Stickers/T-Shirt advertising company.

[Shawn]

I'm looking to make t-shirts, banners, etc., for my new site. I should be able to customize logos, slogans, etc. I'd prefer not to use Cafepress, as I've heard things about their quality.

Any ideas?

[Chris]

Let me just say that I've never had any problems with cafepress's quality, and in fact have always been impressed with what I get from them.

[Shawn]

Really? Send me a shirt :)

So, you'd recommend them?

[Chris]

Yes. I think most of the naysayers were expecting silk-screening. They don't realize that silk screening is much more expensive and can only be done with a limited color pallet (each color is a whole new screen and a whole nother step in the process). You will get more vibrant colors with silk screening, but also that rather rigid texture to the shirt. Cafepress prints directly onto the shirt, so you can use any color under the rainbow. The colors do fade with enough washings, like any other shirt, but I find the fading to add character to the shirt.

Anyways, for the utmost in quality in a logo you'd want it embroidered on. Barring that, yes, I'd use cafepress.

[Shawn]

What about a service for mass production? I thought CafePress allowed you to order like 50 buttons or bumper stickers or something for a set price.

I just see ordering via your custom online shop.

[Westech]

I've used Cafepress for a while and have no complaints, aside from the fact that their printing on dark colored fabric (which to be fair, they claim is in "beta") looks really bad. The white t-shirts and posters come out really well.

The only other reasonable alternative I've found is www.spreadshirt.com . I've been evaluating switching over to them. I've ordered a few sample shirts and the print quality is excellent, even on black shirts. I haven't seen samples of any of their other products. The product assortment isn't as extensive as Cafepress.

[Chris]

How big of a mass production are you talking? Dozens, hundreds?

[Shawn]

Eh, selling by the 50 and such. Not t-shirts, but more like posters, bumper stickers, pencils, etc.

[Chris]

You may want to look for a traditional printer for those types of things then. I've gotten catalogs before from big personalization merchants that priced in bulk. So I know they're out there (like 50 pages of a catalog all with different products you can personalize, with quantity order discounts).