# We just bought this site Found it for sale on this Forum



## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

www.babbletees.com
Question is how shall we make it GREAT?


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## Maxcat (Nov 23, 2014)

I'm not usually at a loss for words but I'm not sure what to say about the designs, interesting but way offbeat. I saw some that I like personally but I'm apparently not the target market for most of these. A lot of these seem like they would have a very narrow market, such as the water cycle shirt.

One turn off for me is the prices that are all over the map. There is a single color "vintage" flying squirrel shirt that is $31.90. Then there is a different flying squirrel shirt priced at $20.90 I don't like the wide range of prices $15 to $30+ when there is no obvious reason for the differences in pricing.

Overall an interesting site.


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## BidsMaven (Sep 23, 2011)

Good for you, Dave. Getting the page load times faster would help.


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Maxcat said:


> I'm not usually at a loss for words but I'm not sure what to say about the designs, interesting but way offbeat. I saw some that I like personally but I'm apparently not the target market for most of these. A lot of these seem like they would have a very narrow market, such as the water cycle shirt.
> 
> One turn off for me is the prices that are all over the map. There is a single color "vintage" flying squirrel shirt that is $31.90. Then there is a different flying squirrel shirt priced at $20.90 I don't like the wide range of prices $15 to $30+ when there is no obvious reason for the differences in pricing.
> 
> Overall an interesting site.


 
What do you think the price points should be? I'm very open for help.


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## Maxcat (Nov 23, 2014)

skdave said:


> What do you think the price points should be? I'm very open for help.


This is not from a business perspective but a personal, consumer perspective. I typically won't spend over $20 for a novelty T shirt although I will spend more for licensed team shirt or event shirt. There are just too many options I can find that I like that are below $20 in price. 

Having said that, you have some very unique, eclectic designs that may command a premium if you can drive the right buyers to the site.

Again, this is from consumer perspective, but I really dislike a huge spread in pricing if I can't figure out why one shirt is $14.90 while another is $31.90. I have to ask what is so special about the vintage flying squirrel (sorry for picking on the squirrel but that one really stands out on pricing). I like to see a tighter range of pricing and want to be able to figure out why something would command a premium (new release, limited edition perhaps). I personally like consistency in pricing.

Not sure that this helps but I'll look at the site again and think on it some more.


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## tfike (May 2, 2011)

I like a lot of the designs but as was mentioned earlier the pricing is all over the place. One suggestion I have is to possibly offer more garment colors. Some of the designs are a dark ink and all the garment color options are dark as well. I also have a hard time spending more than $20 on a novelty t-shirt, I really don't like to spend that much but if it's something I really like then I usually will buy it.


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Maxcat said:


> This is not from a business perspective but a personal, consumer perspective. I typically won't spend over $20 for a novelty T shirt although I will spend more for licensed team shirt or event shirt. There are just too many options I can find that I like that are below $20 in price.
> 
> Having said that, you have some very unique, eclectic designs that may command a premium if you can drive the right buyers to the site.
> 
> ...


$20. Would work for us. I will consider that when we bring the Babble tees team together next week.
We want to offer sales that can go out to the 78,000 customer base. The price point is number one thing we need to get right. This site hit $860,000. in sales a few years ago and I want to get it back to that level. Thanks for your input Maxcut.


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

tfike said:


> I like a lot of the designs but as was mentioned earlier the pricing is all over the place. One suggestion I have is to possibly offer more garment colors. Some of the designs are a dark ink and all the garment color options are dark as well. I also have a hard time spending more than $20 on a novelty t-shirt, I really don't like to spend that much but if it's something I really like then I usually will buy it.


You right about the color shirts.
Since they are printed on a Brother GT782 no problem.
Again the right price is the main objective.


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

We will be adding Polyester with this art. at a higher price point. $ 39.90 all cut and sew. Any comments please.


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## Zenergy (Apr 14, 2011)

Site looks good, and I love the designs. One thing I noticed, though, is that a lot of the mock-ups look pretty thrown together. When I'm looking for shirts to buy online, one of the biggest things I look for is a picture of the actual print, not a digital proof. I know that's a challenge with the large number of designs you have, but it might be a good idea to take a quick picture of each one as it sells, before you ship it out. It doesn't have to be on a model - a mannequin or hanger shot is fine, just as long as it shows the actual product.


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Zenergy said:


> Site looks good, and I love the designs. One thing I noticed, though, is that a lot of the mock-ups look pretty thrown together. When I'm looking for shirts to buy online, one of the biggest things I look for is a picture of the actual print, not a digital proof. I know that's a challenge with the large number of designs you have, but it might be a good idea to take a quick picture of each one as it sells, before you ship it out. It doesn't have to be on a model - a mannequin or hanger shot is fine, just as long as it shows the actual product.


Ok thank you can do and I agree.


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## WalkingZombie (Mar 15, 2014)

skdave said:


> $20. Would work for us. I will consider that when we bring the Babble tees team together next week.
> We want to offer sales that can go out to the 78,000 customer base. The price point is number one thing we need to get right. This site hit $860,000. in sales a few years ago and I want to get it back to that level. Thanks for your input Maxcut.


As you know, that site is aimed at a very niche market. There is nothing on there that suits me, personally, or anyone that I know (that I know of). Have you asked the Babble Tees team what got them to reach $860K? Did they have to put crazy amounts of marketing dollars to reach that audience? When you say it hit $860K a few years ago, was that the only high and then went down to half thereafter? How long did it take to even reach that number and how much of that was spent on research and marketing? What is the site averaging now? Is the same or less being spent on research and marketing?......... I don't expect you to answer these questions in this forum. I'm just throwing it out there in case maybe you haven't asked yourself these same questions or maybe it'll trigger something you haven't thought of.

I believe if the price point was more even across the board and around the $15-$20 range ($22 is pushing it) like others are saying, you MAY see more sales. But I personally believe that research and marketing dollars will have to be spent to reach that market and bring in those niche customers again. Unless you'll do all the self-marketing alone, which I don't think you'll have time for.

I tried looking in each product page and the About Us page to see if you guys mentioned the brand shirts, like American Apparel, but I didn't find any. I was looking for that due to the prices I found. I know most sites don't list the exact shirt(s) they use but when they are above the 'normal' price point most people are accustomed to, they expect to see a reason for it. When I see a shirt with an intricate (or busy) design with multiple colors for $14.90 and then see a shirt with a simple 2 color design (white base with a shade of black) for $25.90, I expect, at the least, that the $25+ shirt to be higher quality. If the same shirt is being used for every single design, whether it's light or dark, there shouldn't be THAT much of a difference in price. I thought that you guys were using a method to determine pricing, like, the more intricate or busy the design, the higher the price. But as I searched, I noticed that wasn't the case.

Now I did read a part in the About Us page, that you guys "... are always purchasing and hiring graphic designs/artists". If that's the reason why the price points are so distantly varied (and expensive), then maybe you can word that in your own way, in each product page. If the designs are created solely for Babble Tees and no other place has the same graphics, that is a selling point and should be noted in each product page. Even if you purchase a design from an unknown/freelance artist, I know I would put something in the features list like, designed specifically for Babble Tees by artist, "artist name". SOMETHING to account on why a shirt that costs $25.90 may be more than the shirt that costs $14.90. Just my thoughts.

Also, I don't think a 3XL should be $5 over the base price, ever. Maybe $4 but not $5. That $25.90 shirt is S-XL and a 3XL is $30.90. Ouchies.

The "Extinct Sloth" shirt's 3XL is $7 over the base price! There's no good reason I see, for that. -- Also, if you're looking at that shirt with all the other shirts (science category), it says, From $0.90, which shocked me lol. But when you go into the product page, it shows $0.90 then quickly changes to $20.90. Might want to check that.

Maybe the economy has been fighting your pricing the past three years, which is maybe the reason the site hasn't been "great". I may have dwelled more than needed but those are just my thoughts on that site.

And the shirts I'm referring to above are:
Biomes T-shirt Earth Science Graphic Tee $14.90, and
Nostradamus T-shirt Vintage Astronomy Tee $25.90

I hope this was somewhat helpful. Good luck with the site and hope things turn around for the better, to make it great!


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Walking Zombie
Your in depth thinking and comments are very helpful and I will consider every point you made. Thank very much.
Dave


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## Quartier (Apr 29, 2014)

Maybe the prices were determined by volume of sales? Like higher prices = higher volume. 

Anyway, I think there should be a background theme that's on every page of the site, something that's not too tacky but not as plain as the current background. Maybe change the button colors so that you can have a better match to whatever background you choose. Orange really only works with white, but I think you need something a little less ordinary for your background.


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Quartier said:


> Maybe the prices were determined by volume of sales? Like higher prices = higher volume.
> 
> Anyway, I think there should be a background theme that's on every page of the site, something that's not too tacky but not as plain as the current background. Maybe change the button colors so that you can have a better match to whatever background you choose. Orange really only works with white, but I think you need something a little less ordinary for your background.


Thank you I agree meeting tomorrow with my team.


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## tutton (Mar 26, 2016)

What e-commerce platform is it built on? Or did someone actually make it from scratch?

Thanks!


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

*They used Shopify*


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Looking to add new tee shirt art, Willing to trade some designs or buy some new art. Any body want to talk about it? 314 560 2181 www.babbletees.com

Dave


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## whelk (Sep 21, 2015)

The first t-shirt I saw on your site (top row, right hand side) says "F*** you, it's magic".

Couple of things about that. First, I would never wear, or attempt to sell, t-shirts covered in profanity. It's neither big, nor clever.

Second, I don't know about the US but in the UK, if somebody sees you wearing that in the street and complains to the police, you can be arrested/charged/fined for public order offences.

Third, If my kids were online looking for "cool t-shirts" and were confronted with that, I'd make sure your site was blocked in future.

So, how can you improve your site? Remove nonsense like that.


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## Leg cramps (Feb 9, 2009)

whelk said:


> The first t-shirt I saw on your site (top row, right hand side) says "F*** you, it's magic".
> 
> Couple of things about that. First, I would never wear, or attempt to sell, t-shirts covered in profanity. It's neither big, nor clever.
> 
> ...


 I agree about going to a web site and having inappropriate content visible to children. One time I googled Pokémon coloring pages and porn came up while my kids were there. But this is a different thing. Its not porn its a swear word. No little kid googling cool t-shirts is going to wind up on this site, unless Dave pays money for it. To me this "it's Magic" shirt along with the evolution shirts and a few others on this site is anti-Christian themed shirts.You will probably find a lot more people view this more offensive then profanity. And those people wont block you they just wont ever buy from you. Very "unique" designs. The fact that they pumped out 860k is kind of shocking. But then again I have always said "you put it on a shirt and someone will want to wear it". The site overall works smoothly. Conrad's on the new addition Dave. Adding designs is the easy part, Marketing is the hard part. You got to figure out who wants to wear this stuff.


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

whelk said:


> The first t-shirt I saw on your site (top row, right hand side) says "F*** you, it's magic".
> 
> Couple of things about that. First, I would never wear, or attempt to sell, t-shirts covered in profanity. It's neither big, nor clever.
> 
> ...


Removing it Monday., Thanks


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Leg cramps said:


> I agree about going to a web site and having inappropriate content visible to children. One time I googled Pokémon coloring pages and porn came up while my kids were there. But this is a different thing. Its not porn its a swear word. No little kid googling cool t-shirts is going to wind up on this site, unless Dave pays money for it. To me this "it's Magic" shirt along with the evolution shirts and a few others on this site is anti-Christian themed shirts.You will probably find a lot more people view this more offensive then profanity. And those people wont block you they just wont ever buy from you. Very "unique" designs. The fact that they pumped out 860k is kind of shocking. But then again I have always said "you put it on a shirt and someone will want to wear it". The site overall works smoothly. Conrad's on the new addition Dave. Adding designs is the easy part, Marketing is the hard part. You got to figure out who wants to wear this stuff.


Marketing is the hardest part in all industries. This site slipped to $250K in 2015. then the owners closed it on DEC 31 2015 Dec after selling $70K in Dec 15
Now we need to get it going again.

We will be dropping the prices,$20 max, removing the F bomb, and adding new designs.
Thinking about having a built you own shirt section. and adding many more products.


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## WalkingZombie (Mar 15, 2014)

skdave said:


> This site slipped to $250K in 2015. then the owners closed it on DEC 31 2015 Dec after selling $70K in Dec 15
> Now we need to get it going again.





Leg cramps said:


> ... To me this "it's Magic" shirt along with the evolution shirts and a few others on this site is anti-Christian themed shirts.You will probably find a lot more people view this more offensive then profanity. And those people wont block you they just wont ever buy from you.


In all my babbling, I forgot to mention in my first paragraph about the anti-Christian themed shirts like @Leg cramps brought up. Especially the "DNA shirt" that has broken DNA strands made from vials with molecules dripping out of them.

Have you read the description for that shirt?

Reveal your genetic make-up with our DNA t-shirt that will look perfect with your favorite genes...er, jeans.

That, as well as the other similar ones, can be offensive to A LOT of people. But what isn't offensive now-a-days. Some are easily offended than others. Finding balance in-between is kinda hard. Some are more sensitive than others and you won't satisfy every one, as you know.

I guess I forgot to mention it because I was hesitant in bringing up religion in a forum because we all know where that can lead. To off-topic rants.

It's nice that someone on TV wore that shirt in a show (The Big Bang Theory), but what does that say about the target audience you're going after? That can really limit your market..... Maybe those type of shirts are the reason for the drop in sales? Who knows....

https://wornontv.net/23853/


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Well I took most of the suggestions and made changes. Sorry but we can't please everybody, but thanks to all for the helpful input.


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