Show HN: Weekend Project - Monthly Startup T-shirt Subscription

https://www.cottonbot.com/

by zaveri • 15 years ago

22 23 15 years ago

specto• 15 years ago

Interesting, though for just a t-shirt a month, $23 seems a bit steep...

illdave• 15 years ago

I like the idea, and I'd consider using it (if it was available outside of the US) just as a way of supporting startups. It'd be good if you were able to guarantee more than just the t-shirt each month though. Stickers etc are usually pretty cheap, so receiving just a t-shirt for $23 might not make for the best month. Either way, good luck with it.

blhack• 15 years ago

$23/mo is way too steep for something like this. If I'm looking for neat t-shirts to wear, I can get shirts from shirt.woot for $10/each, with free shipping.

Call it apples and oranges if you want, but to me, getting a random shirt from a company I've potentially never heard of isn't so enticing at $23/mo.

That's more than I pay for my VPS, more than I [used to] pay for netflix, more than I pay for a couple of t-shirts I get to choose from woot.

Etc. etc. etc.

JonLim• 15 years ago

I'm with blhack on this one - I initially thought it was $23 a month for a couple of shirts a month, which would have been great, but no way would I pay $23 a month for a single shirt.

jeremymcanally• 15 years ago

Especially a shirt that is fundamentally a billboard for a company.

benwerd2• 15 years ago

Isn't this what Valleyschwag did? They went bust, by the way. Be careful.

aaronblohowiak• 15 years ago

The core team became GetSatisfaction

benwerd2• 15 years ago

I didn't know that! Fascinating. Glad they turned it into something awesome.

cme• 15 years ago

$23/month does seem a bit steep, it'd be cool if you could work in a way for those start ups to get a percentage of the $$, that way we can feel like we are all helping the start up movement. I'd be more willing to spend $23/month if I thought it was going to help a start up in some way.

jxrlee• 15 years ago

Question: In the FAQs it says you do your own printing. Does this mean we are paying you $23 just to print whatever startup name on a shirt?

My first thought was that you were getting these shirts directly from startups and not making them yourself. Also, agree with $23 being too expensive. $10 would be more in line with what people are willing to pay.

Props to companies like inDinero for sending out free shwag (LOVE the shirt!:])

dreamdu5t• 15 years ago

How is this legal? You have permission from every startup to sell their logo?

zaveri• 15 years ago

Yes, we will have permission from the startup being featured for that month.

iamjoshua• 15 years ago

Most startups give away their shirts for FREE. If you want a better business model, work out deals with the startups where you promote their company by dispersing their brand to the masses with a surcharge. $10 a month would be an easy price point and mostly profit after shipping costs.

timjahn• 15 years ago

Definitely a niche idea. I believe a few others have tried this exact same idea and documented their failure here on HN, though, so interested to see how you're approaching this differently.

In Chicago, there are only so many days a year you can comfortably wear a t-shirt out of the house, so unfortunately I'm not your customer. I also don't have $23 a month to throw at simply buying one t-shirt.

dpcan• 15 years ago

I'm with everyone else here. No way I'd pay $23 per month for 1 t-shirt of a company I don't know and probably who's services I don't even use.

However, I may not be in your demographic at all. I haven't bought a shirt in years. I get shirts with fish on them for my birthday from my kids, and Mariners shirts from my family at Christmas - then I collect free shirts here and there. I have zero fashion sense, I wear what people give me, and I hate shopping :)

binaryjohn• 15 years ago

I like the idea. I mean, I REALLY like it. However, I'm with the crowd on this one, $23 is a lil steep for me. There's gotta be a way you can bring this price-point within the range of the work'n stiff.

brianbreslin• 15 years ago

Honestly I'd pay like $10/month max for this. Startup tshirts to me are promotional things, I don't care to show everyone I have a Digg shirt or Reddit or other startup shirt. If I'm involved in that product or a friend works there, diff story, but then they'd give me a tee for free. Good luck with this.

pdenya• 15 years ago

I agree with the other comments regarding $23 being too much for a t-shirt. That being said, even at $10/month I doubt I'd pay for schwag.

smcguinness• 15 years ago

It is http://www.startupschwag.com/ that did this before right? I believe they did shirts and other stuff in a monthly shipment. Can't remember the price.

rrival• 15 years ago

$14.95+$4.60 S&H in the US.

thestranger• 15 years ago

Would be nice if you ironed the shirts before the pictures.

earbitscom2• 15 years ago

Nah...I want to know what it will look like when I'm wearing it and this is definitely how my shirts typically look when I put them on.

earbitscom2• 15 years ago

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