# Building a t-shirt marketplace and looking for input from potential users



## nosrednAhsoJ (Jul 6, 2013)

A friend and I are building a marketplace intended solely for t-shirts. In reading through these forums it seems like folks sell on personal websites, etsy, ebay, etc. With all of those, the biggest hurdle appears to be getting folks to actually know you are there. We intend to change that for you. 

Our goal is to give every local/small/growing t-shirt maker our there a platform to get their product in front of as many paying customers as possible. We think the best way to do this is to have a site focused on this purpose. Etsy is close, but it really is intended to server one-off craft items. We want to give you your own store on our marketplace.

We are working out the details and are tossing around various payment methods. We expect to launch with the first group of vendors operating for free, but at some point we need to make enough money to actually pay for everything to run. We need your help figuring that out. Here are our options, and please let us know which one makes the most sense for you.

1. Simple monthly fee. You pay the fee and sell as many as you can.
2. Item listing fee (kinda like Etsy). Each item you list costs a small amount.
3. Transaction fee. We charge a small amount of each sale.

Any and all feedback is welcome! We hope that everyone becomes a part of this marketplace, so we want to ensure we build what you folks need!

Thanks in advance!


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## jwcollect (Oct 24, 2007)

Sounds like you want to do something like www.kazbah. 

Good luck


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## nosrednAhsoJ (Jul 6, 2013)

jwcollect said:


> Sounds like you want to do something like www.kazbah.
> 
> Good luck


Sort of. We will focus solely on t-shirts. Our plan is to do one thing (help the small t-shirt makers get discovered and sell more shirts) and do it better than everyone else.


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## jj72ny (Feb 2, 2013)

I joined a sight kind of like this 6 months ago called sign.com run by sign guild it sux cuz they gave me the first year free but the web sight has not opened yet. Probably a scam. However you show me a working web sight and I'd be willing to look in to it especially if all I have to pay is a small monthly fee or a transaction fee
For me though you would have to be regionally exclusive I am home based and have no store front I do most of my advertising by word of mouth and as of right now I am loaded down with signs not so much shirts.


J&C Designs


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## nosrednAhsoJ (Jul 6, 2013)

Fair enough. We are based in Raleigh, NC and have quite a few local vendors we plan to highilight, so we will allow folks to find local vendors very easily.


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## andromat (Feb 20, 2007)

I don't know, sounds interesting, so why not.

Do you have a name and an overall design look already?

I mean, that kazbah thing scared the heck out me!

I mean, what on earth is this?

[media]http://assets.kazbah.com/vendor/PAPKB/zoom/PR-9724-BLzoom1.JPG[/media]

(I kid, I kid, I love the guy!) 

As for your pricing policy, why not be flexible and give vendors a chance to decide what suits them better?

Edit: I meant this guy, not the one wearing him. 

http://assets.kazbah.com/vendor/PAPKB/zoom/PR-9724-BLzoom2.JPG


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## jj72ny (Feb 2, 2013)

I am not shore what anyone else would want by this is what I would look for:
First off considering it sounds like you want to go at least national I would ask how are you going to advertise your sight nationally or is this up to us

Second is regionally exclusive meaning if I live say in buffalo NY there should be no other business aloud to joining with in say 30-50
mile radius 

Some kind of system that if for some reason I don't want or can not do the job the next local person in adjoining area can choose to do it 

I personally don't do "brand" work everything I do is custom so if my customer is to use your sight there would have to be a shirt editor on it or considering I also do vehicle graphics there would have to be some sort of seamless transfer to my own sight or better yet you rent a template and space to customize my own 


J&C Designs


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## nosrednAhsoJ (Jul 6, 2013)

andromat said:


> I don't know, sounds interesting, so why not.
> 
> Do you have a name and an overall design look already?
> 
> ...


We have a basic site design and are working on customization possibilities for each vendor. We may get to multiple pricing policies, but we are in search of the first one to launch with. As we grow, we may add more, but would like to offer the one that is most beneficial to each side (vendors and us).

Thanks for your help!


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## nosrednAhsoJ (Jul 6, 2013)

jj72ny said:


> I am not shore what anyone else would want by this is what I would look for:
> First off considering it sounds like you want to go at least national I would ask how are you going to advertise your sight nationally or is this up to us
> 
> Second is regionally exclusive meaning if I live say in buffalo NY there should be no other business aloud to joining with in say 30-50
> ...


We will be national and plan to offer "regions" to folks since most people prefer to buy local if they can. However, I don't see us offering exclusivity in a region. Our mission is to give t-shirt designers a marketplace to share their creations with the world. Exclusivity would contradict that missions, so I doubt we would offer that.

Out of the gate we will not have a "submit your own design" feature, but it is something we are thinking about adding as we grow.

We don't expect that our marketplace is the only place folks will sell their shirts so we would certainly provide links back to your personal site(s).


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## Sebbean (Jul 6, 2013)

What differentiates you guys from Cafepress or Threadless or other sites where you submit a design? If it's a marketplace where we still do all the printing/shipping/customer service, doesn't this just increase the signal to noise ratio even more? Customers can find me and a few competitors if they're looking for a tshirt, but on your marketplace they find me and dozens of competitors. 

I just don't really see the appeal.


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## waterrabbit7 (Jul 13, 2013)

Transaction fee


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## nosrednAhsoJ (Jul 6, 2013)

Sebbean said:


> What differentiates you guys from Cafepress or Threadless or other sites where you submit a design? If it's a marketplace where we still do all the printing/shipping/customer service, doesn't this just increase the signal to noise ratio even more? Customers can find me and a few competitors if they're looking for a tshirt, but on your marketplace they find me and dozens of competitors.
> 
> I just don't really see the appeal.


We have a long-term roadmap that provides some departure from those two sites, but our primary missions is to provide a voice/platform for small t-shirt designers everywhere.

Your concern is quite common, but I equate it to taking funding for a startup. Most folks would rather receive a little bit of help and "give up" a piece of their company so that it can turn into a $100 million company instead of remaining a $20 million company. In the end, would you rather own 40% of $100 million or 100% of $20 million?


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## nosrednAhsoJ (Jul 6, 2013)

waterrabbit7 said:


> Transaction fee


Thanks for the feedback!


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## nosrednAhsoJ (Jul 6, 2013)

nosrednAhsoJ said:


> We have a long-term roadmap that provides some departure from those two sites, but our primary missions is to provide a voice/platform for small t-shirt designers everywhere.
> 
> Your concern is quite common, but I equate it to taking funding for a startup. Most folks would rather receive a little bit of help and "give up" a piece of their company so that it can turn into a $100 million company instead of remaining a $20 million company. In the end, would you rather own 40% of $100 million or 100% of $20 million?


This is an infographic that does a bit better job in explain the point I was making above...

How Funding Works - Splitting The Equity With Investors - Infographic


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## linapparel (Oct 12, 2010)

transaction fee, and go global too


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## nosrednAhsoJ (Jul 6, 2013)

linapparel said:


> transaction fee, and go global too


Thanks. We expect to be global.


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