March 07, 2005

In case you've never heard of cafepress.... Seeking alternatives to the site, please.

A friend of mine wants to put out some t-shirts and mugs and the like as a bit of an experiment for a movie he's involved in. He'd prefer to deal with a Canadian company and asked me if I knew of any, but I don't. After some fruitless search engine efforts, I thought I'd just ask some people here if they can recommend any sites. He's got some designs worked out, and wants them printed/made up only as they're needed, so local print shops are out of the question, as they're a bit outside of the budget for small-run, on-demand items. Alternatively, anyone knowing of a print shop in Toronto that deals in this sort of thing and is amenable to small orders could point me their way and I'd be most appreciative. This would be more awkward for my friend, as he'd be doing the shipping, but if it's the best option, so be it. Any ideas, hominids?

posted by coppermac 19 years ago
  • But no more "Hillary for President" stuff, okay?
  • I'm interested in any suggestions as well, no matter where they are in North America, as long as they're on the net. Curiously enough, while passing through Toronto I once needed some t-shirts printed up and found a place that did an excellent job at a very competitive rate. When I passed through six months later, not only did the same store deny ever doing t-shirt printing, the same person denied ever dealing with me.
  • Have a look at this thread discussing the MoFi t-shirts - there were some good suggestions in there. I don't know if any are Canadian, though. There's also this thread on Cafepress alternatives.
  • Thanks, tracicle. Unfortunately, neither thread offers Canadian companies. I searched the second thread you linked to and a few others before i tossed this out, but didn't look through the monkeyfilter t-shirt threads.
  • I don't have any firsthand knowledge, but I've heard good things about Zazzle.
  • How about these guys, in Vancouver.
  • What kind of quality does he need? You can buy iron-on transfers that work with any home printer, he could churn them out himself as needed. Alternatively, maybe getting a shop to create a single color screen and screen printing them himself? The actual printing isn't hard once you've done it a couple times.
  • Zazzle is U.S. based, Pruner, but thanks. islander: Bold Merchandise looks good, but I have to explore the site more. I don't think they do individual shipping for you or allow potential customers to browse your designs online, which is something he would like. Cali: he's disabled and couldn't do the printing himself, or he probably would. Thanks for the tip about the transfers, though. I'll see if I can find someone with a decent printer if he decides that option works for him.
  • Transfered T-shirts suck. There, I said it. I made a couple of them myself, but they fade very fast and are stiff. Plus you need to use light colored T-shirts that tend --in my experience-- to discolor fast.
  • I stumbled upon these guys. they work for US and Canadian clients.