to watch video on youtube to see how the back end works, so not be surprised when you pay $1999 and Voila you have to set up as per the video demo.
I do find the site pages load too slow for my liking vs others. 

Free Consultations "whenever" you need is superb - although getting a live person is not always easy or instant - I do believe they care and try.. and if urgent would make extra effort(Ask nice now) ;>)

It is not perfect.. but I have no problems with price and or business model they have.
But there is room for improvements in simplifying things for admin and end users alike.

I plan to hire help to develop webstores for generous commissions with no hourly upfront cost, and Inksoft seems like the perfect platform for a project like mine.


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## WalkingZombie

Thank you for this post @jmcgurren and others with steady issues and poor custom support. I will definitely be looking at DecoNetwork. Plus, it's cheaper to run than inksoft, which is easier to bail out and not having to worry about losing so much investment.

Saved me a ton of aggravation.


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## stevegamble

WalkingZombie said:


> Thank you for this post @jmcgurren and others with steady issues and poor custom support. I will definitely be looking at DecoNetwork. Plus, it's cheaper to run than inksoft, which is easier to bail out and not having to worry about losing so much investment.
> 
> Saved me a ton of aggravation.


It is not supposed to be about what is easier for you or cheaper.
What is better for your customers.
What is better for your business development and growth and image!

I am sure they both have pro and con scenarios found on line.
Take everything we all say with a grain of salt and make the calls to them in my advice.


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## WalkingZombie

stevegamble said:


> It is not supposed to be about what is easier for you or cheaper.
> What is better for your customers.
> What is better for your business development and growth and image!
> 
> I am sure they both have pro and con scenarios found on line.
> Take everything we all say with a grain of salt and make the calls to them in my advice.


Notice I said.... "Plus, it's cheaper to run...." For me, Customer Service is my #1 concern and by the few folks in here and around the net, it seems there are far more complaints about customer service for inksoft than there are for DecoNetwork, which tells me they are all about the money. Period. And yes, it is about what is easier for me. If I am dealing with a UI that is clunky and takes tons of time over something else that is steamlined and I can breeze through, then I can give something better for my customers.

I agree they both will have their pros/cons but I'm not paying 5 times more when support isn't going to be there for me. And if with the amount inksoft is charging and they don't have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, then they won't have my business any time soon. I'm not willing to take that chance with my hard earned money.

And I hear you... I take every advice with a grain of salt.


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## stevegamble

I was with Deco for 3 months before Inksoft.
I left Deco ONLY Due to Rude Customer service, who after days to get back to me basically said "hey if don't like it, see you later"
I don't want to bash.. but I wanted help and got, hey it is what it is, take it or leave it.. just the tone from then told me to forget trying to get help from them.
That was 2012 I think, maybe things have changed.

Where Inksoft - Yes clunky software evolving way too fast and often changing ,that is far from simplicity (advice they gave me (Irony)).. Has always been amazing with patience and efforts to provide professional customer service.

Not saying they are better in any way - other than the talk of more complaints should not be in the area of service.
I am sure everyone has varied experiences with Both and Anyone can be cranky on a given day.
But this was my experience.

I subscribed to Inksoft now - But still look at options with deco or ?Shirttools etc.. since I am not 100% satisfied just yet with what I have to deal with.. but not giving up yet.


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## jessica873

I think it comes down to being informed about your purchase . I watched the YouTube videos for both, talked to JP (I think that's his name from inksoft) and spoke with deco support for a couple weeks with questions/concerns I had read on there fourms. Both seem to be great platforms but for me I personally didn't want to pay the upfront 2k or even the discounted rate that I was given when I had the same options for no upfront cost. Be smart about your purchase and then workout the kinks
to make it fit you and your business.


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## Canproj

I am happy about this post. I am going to make a complete U-turn. I have been looking at them for about 1.5 years. I was always suspicious that things are not as rosy as painted. If you notice, the demo is very superficial. No extreme details. I have asked about SEO, mobile-friendliness etc. The impression I got was that they were all inclusive. Sorry for your loss but it is a priceless experience. You know what to sniff at, in your next acquisition

Disclosure: My background was in IT implementing software that had been sold by sweet-tongued sales people.


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## stevegamble

jessica873 said:


> I think it comes down to being informed about your purchase . I watched the YouTube videos for both, talked to JP (I think that's his name from inksoft) and spoke with deco support for a couple weeks with questions/concerns I had read on there fourms. Both seem to be great platforms but for me I personally didn't want to pay the upfront 2k or even the discounted rate that I was given when I had the same options for no upfront cost. Be smart about your purchase and then workout the kinks
> to make it fit you and your business.


Talking about the $2k is kinda short sited.
Either it is the best program help to your business goals or it is not.
Don't let a little money hold you back from growing your business - it will pay you back.. if it is the right tool.?

If it is not what you want or need, fine but to say I am buying another tool based on a little money savings..? That makes no sense.
I'll get the cheaper printer that takes 2 x longer, for half as good of a print because it costs a little less to buy ?
How is that recipe for success ? Or good advise to offer others.

Get the best tool to achieve your business goal.
You have determined that this is good business, you have committed to starting it up and growing it well. But then afraid to invest into it ?
$2k is One good T shirt order printed in a few hours. Maybe ONLY because of the great website tool you bought ? 
If it works.. It works.. For me - It only works a little.. but for others maybe they have better luck.
T shirts is a Tiny part of our business though.
Embroidery is 80% - No Pretreat, lol.


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## TPrintDesigner

stevegamble said:


> T shirts is a Tiny part of our business though.
> Embroidery is 80% - No Pretreat, lol.


Ha Ha! .. I like that


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## jessica873

stevegamble said:


> Talking about the $2k is kinda short sited.
> Either it is the best program help to your business goals or it is not.
> Don't let a little money hold you back from growing your business - it will pay you back.. if it is the right tool.?
> 
> If it is not what you want or need, fine but to say I am buying another tool based on a little money savings..? That makes no sense.
> I'll get the cheaper printer that takes 2 x longer, for half as good of a print because it costs a little less to buy ?
> How is that recipe for success ? Or good advise to offer others.
> 
> Get the best tool to achieve your business goal.
> You have determined that this is good business, you have committed to starting it up and growing it well. But then afraid to invest into it ?
> $2k is One good T shirt order printed in a few hours. Maybe ONLY because of the great website tool you bought ?
> If it works.. It works.. For me - It only works a little.. but for others maybe they have better luck.
> T shirts is a Tiny part of our business though.
> Embroidery is 80% - No Pretreat, lol.



I chose the best program to build MY business as I did MY research on what was best for ME and MY business goals. I never gave anyone advice on what to do with their money, I gave MY opinion on how I made my decision on a platform. Inksoft, Deco or other platforms that has an online design lab are great options for anyone getting into the business, but in MY business I chose to go another route that fitted my needs to a T and that included not paying 2k. Who cares when it would of been made up, I MYSELF did not think that was for ME so I did not spend that extra money on it. O did I say MY to many times in this post? I thought I'd get that point across as in my previous post I mentioned how I came to MY conclusion, but it might of been missed lol.


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## zhenjie

jessica873 said:


> I chose the best program to build MY business as I did MY research on what was best for ME and MY business goals. I never gave anyone advice on what to do with their money, I gave MY opinion on how I made my decision on a platform. Inksoft, Deco or other platforms that has an online design lab are great options for anyone getting into the business, but in MY business I chose to go another route that fitted my needs to a T and that included not paying 2k. Who cares when it would of been made up, I MYSELF did not think that was for ME so I did not spend that extra money on it. O did I say MY to many times in this post? I thought I'd get that point across as in my previous post I mentioned how I came to MY conclusion, but it might of been missed lol.


I guess you saved a lot of money by copying elements from our site. Including using the same pictures and copy....


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## jessica873

zhenjie said:


> I guess you saved a lot of money by copying elements from our site. Including using the same pictures and copy....


Check my Facebook post. Thanks


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## zhenjie

jessica873 said:


> Check my Facebook post. Thanks


Looks like it's been deleted? feel free to PM me.


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## jessica873

zhenjie said:


> Looks like it's been deleted? feel free to PM me.


I didn't delete anything. It is still on Facebook.
I don't need to pm as pm is usually used to ask for help or advice. Thanks for taking the time to privately hunt down my Facebook page lol and enjoy your day.


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## zhenjie

jessica873 said:


> I didn't delete anything. It is still on Facebook.
> I don't need to pm as pm is usually used to ask for help or advice. Thanks for taking the time to privately hunt down my Facebook page lol and enjoy your day.


I can't see the Facebook message as I believe you've blocked me (what's there to hide?). Not sure what you mean by hunting you down, I outed you on an open Facebook group of which we are both members.

It's quite unprofessional to plagiarize other sites.


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## jessica873

zhenjie said:


> I can't see the Facebook message as I believe you've blocked me (what's there to hide?). Not sure what you mean by hunting you down, I outed you on an open Facebook group of which we are both members.
> 
> It's quite unprofessional to plagiarize other sites.


My Facebook name is not my business name, but I don't mind what you post about me or my business as your comments do not effect my business or me. You are free to say all you want. I don't let people from the internet bother me lol. Happy printing and continued success. My last comment.


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## zhenjie

jessica873 said:


> My Facebook name is not my business name, but I don't mind what you post about me or my business as your comments do not effect my business or me so you are free to say all you want. I don't let people from the internet bother me lol. Happy printing and continued success. My last comment.


A professional approach would have been to just apologise and remove plagiarized content. I guess your business ethics are evident from these post.


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## marzatplay

zhenjie said:


> A professional approach would have been to just apologise and remove plagiarized content. I guess your business ethics are evident from these post.


Imitation is the greatest form of flattery...or so they say


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## zhenjie

marzatplay said:


> Imitation is the greatest form of flattery...or so they say


Indeed it is. We've found quite a few deco sites 'inspired' from our design. We're ok with that as long as they don't copy it exactly because it validates our UI 

But then there are cases like Jessica Davenport of EnvyMytee, where it's blatant plagiarism and stealing of our work. Not even an apology or acknowledgement to resolve the issue...


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## russntracy

We have been customers for about year now and really didn't like InkSoft. It didn't work well with our custom website. We create custom dye sublimation jerseys for Professional Bowlers and Professional Fisherman so we wanted a software that would allow our customers that just wanted a simple logo/ t-shirt design that they could create themselves. But we found that customers wanted to chat with one of our artists rather than on making a tee on-line. 

AND I'VE NEVER HAD SUCH AN ISSUE CANCELLING SOMETHING BEFORE INKSOFT. The InkSoft Representative was so combative from the FIRST time I said I wanted to cancel the subscription! I say FIRST because I had to have said "cancel our subscription" about 10 times! She continually insisted I was throwing money out the window, etc. 

We paid over $3000 and it really was NOT a benefit. We set up phone meetings to train us with using the software and INKSOFT rarely called the time, let alone the day, they set up our training!


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## WalkingZombie

russntracy said:


> ... AND I'VE NEVER HAD SUCH AN ISSUE CANCELLING SOMETHING BEFORE INKSOFT. The InkSoft Representative was so combative from the FIRST time I said I wanted to cancel the subscription! I say FIRST because I had to have said "cancel our subscription" about 10 times! She continually insisted I was throwing money out the window, etc....


Just tell them that you are no longer keeping the company and no longer need it.

When I cancelled cable for another company, they tried to sell me into staying and I just said that I was moving out of state and don't need it right now. That's all it took for them to say, ok, well have a great day. 

They can't sell you on a service that you don't need.


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## williekid

I didn't read the complete thread just because it's so long but we used ink soft at a company i worked for. It is very expensive, no doubt. The customer service is okay i guess, normal people who know how to use the software walk you through it. For the most part, I would say it's not a bad software, it's very beneficial depending what your market is and what you have going on. I will say that the software is not for everyone or just any website. Understand that many join this race and are unsuccessful while many are, some fail and some keep trying. Hope things get better for you.


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## trexart

If they are charging that large of a set-up fee, and they aren't actually helping to customise the site to your specifications, then they are ripping people off. I'm a professional programmer, and there are a few standard ways SAAS (Software as a Service) websites run. I won't go into the details, but both main methods take only slightly more work than pressing a button, maybe entering a few details and you have a new website. Most of the time you don't even need an entire separate website, it is a matter of just creating a new account and it is ready to go. If their set-up doesn't actually work like that in today's environment, then I wouldn't trust their programming capability. 

If, of course, they then give specialised training, tutorials, and help in setting up your custom data, that can certainly be worth extra money at the start. It sounds like they don't do that though.

I'd be worried that they do this so they can get a good chunk of money off people ahead of time, so even if they are unhappy with the product, they have a hard time deciding to leave because they have invested so much already. At the very least, even if someone cancels in the first month, they have a huge chunk of change off of you for doing little more then clicking their mouse.

Most SAAS services today are monthly payments, sometimes you can buy support credits (sometimes support is free) but with no setup fee. You can cancel at any time, and many give 30 days free to test the product. These are the places that believe in their software. With these places you can see how easy it is to setup new instances, normally you just sign up and you have your own site. Sometimes maybe you get an email 10 minutes later telling you your new website is ready. It is possible with custom domain names, or email setup maybe a small custom setup is required, but personally I would have that as a separate add-on after the customer had the chance to try the software.

The Inksoft stuff on an initial glance seems great, but the minute I saw that huge setup charge, and when I came on here and saw that it doesn't really seem to get you anything, alarm bells started going off. If they HAVE to lock you in before you even trial the software, there could be something wrong. Just a demo is not good enough. Most people need to try it themselves, start entering data, seeing if it works within their real life practices. Demos can be setup to look fantastic and sell you on the product, when it might not do the one small thing you really need.

I'm sure Inksoft and other software development companies who sell SAAS software with massive setup charges would hate me coming on here and telling people all of this, but it is the 100% truth. They know regular people don't realise how it all works behind the scenes. Again, I repeat, if it doesn't actually work like this, then I question the stability and security of their programming practices.

Cheers!!
Steph


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## David1962

Steph,

We've had no major problems with Inksoft. With all due respect start your own t shirt design software company. I would love to consider it. See how much it costs to construct, employ people, market. Once you make an honest effort to do this. I think you will rethink your thinking on costs.


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## trexart

David1962 said:


> Steph,
> 
> We've had no major problems with Inksoft. With all due respect start your own t shirt design software company. I would love to consider it. See how much it costs to construct, employ people, market. Once you make an honest effort to do this. I think you will rethink your thinking on costs.



Well, with this comment you show exactly how little knowledge you have about programming. I don't have to start a 't shirt design software company' to know about costs. The theme of a software doesn't change how software design works, and I have very good knowledge about how software design works. I have in-depth knowledge of how much it costs to construct, employ people and market and I have made an honest effort to do it. You will see, as I said, that most SAAS companies charge monthly fees, with zero, or a small setup charge.

You might have had no issues with them, but plenty of people obviously have. I have an issue that they are charging massive setup charges that give customers nothing extra, and then don't refund when people can't properly use the software. It is my opinion, you don't have to listen to it.

Their monthly fee is appropriate for what they supply. Maybe people would find it expensive, but for certain, if it works as advertised, it is worth the monthly charge. I have a problem with the setup charge. It is massive, and it locks people in without them being able to adequately try the software.

Cheers,
Steph


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## David1962

I say again, start your own. You do sound well versed in programming. I look forward to your beta version. Let this forum know when are ready and we will give you heart feedback.


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## trexart

David1962 said:


> I say again, start your own. You do sound well versed in programming. I look forward to your beta version. Let this forum know when are ready and we will give you heart feedback.


Part of me wishes I had the time. It does look as though there are only really 3 main options (and maybe some plugins for Wordpress, etc), and with this being a growing industry, it is a market that might be able to handle another player. 

Unfortunately my programming time is already taken up with another startup that I've been putting a year of my effort into though. 

You never know, I might get frustrated and decide to build a custom solution for my partner's business. If I do, this forum will be the first to know about it for sure!

Cheers,
Steph


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## tutton

hitthespot, did you find a replacement yet? When you do, can you please tell us if it's a good alternative. 

Thanks!


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## jocari

I used OSS Designer and John Antons version years back. I decided to have my own built.


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## tutton

jocari said:


> I used OSS Designer and John Antons version years back. I decided to have my own built.


John, 

Your t-shirt designer looks really good!

How much did it cost you to have it made? 

You should sell copies and recoup that expense.

Thanks!

John


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## zhenjie

David1962 said:


> I say again, start your own. You do sound well versed in programming. I look forward to your beta version. Let this forum know when are ready and we will give you heart feedback.


Bit of a childish argument there don't you think? If someone is critical of a car you don't need to ask them to star their own automotive company...


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## DivaB

zhenjie said:


> A professional approach would have been to just apologise and remove plagiarized content. I guess your business ethics are evident from these post.


I am so sorry to hear about the plagiarized content. I know first hand (not on T-shirts, but ebook) how that hurts.


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## jocari

John,

Thanks. I'm glad you like it. I am selling copies of it.


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## tutton

jocari said:


> John,
> 
> Thanks. I'm glad you like it. I am selling copies of it.


Joe, 

What are you charging for it?


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## jocari

I don't think we're supposed to be talking about this in the Thread. Can you email or PM me.


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## DebNDP

I'm still very new to this business, but I thought I would add my two cents to the Inksoft conversation. We are in the process of building an Inksoft based website for our shop, and have already built a few of the extra websites for clients. The software is definitely a little clunky, and honestly is meant for a shop larger than ours, but it has been very useful thus far.
The $2000 up front price tag is incredibly intimidating, especially when starting out. We had $1000 off that came with our Brother printer, which helped. Inksoft provides what they call "onboarding" which is basically training on how to use their software. It's broken up into half hour sessions, and 10 hours of training comes with the purchase.
I'm still in the process of onboarding, so I don't have a lot of feedback about using the entirety of their software, but their individual websites have been awesome for us. We only have two of the 25 websites set up, but it's almost paid for the setup costs already. The professional look of the website we built for our client really helped sell the account.

Once I get through all of the training and get a chance to use all of the capabilities I'll make a better post about it.


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## enzos

I don't understand the SEO problems. I watched this video and it seems quite robust.


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## Graphicsforme

DANG feel for you brother i know how hard all of us work for our $$. I am having issues with Yahoo myself their customer service is non-existent and while email works fine. We cant even upload our website to update after their change to TLS 1.2 security. I had thought of INKSOFT myself but after reading your post, i will make sure to stay clear of them.


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