Shirt.Woot

Just heard about this after being a woot customer/fan for years. I loved how reliable and well-made the AA woot shirts were, which made Random Shirt purchases worthwhile even if I didn't love the design I ended up with. As a matter of fact, I'm wearing "No One Left to Play With" right now which is still in excellent condition after being worn and washed over 20 times.

I'm really disappointed to hear that they switched manufacturers for blanks. I would have rather seen another price increase than lower quality shirts from another country.

newnie wrote:I wouldn't mind seeing the pic too

I haven't washed any of my Anvil's more than once since the material bothers me so I haven't run into this, but this is a valid concern for people who do find them wearable.

I'm lying in bed at the moment but I'll make it my mission to upload it tomorrow. :D

I got extremely lucky and ordered a shirt from the reckoning a couple weeks ago it was supposed to be on anvil & came on AA.

newnie wrote:I wouldn't mind seeing the pic too

I haven't washed any of my Anvil's more than once since the material bothers me so I haven't run into this, but this is a valid concern for people who do find them wearable.

DSCF8210 by esotiroglou, on Flickr


DSCF8205 by esotiroglou, on Flickr

So does anyone at Woot read this thread or have they basically said, "Suck it up, kiddies!" and walked away from the whole subject?

Any ideas on other shirt sites? I visit Shirt Punch, but I heard a rumor that they changed their blanks too?

Eta: stupid phone autocorrect...

esotiroglou wrote:
DSCF8210 by esotiroglou, on Flickr


DSCF8205 by esotiroglou, on Flickr

Yeouch, that's... pretty bad. I wonder if anyone else has been experiencing this? I know Narfcake said he's already seen some of the Anvil woot shirts showing up at thrift shops - which makes me wonder if some people are running into the same thing but not mentioning it to service@woot.com or on the forums.

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

newnie wrote:Yeouch, that's... pretty bad. I wonder if anyone else has been experiencing this? I know Narfcake said he's already seen some of the Anvil woot shirts showing up at thrift shops - which makes me wonder if some people are running into the same thing but not mentioning it to service@woot.com or on the forums.

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Yeah, no problem. I did email service@woot.com and they are replacing the shirt, yay! Once I get my new one in I'm thinking about never washing it..and just wearing lots of deodorant and perfume when I wear it. Please be kind to me summertime heat.

But yes, I find it to be highly likely that many others are having this problem, but are suffering in silence. SPEAK!...I mean type..

newnie wrote:... I know Narfcake said he's already seen some of the Anvil woot shirts showing up at thrift shops - which makes me wonder if some people are running into the same thing but not mentioning it to service@woot.com or on the forums.

I've only seen one, and it didn't look like it was defective, other than the "small print on a huge woman's shirt with a weird cut" aspect.

Still, it sets a new record for me (4 weeks from debut to thrift shop find); the previous record was 9 weeks - also a Ramy shirt.

esotiroglou wrote:
DSCF8210 by esotiroglou, on Flickr


DSCF8205 by esotiroglou, on Flickr

Thanks so much for the picture, it reinforces why I will NEVER BUY ANOTHER WOOT SHIRT AGAIN UNTIL THEY GET RID OF THE SWEATSHOP SHIRTS. What a betrayal woot, and you lack the courage to change back even though you see your customers are outraged and can see clearly from these pictures these anvil shirts are JUNK. Of course you a probably making a few extra bucks, so who cares if your customers get the shaft. Great job losers.

1. Wet || Slippery When 3/8/12
2. All Sails Ahead 3/2/12
3. The Year of the Plumber 2/25/11
4. Lucky at Last 2/17/
5. Ghost Writer 1/12/12 1
6. Too Many Scoops 12/31/11 2
7. Ugly Holiday Sweater 2011 12/5/11 1
8. Run Away! Run Away! 11/17/11 1
9. Hats That Are Hatty 11/9/11 1
10. Changing Sides 11/6/11 1
11. 13th Gloom Street - Tote 10/14/11 2
12. Haunted Scarecrow 10/14/11 1
13. Click or Treat 10/12/11 1
14. Scrub, My Pretty 10/6/11 1
15. The Cheese is a Liederkranz 9/24/11 1
16. The Cheese is a Liederkranz 9/23/11 1
17. The Binge 9/19/11 1
18. The End Is The Beginning 9/2/11 3
19. Straw, Sticks, & Bricks BBQ 7/30/11 1
20. Sugar Skull 6/22/11 2
21. Playful Foxes 6/9/11 1
22. Ro-boss 6/6/11 1
23. 3037 5/21/11 2
24. Humanity Gets Voted Off 5/10/11 1
25. Two Queens 5/7/11 3
26. See No Evil 4/28/11 1
27. Minor Modifications 4/15/11 2
28. Rainy Souls 4/1/11 1
29. Don't Look Back, I've Got You 3/27/11 1
30. World 1-1 Building 3/24/11 1
31. Magic Lamp 3/19/11 1
32. They call me… Tim 3/18/11 1
33. Cooler Than You 3/9/11 1
34. Unstealthiest Ninja 3/4/11 1
35. Just a little paint 3/3/11 1
36. Retrobot 3/3/11 1
37. Odd Bear Out 2/20/11 1
38. Thunderbird 2/12/11 2
39. Ugly Holiday Sweater 2010 12/23/10 2
40. Sky Invader 12/14/10 1
41. Like A Lightbulb 12/13/10 1
42. Last Flight Home 12/7/10 1
43. Test Tube Baby 12/6/10 1
44. Warm and Cozy 11/30/10 1
45. Dead Air 11/23/10 1
46. The Hungry Igloo 11/12/10 1
47. Transitions 10/29/10 1
48. Four Little Ponies of the Apocalypse 10/20/10 2
49. The Tag Along 10/20/10 1
50. 5 Second Rule 10/20/10 1
51. Trick Or Treat 10/18/10 2
52. Imposter 9/21/10 1
53. The Binge 9/21/10 1
54. NightLife 8/31/10 1
55. I Bet It’s Better There… 8/21/10 1
56. The Black Hole 8/7/10 3
57. brn2pwn 8/3/10 2
58. Pup In Training 7/23/10 1
59. Orbital Model of the Carbon Atom 7/17/10 1
60. Escape the city 7/9/10 1
61. Random Shirt 7/5/10 3
62. Schrodinger’s Cat 6/5/10 1
63. Squeeze 5/22/10 1
64. Lunch Break 5/19/10 1
65. Ask Again Later 4/30/10 1
66. Nature's Harmony 4/26/10 2
67. The Original B-Boy 4/8/10 1
68. Deep Blue Space 4/3/10 1
69. Pinball Wizard 3/30/10 1
70. My Lucky Day 3/13/10 1
71. Sliced Bread 3/6/10 1
72. Steam Heart 2/6/10 1
73. The Sleep of Reason Produces Flying Turtles 1/23/10 1
74. Alien Invader 1/19/10 1
75. Ugly Winter Sweater 12/24/09 1
76. Oops I missed, let me try again 12/12/09 1
77. Winning the Race 12/11/09 2
78. Going Away Is The Bluebird 12/4/09 1
79. Giving from the heart 11/19/09 1
80. Zombie Vampire Robots from Space 11/18/09 1
81. Computer Mice 10/30/09 2
82. 13th Gloom Street 10/19/09 1
83. Illustrated Ratings Guide 10/14/09 1
84. Gummistone Park 10/9/09 3
85. Fiery Autumn Colors 9/5/09 1
86. PAINata 9/3/09 1
87. When Asteroids Strike 7/9/09 1
88. The Last Day 6/19/09 2
89. Pandora’s Friends and Galaxy 5/24/09 2
90. The Breakfast Club 4/28/09 2
91. Navy Seals 4/14/09 1
92. Basic Training 3/15/09 2
93. I wish… 3/13/09 1
94. 200 3/2/09 1
95. The Convenient Tiny Chair 2/22/09 1
96. Battle Fungale 2/12/09 1
97. Birth of the Moon 1/10/09 2
98. Grim Optimism 12/19/08 1
99. Binge Rat 12/18/08 1
100. Two Fish Who Are Red And Blue 12/12/08 1
101. 404 Heart Not Found 12/11/08 1
102. Collateral Hamage 11/24/08 1
103. Fee! Fie! Foe! Fum! 10/25/08 1
104. Undead Whispers 10/23/08 1
105. The Frankensteins 10/22/08 1
106. Can You Spell BRAAAINS! 10/11/08 1
107. Friends Are Forever 9/17/08 3
108. Jimmy… Is That You? 9/6/08 1
109. Tin: Old Skool 9/6/08 1
110. Oh Burned!!! 9/6/08 1
111. Oh Burned!!! 9/6/08 3
112. The Cycle of Life 9/3/08 1
113. Hungry Bento 8/30/08 2
114. Energy Harvester 8/1/08 2
115. Eyes Cream Sundae 7/24/08 1
116. At Last We Meet . . . 6/27/08 2
117. 1986: The Legend Was Born 6/22/08 1
118. Road Closed 6/22/08 1
119. Suburban Blitzkrieg 6/22/08 2
120. 335 Woolloomoo Way 6/20/08 1
121. Zombeer 6/16/08 1
122. Road Closed 6/12/08 1
123. PB and Jellyfish 6/10/08 1
124. Army in my Pocket 6/9/08 1
125. Finding Technicolor 6/9/08 1
126. Zombie Season 6/9/08 1
127. Sublimican Republic 6/7/08 1
128. Decibliterated 6/5/08 1
129. Oh Burned!!! 6/1/08 2
130. Skullngry 5/28/08 1
131. Alpha Battle 5/14/08 1
132. Mister Bobo, Masonic Dyna-Monkey 5/12/08 1
133. Chest Of Nightmares 5/6/08 1
134. Treacherous Waters 4/29/08 1
135. PolarSnugglePhant 4/29/08 1

shahea wrote:So does anyone at Woot read this thread or have they basically said, "Suck it up, kiddies!" and walked away from the whole subject?

Any ideas on other shirt sites? I visit Shirt Punch, but I heard a rumor that they changed their blanks too?

Eta: stupid phone autocorrect...

Teefury.com
theyetee.com
ShirtPunch.com
Riptapparel.com
qwertee.com
goodjoe.com
captainkyso.com

Why look at other sites that don't use AA? I mean, if that's the big complaint, going to RipT isn't really a solution, is it?

Primordial wrote:Teefury.com
theyetee.com
ShirtPunch.com
Riptapparel.com
qwertee.com
goodjoe.com
captainkyso.com

I've ordered from yetee, shirt punch, ript and qwertee... and I don't think any of them are AA. just got my newest from Qwertee and it's a gildan soft style.

by the way - qwertee is from Ireland and Shirt punch is Canadian - so not sure why one would assume, or demand they use AA, just a thought.... (I don't recall where the others are located)

goodjoe.com uses AA.
captainkyso.com uses their locally-made shirts (India) and supposedly good quality.

turtlesprague wrote:... so not sure why one would assume, or demand they use AA, just a thought.... (I don't recall where the others are located)

A very key deciding factor on where some folks will spend their money is what shirt they'll be getting; And some want USA-made.

I don't know that any sites (other than goodjoe I guess?) exclusively use American made shirts, maybe this is part of the reason Woot felt OK doing the same. It's what all their competitors do after all.

Threadless is one alternative I hear the most often probably, teefury might be OK if you like being bashed over the head with pop culture every.. single.. day.. or shop at Hot Topic alot, captinkyso seems to be all the rage these days, the rest I've only heard of in passing.

I've never seen another tee shirt site that I've been drawn into a quarter as much as I have Woot's derby and forums/community. This sucks!

turtlesprague wrote:I've ordered from yetee, shirt punch, ript and qwertee... and I don't think any of them are AA. just got my newest from Qwertee and it's a gildan soft style.

by the way - qwertee is from Ireland and Shirt punch is Canadian - so not sure why one would assume, or demand they use AA, just a thought.... (I don't recall where the others are located)

Hey,

I am not saying everyone should use AA, I am not a shill for AA I assure you. I do prefer that an American company use American shirts, whether it be AA or something else if available. I do have an issue with my favorite site which previously helped contribute to the American economy by employing Americans, even if indirectly……making a switch to lower wages for another economy. It undermines all of us and I can’t stand by and say nothing. Here is the thing, I do shop at all of those other shirt sites, teefury.com second to woot, but I have not bought NEAR as many shirts at any of them. Why? Well part of why I shopped at Woot was because they had American shirts, so yeah, why not send people somewhere else….woot is no better anymore, they have lost their direction in my estimation. In protest of one of the last sites I thought would pull something like this I won’t buy here anymore, but I will come back to comment at try to keep people aware that woot can be made to change back. We can vote with our dollars, and they will listen or …..not sell many shirts? This is about right and wrong, not funny/cute shirts anymore.

By the way, so far everyone seems to be dead against the quality and fit of the new shirts compared to AA, so yeah, you think they might care about how the shirts FIT US. Nope…..profits is the only word left in Wootland, the shirts are a distant last.

spilzer wrote:Does anyone else find themselves wishing, like I am a tiny bit, that Adder was around to contribute his opinion to the discussion at hand? I'm sure he would have had a thing or two to say about all this...

Having gone through the whole thread, no, no one else was wishing that. You knew my opinion anyway, though.

3000 tees - $1K for artists = $29,000
5000 tees - $1K for artists = $49,000
6000 tees - $1K for artists = $59,000
6000 tees - $1K for artists + $2 per shirt = $71,000
6000 tees - $1K for artists + $2 per shirt + at least $2 per shirt in lower print costs = $83,000

Woot's profits have increased almost threefold in this very conservative estimate. Woot's artists are making the same money.

I am all for American made (not because I'm a jingoist like some here, but because America has more work standards than a place like Honduras has). I own enough shirts to know that AA is the best quality for the price, though there are some blanks that cost more that I like better. I don't think that pulling out of AA will do anything but harm it, causing even more instability in what continues to be the gold standard of tee blanks despite all other controversy (which again is far more minor than the conditions at the best third world sweatshops). I think it's offensive to other sites with far smaller fanbases who have offered first-day prints at $12 forever (and hurt sales-wise for it) to see a bulk shipper like woot play that card. I think it's offensive to the customers here to see a price hike followed immediately by a quality lowering. But how woot's decisions hurt artists while strengthening their own bottom line has ALWAYS been the root of my issues here.

The only thing I can add that you don't already know from reading anything I've ever written is that you should all have seen this coming. This is what businesses do. They do not care about you. They want to make money. When woot pulls out a Doctor Who print, they do it purely because it will make more money than something more creative. When woot switches blanks, it is the same. A company willing to do the former is completely willing to do the latter. I don't know how one can live in America in 2012 and not realize that. They will only do what you want if what you want is in line with their bottom line. Most companies simply don't care enough about anyone else but their bankrolls to do otherwise, and even the best won't come forward and admit when they're hurting.

Edit: OK, so you should have known that last part too if you've read anything I've ever written.

Though to add one more comment, this should not be how it is. This is what business does. It is wholly unconscionable to accept it as what business SHOULD do.

ThunderThighs wrote:Welcome back, Adder! Good to see you back and, I hope, doing well. People were asking about you a couple months ago.

Good for them? I haven't noticed any fruit baskets.

AdderXYU wrote:Good for them? I haven't noticed any fruit baskets.

AdderXYU wrote:... It is wholly unconscionable to accept it as what business SHOULD do.

... which is a reason why I have not and will not buy a design printed on the new blanks.

Narfcake wrote:... which is a reason why I have not and will not buy a design printed on the new blanks.

For every person who won't, sadly, there are probably a thousand wooters who wouldn't know what a "blank" represented in tee parlance if you gave them three choices and two of them weren't shirt related.

I care, you care, some people here care, other people here think they care but just have a 'merica woody a mile long, but most people don't care about anything but their own bottom line and that is exactly why we are somewhere where a company can switch to a lower quality item for a higher price. Woot's prime customer is just as selfish as woot itself is. They are objecting because it's inconvenient TO THEM SPECIFICALLY, or they're not objecting at all because they don't care about the situation.

And Robert, that basket has stars and flowers in it. Are you SURE that's not Mario themed? Because if so...

AdderXYU wrote:Having gone through the whole thread, no, no one else was wishing that. You knew my opinion anyway, though.

3000 tees - $1K for artists = $29,000
5000 tees - $1K for artists = $49,000
6000 tees - $1K for artists = $59,000
6000 tees - $1K for artists + $2 per shirt = $71,000
6000 tees - $1K for artists + $2 per shirt + at least $2 per shirt in lower print costs = $83,000

Woot's profits have increased almost threefold in this very conservative estimate. Woot's artists are making the same money.

I am all for American made (not because I'm a jingoist like some here, but because America has more work standards than a place like Honduras has). I own enough shirts to know that AA is the best quality for the price, though there are some blanks that cost more that I like better. I don't think that pulling out of AA will do anything but harm it, causing even more instability in what continues to be the gold standard of tee blanks despite all other controversy (which again is far more minor than the conditions at the best third world sweatshops). I think it's offensive to other sites with far smaller fanbases who have offered first-day prints at $12 forever (and hurt sales-wise for it) to see a bulk shipper like woot play that card. I think it's offensive to the customers here to see a price hike followed immediately by a quality lowering. But how woot's decisions hurt artists while strengthening their own bottom line has ALWAYS been the root of my issues here.

The only thing I can add that you don't already know from reading anything I've ever written is that you should all have seen this coming. This is what businesses do. They do not care about you. They want to make money. When woot pulls out a Doctor Who print, they do it purely because it will make more money than something more creative. When woot switches blanks, it is the same. A company willing to do the former is completely willing to do the latter. I don't know how one can live in America in 2012 and not realize that. They will only do what you want if what you want is in line with their bottom line. Most companies simply don't care enough about anyone else but their bankrolls to do otherwise, and even the best won't come forward and admit when they're hurting.

Edit: OK, so you should have known that last part too if you've read anything I've ever written.

Though to add one more comment, this should not be how it is. This is what business does. It is wholly unconscionable to accept it as what business SHOULD do.

Adder,

This is an eloquent and truly brilliant post. And I agree with your follow up, this is a symptom of what WE have become, selfish and willing to sell each other down the river if we can save a nickel or two. We COULD make them change, if every one of us voted with our wallets, but that will never happen. Most people are unaware and wouldn’t care enough not to buy that cool shirt they really really want to make the point to the company. If nobody bought woot shirts for a week and instead everyone posted disapproval here then this would change, but of course that is a fantasy that will never be realized. People will continue to buy the lower quality and ill fitted shirts like lemmings, and a once great upstart settles into the pattern of a greed driven cog in the machine of profits by mediocrity.

AdderXYU wrote:For every person who won't, sadly, there are probably a thousand wooters who wouldn't know what a "blank" represented in tee parlance if you gave them three choices and two of them weren't shirt related. ...

Alas, this is the truth. Add in the print quality issues that seem to be occurring with greater frequency these days ... and yet, so long as new buyers who couldn't care less continue to come in, the old loyal Wooters are considered "expendable".

And Robert, that basket has stars and flowers in it. Are you SURE that's not Mario themed? Because if so...

Haha ... you realize it's in the shape of a mushroom too, right? ^_^

Narfcake wrote:Alas, this is the truth. Add in the print quality issues that seem to be occurring with greater frequency these days ... and yet, so long as new buyers who couldn't care less continue to come in, the old loyal Wooters are considered "expendable".

Oh god, this really is Star Wars Galaxies all over again isn't it?

i'm going to write woot every time I was going to buy a shirt and let them know that because of their switch, it was a lost order. sure, not much, but it's at least something.

Primordial wrote:People will continue to buy the lower quality and ill fitted shirts like lemmings, and a once great upstart settles into the pattern of a greed driven cog in the machine of profits by mediocrity.

The problem is systemic to our society. Check the mission statement for the term "shareholder equity" then decide from there.

I really dislike the new Anvil tees. They don't fit as well and the collar stretches out too far for my liking. They are also shorter than the AA tees and I really like that extra length the AA tee has.

Narfcake wrote:Alas, this is the truth. Add in the print quality issues that seem to be occurring with greater frequency these days ... and yet, so long as new buyers who couldn't care less continue to come in, the old loyal Wooters are considered "expendable".

This. There's probably a spreadsheet at Woot titled "Customer Attrition vs. Cost Cutting Measures" so they can estimate how much crap they can get away with.

To add to Adder's list of how the artist is hurt, the reduced overall sales is taking money directly out of the artists' pocket while Woot pockets more thanks to their cost-cutting.

Yay, Adder's back!

Does this mean SingulariTee will be updating again?

fl3xtra wrote:i'm going to write woot every time I was going to buy a shirt and let them know that because of their switch, it was a lost order. sure, not much, but it's at least something.

They delete it if you post in on the blog for the shirt that is on sale. They don't like honest discussion when they are trying to make money. It has already happened to me.....

thatrobert wrote:This. There's probably a spreadsheet at Woot titled "Customer Attrition vs. Cost Cutting Measures" so they can estimate how much crap they can get away with.

Couldn't we try to get a handle on this using NarfNumbers? The first thing that comes to mind is a logistic regression with artist, derby/daily status, and color as predictors and Anvil/AA status as the outcome, but there's probably a simpler, more direct analysis that would include AA/Anvil status as a predictor, although in that case, I'd suggest including a categorical variable to control for the genre of shirt (pop culture versus arty versus... um, what other kinds of shirts do we have?).

neuropsychosocial wrote:Couldn't we try to get a handle on this using NarfNumbers? The first thing that comes to mind is a logistic regression with artist, derby/daily status, and color as predictors and Anvil/AA status as the outcome, but there's probably a simpler, more direct analysis that would include AA/Anvil status as a predictor, although in that case, I'd suggest including a categorical variable to control for the genre of shirt (pop culture versus arty versus... um, what other kinds of shirts do we have?).

The sales numbers show that there hasn't been a decline. j5 posted a lovely chart for first day sales, and the price change resulted in a bigger, longer dip than the change in shirt.

Might be interesting to see if that's still true, since the price change was immediately noted by buyers, while the change in shirt blank has been slower to be noticed (as shown by the number of people whining, 2 months later, that they had no clue).

AA v Anvil, how to tell when buying?

From various comments, etc, I'm hearing that AA shirts are still being used for some styles. But I can't tell when looking at a shirt's sale page online, I can't tell which it is. Has woot fully transitioned over to anvil and that's what they'll all be, or can I still get some remaining AA tees? And if so, how can I tell?

anoted wrote:AA v Anvil, how to tell when buying?

From various comments, etc, I'm hearing that AA shirts are still being used for some styles. But I can't tell when looking at a shirt's sale page online, I can't tell which it is. Has woot fully transitioned over to anvil and that's what they'll all be, or can I still get some remaining AA tees? And if so, how can I tell?

Look at the sizing chart for the given shirt. If the shirt indicates made in the USA, it's AA--but there might be a switchover midrun. If it says made elsewhere, it's Anvil.

I thought the idea was: price goes up, shirts are still made in America? The shirt I just received says Honduras.
Hella aromatic

eastcobbler wrote:I thought the idea was: price goes up, shirts are still made in America? The shirt I just received says Honduras.
Hella aromatic

Woot never said nor implied that they wouldn't be changing blanks. Yes, lots of wooters said they were ok with the price change because it was still AA, but that's not really the same.

Mavyn wrote:Might be interesting to see if that's still true, since the price change was immediately noted by buyers, while the change in shirt blank has been slower to be noticed (as shown by the number of people whining, 2 months later, that they had no clue).

First day sales are stable. This past week saw some lower numbers due, I'm guessing, to Woot stepping outside of their wheelhouse with some a-typical designs.

anoted wrote:AA v Anvil, how to tell when buying?

From various comments, etc, I'm hearing that AA shirts are still being used for some styles. But I can't tell when looking at a shirt's sale page online, I can't tell which it is. Has woot fully transitioned over to anvil and that's what they'll all be, or can I still get some remaining AA tees? And if so, how can I tell?

Supreme law of online apparel buying: Always Check Size Charts.