Abstract
Spreadshirt.net is the new website on the block which allows the creation of shirts, apparel and personalized items (mugs, aprons, bags, etc) according to consumer tatses. It is a German company and has received several prizes for its innovative business idea. In 2004, the group won The Hewlett Packard Business Innovation Award. Contrary to the other companies which make this kind of custom products, Spreadshirt.net is the first company that uses the concept of community, where people can create their own designs and sell as well. There are about 200,000 users/buyers/sellers working with Spreadshirt.net.
It is a service of personalization allowing the customers to run a simple little business. The user is referred as both buyer and seller. People can go on the website, look for items and buy them. They can also create their own product and sell it on the website.
When the customers are buyers, they choose, pay on the website and receive the product at the end of the process. If the customers are sellers, the website charges a sum of money for each process that is involved starting from purchase of raw materials, to manufacturing, to delivery. The users / sellers have to just design the product and promote it, the rest of the process is managed by spreadshirt.net. The website is in charge of producing, printing, delivering and in case of problems (in terms of quality), the website takes full responsibility and works towards solving the issue.
The user is the one who fixes the prices on his products. For instance, a simple white shirt with a color print costs 11 dollars, if the user sells it for 25 dollars in his online shop; he earns a profit of 14 dollars. If he decides to sell it for 12 dollars, he earns only one dollar. If he sells for the original price , he pays and earns nothing because it is only when there are profits that the website and the user make business. All the financial transaction services are provided by companies like PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, etc. Customers can pay by credit card, pre payment or by their user account (if they earn money from their products).
The tool for designing the product is within the reach of everybody. User needs to create an account with ample amount of information and only then can they begin to design their products (the customers have the choice between drawings made by spreadshirt.net or they can import their own ones). They have to also design their online shop (in a way they want or as their "brand" and "universe" needs to look like) using a system of templates.
