Teextile has finally returned after a two-week break, with promises of change. When they first started up in early 2009, they were a pretty run-of-the-mill contest site: five new designs per week, submitted by independent designers and voted upon by users. However, they got trounced with a lot of issues, such as their infamously terrible processing times, and their switch to Alstyle to keep prices low, which drove some customers away.
I gotta give it to them — they actually listened to the droves of complaints and reformed. I can’t say whether their shipping times have improved any, obviously, since this is the first day of the relaunch, but I have high hopes. I expect that the hiatus time has allowed them to catch up on backed-up orders. According to the FAQ, now we’ll only have to wait 5-10 days for shirts to be shipped!
The shop system has also been changed, which I assume was done to keep unfulfilled orders from building up. Instead of five new designs every week, Teextile will sell four shirts continuously. At least one new shirt will appear every week to replace the lowest-selling design(s); no design will be available for more than a month. This system will allow for product photos, which I’m pretty excited about.
Printed designs will fall into one of three categories: classic, curated, or normal contest winner. Classic shirts are old reprinted designs, and curated designs are those that bypass the voting process. It comes as no surprise that a wotto shirt was picked as the first curated design. I’m always a big fan of “curated” or “editor’s choice” picks, as it means that the design was selected by a trained eye, and therefore more likely to be good.
Of course, it should be noted that prices have increased by about $3. All shirts are $14 regardless of the date (although they will vary depending on the type of design; it can be assumed that more complicated/larger designs will cost more), and shipping is $3 instead of $2. Personally, I’m more than happy to pay the extra $2 for an American Apparel shirt, which Teextile has indeed switched back to!
Overall, I’m really pleased with the changes Teextile has made thus far. Talk about a new year turnabout! If you’re interested in following the company’s progress, allow me to direct you to their blog, which was set up as a replacement for their forum. Hopefully this trend continues, and things manage to pick up in the year ahead.
Other great deals to checkout:
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CoryOBrien
