Lost Interest in Cameesa?

I really like the concept of Cameesa. I'm a little frustrated with some of my favorite designs having been on here for 6 months and I've had money tied up in them for a while, but I've gotten 4 designs I've supported all the way to print, and another 1 within $200, so overall it's going pretty well. If I could change anything, I would like to see more supporters and make a few more of these designs move a little faster.

I think one of the smartest things Cameesa did was allow us to support as many shirts as we want with 1 support group. If I had to tie up $100 in 5 shirts I liked, there's no way I could afford to be a part of this. But I can put up $20, support all 5, and wait. If something new and great pops up, I'm in for that too.

I think your frustration isn't due to staleness of concept, but just the slow nature of the site and Cameesa hasn't taken off like a jet engine like we all hoped it would. But it seems to be growing slowly, and hopefully the owners will keep sticking it out.

- pakrem commented 83 days ago

Cameesa is still a great concept, but it's a concept that DEMANDS dedicated fans, and plenty of them.

Cameesa has been continually in flux, which makes people tentative to support, especially with some of the choices they've made (switching blanks to a sub-par alternative to save money, increasing the support price and implementing a kickback scheme that may be unsupportable, etc). People aren't going to want to support if they know the site has changed so often that they're not sure what they're going to inevitably get, and others may no longer wish to support because they don't know how the site works anymore (I wager some Tultex haters still haven't migrated back). They've had a few print fiascos (Gamer Mother, for instance, or Coq Music) where the shirt they sent was hugely disappointing and off-base from what people supported. I know people who won't put a new support down here until they're convinced those days are long past. The payout for artists is incredibly low to bother holding out for buyers for what could easily be longer than a year, so you get a lot of work that either the artists don't care about, or isn't their best work, and when it IS great work, the designers are prone to frustration when their work STILL isn't printed a year later, and will let the piece sit here unpromoted, convinced it has to print EVENTUALLY. That wait is the biggest issue... most people would rather pay more and hold out for a shirt they KNOW exists, rather than have $10 or now $20 in limbo for months and months.

So with no one supporting due to huge waits and a now-doubled support price, no new artists would want to put something up. With no new work, no new people or supports will be made from that work. And with no new people, the site stagnates, and few items will ever be fully supported. Cameesa is putting all their eggs in a basket which will pump their cost-per-tee up to $10 before it even prints... they're luring people in via human greed and not via what the site is about: tshirts. And that's why the site is stale. The idea is still great. It just needs an audience, and it feels as though Cameesa are trying to get that audience through investment, not through community or art. Which is probably a horrible move for a community driven company selling graphic art.

- AdderXYU commented 83 days ago

I agree that it does feel stagnate here. The only way things can improve is if shirts move through the support cycle faster. At this point, the only way that could happen is for Cameesa to start taking some "shortcuts" in getting stuff printed. How about picking one shirt a week that Cameesa likes and printing it, regardless of the support level?

This will immediately jazz both artists and supporters and I think you'll see everything moving much faster. The obvious problem for Cameesa would be this would require that much more cash to get those shirts printed. I think this would be temporary though as it would get the whole pipeline moving faster.

- thatrobert commented 82 days ago

Thanks for the feedback and thoughts guys. We don't take any advice or comments personally and we love to hear how you feel, whether it is bad, goof or indifferent.

The biggest takeaway here is that 'designs are taking too long to be supported;' however, designs are still slowly being supported and slowly being purchased. How do we speed up the support process and/or help designs to become fully-supported more quickly, while maintaining price.

I'm putting together a few things mentally, and will definitely want your feedback before making any changes.

Thanks again and happy holidays!!!

- kamil commented 82 days ago

back when this site had more momentum I was sending friends and family here with the excitement that they could "pre-order a shirt for 10$ that would cost them 20$ if they bought it after it was printed.
Now all I hear is "when will it print" and comments to me about how they supported my shirt, or another one on the site and now I hear fears about them never getting anything for the money.

Do you guys have a refund policy?

- the_jcw commented 73 days ago

We will gladly refund anyone's money if they are not happy or satisfied by supporting Cameesa designs.

Happy new year to all!!!

- kamil commented 71 days ago

Thanks Kamil,

now I can let them know for sure so they can decide to hold on longer or throw in the towel (hopefully hold on a bit longer)

- the_jcw commented 67 days ago

I feel like Cameesa has come to a standstill since the price increase was set up. It's like pulling teeth just to get support for those of us in the top 3. I've tried to promote on twitter like a fiend. I can only post it on facebook or my portfolio page a minute number of times until you piss off your fans and friends who have already supported it.

Thinking about adverting: I'm curious why there never seems to be any promotions or updates on Cameesa's twitter account? It's free advertising, why not take advantage it? I think I've scored a couple supports that way, but again, I can only reach so many and Cameesa's could reach so many more.

- JadenKale commented 66 days ago

Hey guys, would love to hear your opinions on this post please,

http://cameesa.com/forum/post/249/the-new-cameesa-vision-getting-rid-of-support-section

- kamil commented 61 days ago