Is Spreadshirt a scam?
Is Spreadshirt a scam? In short and this is only my opinion, but yes it is. Spreadshirt is a scam and you should avoid dealing with the company, both as a designer and as a customer.
But let me qualify my answer with some details. I have worked with Spreadshirt, both it’s American and European arm for over 11 years. I have been both a designer and customer with both the Spreadshirt America and Spreadshirt Europe sides of the company.
But let me qualify my answer with some details. I have worked with Spreadshirt, both it’s American and European arm for over 11 years. I have been both a designer and customer with both the Spreadshirt America and Spreadshirt Europe sides of the company.
Spreadshirt quality
We’ll start with the quality of the shirt designs printed by Spreadshirt.
Spreadshirt is bad.
Back in the day Spreadshirt used to use flex and flock printing method. If you didn’t know flex is like a smooth vinyl design, with flock being the same but with a velvet finish. These gave great results for the customer, as long as the design didn’t have too many colours.
Spreadshirt is bad.
Back in the day Spreadshirt used to use flex and flock printing method. If you didn’t know flex is like a smooth vinyl design, with flock being the same but with a velvet finish. These gave great results for the customer, as long as the design didn’t have too many colours.
A design made using Spreadshirt flex.
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The flex design shows fair wear at the edges.
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Now Spreadshirt Europe started to used a design transfer film (a Digital Transfer Overlay). This would allow you to print detailed colour designs onto light shirts. Problem was the quality was poor and the process left a translucent border all around the design, which was very off putting to customers.
The American arm of Spreadshirt offered a DTG print or Direct To Garment printer service. Which meant designs could be in colour and have great detail - or so it should have.
The American arm of Spreadshirt offered a DTG print or Direct To Garment printer service. Which meant designs could be in colour and have great detail - or so it should have.
This design featured a gradient and this is how it turned out. I can't believe they shipped this product.
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Close up of the poor quality DTG printing looks like they cleaned the nozzles on the shirt.
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I ordered a DTG print of some of my designs over the years from Spreadshirt of America and they were poor - very poor.
The colours Spreadshirt used were low quality and the printing was imprecise. With only a few washes the already dull colours would only fade even worse. Over time with test washes the design printed by Spreadshirt would crack and flake.
The colours Spreadshirt used were low quality and the printing was imprecise. With only a few washes the already dull colours would only fade even worse. Over time with test washes the design printed by Spreadshirt would crack and flake.
Blurred imprecise printing of designs.
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Cracked design after only a few washes.
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Poor colour and imprecise design prints that have bled into (noticed the blurred edges) each other and the designs crack - like I stated, Spreadshirt’s quality is bad.
A close up image used by Spreadshirt themselves shows colour bleed around the edges and a garbage speckled effect in what should be a solid colour.
I have to note that I also had an order shipped from the US Spreadshirt with black ink that had been spilt/smeared onto the brand new shirt I ordered. Which shows you about Spreadshirt's quality control, as in they have non.
Spreadshirt shipped this damaged shirt to me from their factory. They have no quality control.
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After only a few washes the design started to wash away from that same shirt.
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It’s for this reason I would answer is Spreadshirt safe? As no. Neither as a customer or as a designer. Your customers will receive a low quality item and rather than complain, will shop elsewhere. As a designer you have no control over Spreashirt’s low quality printing.
Spreadshirt started with low quality prints and they continue with low quality prints.
Spreadshirt started with low quality prints and they continue with low quality prints.
Is Spreadshirt's customer service any good?
It’s unusually hard to find bad feedback on Spreadshirt, I say unusual because of how long they have been trading and how many products they’ve shipped. Surely with all those millions of customers and their orders, something should have gone wrong?
Welcome to Spreadshirt hiding bad feedback.
They carpet bomb any and all search results bearing their name with adverts to their store.
Forum topics that are critical of the company are locked to stop further discussion and to silence descent.
Welcome to Spreadshirt hiding bad feedback.
They carpet bomb any and all search results bearing their name with adverts to their store.
Forum topics that are critical of the company are locked to stop further discussion and to silence descent.
The US side of Spreadshirt has withheld money from designers since September of 2019. Forum posts are often fobbed off or locked.
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Spreadshirt ads display under negative searches for the site including far left.
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Then we get to contacting Spreadshirt’s customer service - Spreadshirt’s customer service is terrible.
Sending emails to Spreadshirt over a matter will be met with distain by the Spreadshirt staff. Rather than resolving your issue, you will receive the shortest possible answer.
Make no mistake, these people have a script and they will not come off it. The poor customer service of Spreadshirt is the epitome of the NPC meme.
Sending emails to Spreadshirt over a matter will be met with distain by the Spreadshirt staff. Rather than resolving your issue, you will receive the shortest possible answer.
Make no mistake, these people have a script and they will not come off it. The poor customer service of Spreadshirt is the epitome of the NPC meme.
The area marked in yellow is auto generated. But no matter how detailed you are in your questioning you will receive a vague ill thought out response.
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Spreadshirt's US customer service are basically NPC.
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Whether it’s squirreling out of refunds or avoiding paying you as a designer, getting the run around from Spreadshirt is the norm, not the exception.
Can you make money with Spreadshirt?
Can you make money with Spreadshirt or that is to say is Spreadshirt worth it? And the short answer is no, the longer answer is no, it’s really not worth your time - really.
Let me explain. The more work you put into something, the more you reap the rewards or that’s how it usually works. But not with Spreadshirt.
You see as a designer on Spreadshirt you are competing against other designers all across the world. So despite your best efforts, your visibility in there market place diminishes to the point of invisibility by the second.
Further more, periodically Spreadshirt migrates your work from their old system to the new system. This inevitably results in broken product listings and the deranking of your products in the search engines, both in internet searches and in the Spreadshirt search results.
Let me explain. The more work you put into something, the more you reap the rewards or that’s how it usually works. But not with Spreadshirt.
You see as a designer on Spreadshirt you are competing against other designers all across the world. So despite your best efforts, your visibility in there market place diminishes to the point of invisibility by the second.
Further more, periodically Spreadshirt migrates your work from their old system to the new system. This inevitably results in broken product listings and the deranking of your products in the search engines, both in internet searches and in the Spreadshirt search results.
Then you have Spreadshirts new earnings model which they, without consent, forced on designers. You now don’t set your own price - Spreadshirt set the price and if you don’t like the tiny amount of shekels they throw at you from time to time, well tough titty.
A men’s premium shirt on Spreadshirt will set you back $22.99 as a customer. The designer gets only $4 if sold through the Spreadshirt marketplace or even less at $3.40 if sold on an external marketplace.
Do you know what that shirt is worth without the design? The price of a blank shirt, it’s the design that adds the value, but Spreadshirt hate designers.
That’s why they have a very low flat rate. Did you do art at college or maybe you spent all week drawing that design? Well tough here’s $4, now shut your whore mouth.
Do you know what that shirt is worth without the design? The price of a blank shirt, it’s the design that adds the value, but Spreadshirt hate designers.
That’s why they have a very low flat rate. Did you do art at college or maybe you spent all week drawing that design? Well tough here’s $4, now shut your whore mouth.
Your well crafted design is now worth the same as that weird strain of “business” guy that comes out of marketing school selling SEO tips in his ebook, that one day decides he can turn his hand to designing. So puts text on a shirt, in a billion different colours and calls it a day.
That is when Spreadshirt bothers to even pay you.
Spreadshirt as a business is quite deceptive, with both the European and American divisions of the company.
The European arm, based in Germany, uses a strange law to have you the designer pay Spreadshirt's tax liability. Yes, they take tax they owe out of your earnings.
Spreadshirt as a business is quite deceptive, with both the European and American divisions of the company.
The European arm, based in Germany, uses a strange law to have you the designer pay Spreadshirt's tax liability. Yes, they take tax they owe out of your earnings.
Then you have the American side of Spreadshirt. They have you fill in a W8BEN form once in a while. It’s a form that country’s with a tax treaty with the US can fill in an avoid the US government getting their fat fingers on your money.
If you don’t fill it in or miss a section and Spreadshirt will withhold 30% of your income and believe me, you will never see that money again.
Here’s the kicker, Spreadshirt won’t tell you when this form is due.
If you don’t fill it in or miss a section and Spreadshirt will withhold 30% of your income and believe me, you will never see that money again.
Here’s the kicker, Spreadshirt won’t tell you when this form is due.
Their latest trick is to require your tax ID or National Insurance number if you are in the UK. Without this number stored on their system, to be used by God knows who, they won’t even pay you.
I found this out the hard way. They clear your payment data and roll over the payment to the next month. All without your consent.
I had to contact them to release money they had owed me for months, to which they point blank refused.
I even explained that I was self isolating due to an international pandemic, so needed the cash. I also pointed out that cash wasn’t just for me, but was to help feed my 7 week old newborn son.
Spreadshirt denied to pay me the money they owed. Despite me working with them for 11 years, the special circumstances and them being a giant company with a turnover over $100 million they were unable to pay me or so their terrible customer service read to me off a script.
I had to contact them to release money they had owed me for months, to which they point blank refused.
I even explained that I was self isolating due to an international pandemic, so needed the cash. I also pointed out that cash wasn’t just for me, but was to help feed my 7 week old newborn son.
Spreadshirt denied to pay me the money they owed. Despite me working with them for 11 years, the special circumstances and them being a giant company with a turnover over $100 million they were unable to pay me or so their terrible customer service read to me off a script.
Is a Spreadshirt shop a good way to start a business?
Is a Spreadshirt shop a good way to start a business? Well you should have guessed by the article so far that the answer is a resounding no.
Even if you work tirelessly to keep up with the unrelenting volume of competing designs, the lower perceived value that a high volume low effort flooded market place brings. The poor quality garments driving business away, the tiny amount of money they throw your way, when they can be bothered. Even if you can navigate their far left bias and all the other problems I’ve mentioned above - your customers still aren’t your customers.
You are at no point involved with the customer. You can’t contact them, they can’t contact you.
The fact the designs they buy belong to you is hidden away to the customer, who by in large think they are only buying from Spreadshirt, as that is all they see.
And make no mistake, this is intentional.
They obscure designers from being noticed in the marketplace to drown you out. It’s the same cut throat approach that the vile Ebay platform uses. All the recognition and non of the liability.
For working tirelessly on your Spreadshirt designs you won’t receive paid holidays or paid sick. You have no pension or anything in the way of rights and to cap it all off, you won’t even be able to get the essential exposure you need to grow your business.
I hope you get to find this page about the far left company Spreadshirt, as they have a terrible way of hiding the truth about them as a failing company. That way you can save your time and invest your efforts elsewhere.
Who knows with them using the dirty tricks they have built up over the years, it maybe signs they are a dying business on the brink of collapse, time will tell.
Even if you work tirelessly to keep up with the unrelenting volume of competing designs, the lower perceived value that a high volume low effort flooded market place brings. The poor quality garments driving business away, the tiny amount of money they throw your way, when they can be bothered. Even if you can navigate their far left bias and all the other problems I’ve mentioned above - your customers still aren’t your customers.
You are at no point involved with the customer. You can’t contact them, they can’t contact you.
The fact the designs they buy belong to you is hidden away to the customer, who by in large think they are only buying from Spreadshirt, as that is all they see.
And make no mistake, this is intentional.
They obscure designers from being noticed in the marketplace to drown you out. It’s the same cut throat approach that the vile Ebay platform uses. All the recognition and non of the liability.
For working tirelessly on your Spreadshirt designs you won’t receive paid holidays or paid sick. You have no pension or anything in the way of rights and to cap it all off, you won’t even be able to get the essential exposure you need to grow your business.
I hope you get to find this page about the far left company Spreadshirt, as they have a terrible way of hiding the truth about them as a failing company. That way you can save your time and invest your efforts elsewhere.
Who knows with them using the dirty tricks they have built up over the years, it maybe signs they are a dying business on the brink of collapse, time will tell.
By Roley
24/03/2020
24/03/2020