Show HN: Threadless for socks | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Threadless for socks

swag.sockclub.com

47 pointsjohnwall28 comments

I'm fairly certain that all those logos in their are copywritten and thus illegal for you to stick on socks and sell.

Is it possible to get a copyright on a logo? I thought it wasn't and hence the reason for Trademarks. Still illegal, just curious.

A specific logo design is as protected as any other original image you can create. That logo can contain words or shapes that are protected by trademark. They're not mutually exclusive protections.

How is this "Threadless for socks"? The whole point of Threadless is that they're crowd-sourced art that the community votes on.

This just seems like standard corporate merchandise printing, like when you get your logo on a bunch of pens.

So, I guess more like "Cafe Press for socks". Apparently, Threadless already has a sock option.

Really cool widget, but to me your tagline seems wrong. You give away tshirts at conferences because people notice them, they don't notice socks. Just say, make cool socks.

This is precisely the reason. I was going to answer that question in a separate comment until I noticed yours.

You receive points for an objectively correct answer.

There is something to be said for the novelty of giving out socks. I might even say that many people don't notice tshirts due to "banner blindness," they tune out the myriad logos on shirts and don't form a lasting impression.

I would definitely remember the company giving out wacky socks, especially if they were wearable (in terms of material quality).

People may or may not notice t-shirts, but the people wearing the t-shirt assume they're going to be noticed. It's a subtle, possibly not-entirely-conscious decision. But it's a decision. The idea is that people wear t-shirts as signifiers/broadcasters of their self identity. They don't necessarily think of socks the same way -- partially because they're not thinking socks will be seen, and partially because it's just not an ingrained psychological pattern.

I'm not saying novelty socks can't happen, and certainly there are a few fashion labels making a pretty good buck off of socks with fun, quirky, and unique designs. That's sort of an emerging space in the apparel business, actually. But the use case is somewhat different from the novelty t-shirt market.

I would love if you could also make something a la thredless/spreadshirt/lafraise ...

Because I'm always looking for "fantasy" socks (e.g. not just plain socks, don't know the proper English idiom for that) and they are quite hard to find.

I understand that you need a certain volume for a batch to be worth doing, hence the "let people create design, vote and then sell the most popular one" idea.

So...This is what it's come to.

I don't understand what this means?

But anyways, let's assume it gets funded for $1M+. Here's a few thoughts:

- The workflow from design->buy should be a lot simpler. I was expecting more of a CustomInk experience. (1. Pick the type of sock, 2. Design, 3. Buy in ANY quantity). - Buying socks should definitely not be an email-only experience, and definitely not with a minimum of 500 pairs. I understand making, say, just 10 pairs is much more expensive, but if someone is at the point buying "Sock Swag", they're probably willing to pay a premium. - Please autosave. - Use a better way to delete an 'image'. I selected an image and pressed backspace which took me back to the home page. - The hash you're using for a saved design URL is tremendously long. If Google docs can get by with shorter unique URLs, so can you. - I just made a sock with pictures of my face. Just because I could. Is that going to be publicly accessible through any sort of gallery? Please make the privacy options more clear.

Adding:

- Separate the controls for resizing and rotating an image. I don't want to be resizing and rotating at the same time.

People paying money for things that they want?

Been waiting for something like this for a while. Having tried a ton of socks, I find build quality varies quite a bit. Dont see any discussion of this on the site - can you elaborate?

I build quality is good. The socks are similar to the socks made by the company Sock It To Me

This is really cool! A few things:

The design tool allows the full spectrum of colors and the uploading of high-res photos. I'm doubtful that this [1] would print.

Also, I'm sure you need large orders for this to make sense, but 500 feels pretty high. If you allow orders of 50 pair, I'm in for 50 of these [2]. :)

1. http://cl.ly/image/0C3o1l1i3F2t 2. http://bit.ly/105rXVf

Have you looked into expanding to the UK market? I don't think you understand how big the market is for colo(u)rful socks here!

We ship everywhere!

You should check out http://www.northbranchmerchants.com/

The design-a-sock widget (link at the top of the page) is actually pretty cool.

Very cool, but the site is pretty much unusable on android chrome.

I like this, I really do, but is there any way to easily offer smaller batches at higher prices per sock? I understand that it is easier to make in bulk.

Interesting idea - however, without some close-up example photos of how those patterns would look on a sock, I wouldn't want to purchase any of those.

Cool! Are you printing and shipping these yourself or do you have a fulfillment partner/service?

tees have an advantage in that they can say something to others. socks don't, usually.

unless your feet are up on the table.

anyway, it's a GREAT idea. hope it is profitable.

yeah that is true but I think that is also an advantage for socks. you will where them more because you don't feel like your advertising for someone else.

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