Where were you 20 years ago today? At my ripe age of 8 on 9th November 1989, I can only remember sitting down at dinner with the TV on and my dad saying very earnestly: “Pay very close attention, this is a very important day in history.” We then watched people standing and cheering on top of a wall that really didn’t have much meaning to me at the time. Despite my father’s words, I wasn’t up to par on my world politics and I continued on with my careless and free 8-year-old life.

Now that I am living in East Germany, hanging out and working with those whose lives were most certainly changed 20 years ago, it’s a great time to look back and reminisce on the past two decades and beyond. Of course, we would take a look and see what our Marketplace has to offer:

If you are looking for a good overview of the 20 year anniversary, you are sure to find plenty on the BBC or Guardian websites. I would also point you in the direction of some great East German jokes which were collected by West German spies. My favourite:

“What would happen if the desert became communist? Nothing for a while, and then there would be a sand shortage.”

Where were you 20 years ago?

We’re back again with yet another hot product review from our October Twardrobe series. You may think “another one?”, but it’s nice to have customers talking about our products here for a change (rather then me!). Henning is our next winner and he designed, ordered wrote a review of the above-pictured Men’s Organic Shirt from Continental Clothing. It seems our Twardrobers like to take pictures of their pets and the shirt (see below). Here’s what Henning has to say:

Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Henning and I wear exclusive shirts from “HASENFARM – Manufaktur für Fellersatzstoffe” (loosely translated as HAREFARM – Manufacturer of Fur Substitutes). continue reading ‘Twardrobe Feedback: Hare Farms and Organic T-Shirts’

The first of the Twardrobe feedback has arrived! Steffen was one of the winners of the October edition of Twardrobe and got (instead of the requested Men’s Organic Shirt from Continental Clothing) our Anvil Recycled T-Shirt. Let’s get straight to his feedback:

Who are you and what do you do?

I am one of the Twardrobe winners and I write about things I win.

What do you like about how the shirt looks? continue reading ‘Twardrobe Feedback: Cats & The Recycled Shirt’

Patterns and forms can be found just about anywhere. Take a look around the room and I bet you can find a number of examples of natural and man-made patterns. They often get ignored. Not at ctrl-clothes.com where these modern, abstract forms are front and centre. The triangles, squares, lines and shapes are certainly fresh and original, and remind me a little bit of a mix between my geometry class and class trip to the modern art museum. Give the Tunnel? shirt a good long look and you might get lost therein: certainly works brilliantly as an eye-catcher. But, shirts aren’t the only things greeting you at ctrl-clothes: you are presented with quite the innovative, interactive store front (based on a Manchester street – see below). Here’s the interview with Ben, the man behind ctrl:
continue reading ‘CTRL Clothes – Modern, Abstract Patterns Make Their Way onto Shirts’

May the best-selling shops win! We’ve prepared a little contest to help you boost up your shop sales before the holiday season really takes off. If you sell well in November, you could win some great prizes. We’ve also set up three different prize groups to make sure that even the smaller shops have the chance to win something. All you need is one sale, and you’ve qualified for a prize!

• 100+ sales: 5x exclusive newsletters to your customers (consultation with the winners, created and sent by Spreadshirt).
• 50-100 sales: 5x free flyers for your shop (our graphics team will create the flyers in consultation with you, your logo and your designs. We will then send the flyers to the 5 winners).
• 1-50 sales: 4x help re-designing your shop-layout (e.g. we will create graphics, banners or teasers specifically for your shop).

We will randomly select the corresponding amount of winners from all of the Shop Partners who fall into each of the categories. We will then contact them via e-mail.

Hold your horses – that’s not all … of course, we would like to help you increase your sales: a 15% off everything in your stores would be a good start, don’t you think? This promotion runs during the same time as the above-mentioned contest 9.11 – 23.11 (brilliant, aren’t we?) The voucher code is: NOVEMBERSALE.

This voucher code is valid for the entire contest period from 9th to 23rd November 2009 and gives your customers a 15% discount on all products. You are free to use the ad banner which our graphics team put together for you. You can find out more information about this promotion in the forum.

Happy sales!

I am sure that I am not the only one in this boat. Tomorrow is Halloween. I don’t have a costume. I have been told I won’t be let into the party without one. This happens every year. Add to the fact that my girlfriend wants me to get rid of some old clothes – presto! Two birds with one stone: it’ll be a do-it-yourself Saturday afternoon!

I am kind of leaning towards the octopus hoodie from Instructables (shown above). It certainly involves some sewing skills, a few hours of spare time and a hoodie you are willing to shred.

I’m not the trick or treating type anymore, but for those out looking for some candy, this t-shirt trick-or-treat bag from Craftzine is a great way to impress those candy givers (and get you more candy)!

Bargainlist also offers some great cheap and scary last-minute costume options, like dirty laundry, bat or mummy as costumes. All certainly plan B worthy.

Worst case scenario: I’m not in the DIY creative mood tomorrow, and perhaps you aren’t either. There’s always the one-minute-last-minute ninja mask. Yes, that will be it! I just have to remember where I left my samurai sword. Instructional ninja mask video after the click: continue reading ‘Costumeless for Halloween? Last Minute Apparel Costume Ideas’

Some of you might have answered this question in a recent customer survey: how many of the products which you buy at Spreadshirt are meant as gifts for others? I’ll spare the drum-roll and get right to the answer: a little less than half of our customers intend to give the products they purchase at Spreadshirt to someone else as a gift. We have some very generous customers, I must say!

With the biggest gift-giving season just around the corner, we thought we would make it a little easier for our customers to find the gift they want. We have a brand new Gifts page! We’ve given them an interactive flash teaser to play around with and get right to the very category and gift they are looking for. There are six categories to choose from, each with sub-categories, allowing you to find gifts by price, gifts in one size (accessories), gifts for family and friends or gifts for holidays.

We invite you to take a look at the pages, and if you think that one of your products would fit well in any of the categories, then let us know! Go to this forum thread and let us know the category, design ID, link and product image for your suggestion.

What do Neo Rauch and spreadshirt Marketplace designers have in common? Correct, they both create artwork and offer them up for sale! Given, the commissions on the Marketplace don’t usually rake in $1 million of Brad Pitt’s money, but rather “only” £1.43 on average. But don’t give up on the Marketplace just yet: compared to Rauch’s work, these designs can be sold more than once, namely 23,131 times (the current record holder “I heart” design). That’s how the top 100 Marketplace designers are still able to earn an average of £540 per month. Take that Neo!

But how do you make it into the top 100 and become the next Damien Hirst of the spreadshirt Marketplace? continue reading ‘How do I become a successful Marketplace designer at Spreadshirt?’

To save the shop partners amongst us a little time in preparation for the upcoming holidays, our graphics team put together two lovely winter-holiday-snowy-and-sparkly background images for you.

You can simply download these from our Flickr page or right click and save the images. Then you can upload them to your user area and select it as your shop background under “Profile – Shops – Shop Layout”. If you go the extra step and set your theme to “Winter” under the “Selected Design” drop-down, you will be sure to get your customers whistling their way into the holiday shopping mood!

For those of you looking to personalise or customise more than “just” a shirt, our Exclusive Line is just the place to look for elegantly unique apparel. Our four new Winter Exclusive products are sure to raise some eyebrows.

• Women’s Hannah Trousers by IVEE – you can go just about anywhere with these versatile trousers – from yoga to shopping trips and everywhere in between.
• Women’s Zoe Jacket by IVEE – combines well with the Hannah trousers and provides an elegant, yet sporty look.
• Commute 2.0 Messenger Bag by Timbuk2 – I love Timbuk2’s bags – durable, practical – and now customisable! This bag will make your trip through the airport a breeze. Check out the video below.
• Men’s Bowry Hoodie by Barking Irons – This hoodie is a prime piece of apparel and a joy to wear. I was able to slip on one of these after the photo shoot and I sure felt like I was a throwback from the 19th century.

As you may well know, these products are available in limited amounts: “first come, first served”!  A sweet video of the Timbuk2 bag in action and some more model photos after the click:
continue reading ‘Hot Winter Exclusive Line Additions Now Available’