Can This Startup Put Local T-Shirt Printers Out of Business?

I woke up to an email in my inbox from a 싱가포르-based startup, in which the subtitle included, “aims to put local merchandisers and T-shirt printers out of business in five to eight years”. The two-month old company who made that statement is a crowdfunding platform catered for customized T-shirt printing called TeeFaction.

Modeled after the US-based crowdfund custom apparel site Teespring, the two-man team saw an opportunity in Southeast Asia and felt they would be able to better serve the local audience – be it in lead time, shipping costs, styling, or sizing for Southeast Asians. With its platform, TeeFaction eases the process of creating custom T-shirts, and would be ideal for designers who would like to sell their designs.

Reducing the risk

In essence, TeeFaction solves three pain points in the T-shirt printing process. One, you are not sure how many T-shirts are needed and the sizes required. Two, you need to pay a deposit for T-shirts while facing the uncertainty of not selling them. Three, carrying the T-shirts in bulk quantities can be burdensome.

TeeFaction claims it solves these problems with its crowdsourcing platform. Users can launch a campaign on the site, send out the link, and interested parties can pre-order on the site itself. Once the campaign is over, the T-shirts will be printed and shipped individually to people who have ordered, and campaign owners will also receive a check for the profits made. It greatly reduces the risk, hassle, and work – ideal for occasions such as parties, events, or charitable causes.

Co-founder Mark Zhang says he’s optimistic about the model. He elaborates:

One thing that I am certain of is that in five to 10 years, unless the existing merchandising businesses reinvent themselves and change with the time, their businesses will be dead. The existing model is old, stale, and incredibly inefficient. Once consumers realize how easy a crowdsourcing platform works in this context, they just don’t go back.

Singapore as testbed

Mark also tells us that the team is currently testing the system in Singapore first. Folks in countries outside of Singapore but within the Southeast Asia region can still use the platform, and they will be shipped from the lion city to said countries. Printing will eventually be localized in more countries as it expands.

The entire production and delivery of the T-shirts will take approximately 10 to 14 days from the end of the campaign. Mark reveals that the profitability of its business is at least 33 percent.

Mark currently heads business development at TeeFaction, and previously ran a successful Kickstarter campaign called Slip Stopper, an anti-slip solution for iPhones. His co-founder, Jeff Soon, takes charge of logistics and owns factories in China, allowing the startup to create premium T-shirts at competitive pricing.

Will the startup be able to put local printers out of this kind of business? On that, Mark says:

We say a little prayer, we bet big, and we hope for the best.

(Editing by Steven Millward 과 Paul Bischoff)