https://www.reddit.com/r/httyd/comments/cl3el6/psa_reminder_do_not_buy_tshirts_linked_in_comments/
created by NyteMyre on 02/08/2019 at 12:23 UTC*
362 upvotes, 13 top-level comments (showing 13)
With a serious increase of T-shirt scam posts made in this subreddit the last month, i thought it's wise to repeat my PSA from 3 months ago.
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There are exceptions of course. It's certainly possible that someone bought a shirt online and wants to share it here and link to a legit store. But be discrete. 99% of the time, a "source" linked is a scam website that will provide low quality prints, or in worse case not deliver anything or even use a phishing paying page.
They also might respond to legit posts of shirts by legit users. See an example here[1].
1: https://i.imgur.com/GH8SP17.png
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For a few reasons:
1. The art that's printed on these shirts is **STOLEN art**[2]. Sometimes the artist sells T-shirts themselves (i.e. Redbubble.com) and these guy sell them illegally and the original artist does NOT get any money from these sales.
2. Because it's stolen art, they don't have the original image files, which leads to a **low-quality print[3]**. In some cases, there's even still a watermark visible on the product page
3. There's **no guarantee** that you will even receive a T-shirt
4. Some sites even use fake pay-pages (i.e. phising Paypal) to **steal your login credentials or creditcard** info.
5. Various of these sites have **abuse reports registered**[4]
6. Dozens of **theft-reports[5]** can be found online when searching on their phone-number (855-999-7840[6])
7. If you mail their support e-mail address, you will get an "Undelivered" notification, indicating the the e-mail does not exist
2: https://twitter.com/chrone_co/status/1108380727391866885
3: https://i.imgur.com/JpVF5tg.jpg
4: https://ip-46.com/216.239.36.21
5: https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/customteesales.com
6: https://www.google.com/search?q=855-999-7840
These T-shirt scammers work in a very recognizable way:
Various examples can be seen here[8]
7: https://imgur.com/gallery/5MuEk0E
8: https://i.imgur.com/9ai5ibQ.png
GearLaunch is an E-Commerce platform website that allows users to easily set up a merchandise shop. This means that it's very much possible to find an actual legit GearLaunch website by say a Twitch streamer or Youtuber that wants to sell some of his merch. But the scammers make use of the fact these websites are simple to create to create a new name once their old site gets to many negative attention. Although GearLaunch themselves are *not* the scammers, they don't actually do anything about it.
I personally had no issues with Redbubble and Qwertee where i bought these[9] amazing[10] shirts[11]. Also, Teepublic seems legit and is owned by Redbubble. But if you know another legit shop, add it in the comments
9: https://www.reddit.com/r/httyd/comments/beyljq/and_my_third_httyd_tshirt_is_a_fact/
10: https://www.reddit.com/r/httyd/comments/9qfdx3/thanks_unightfurytoni_now_i_got_two_httyd_shirts/
11: https://www.reddit.com/r/httyd/comments/9naj67/im_usually_someone_that_doesnt_wear_franchise/
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Additional info T-shirt spam on /r/modguide
Comment by Usmarine33 at 02/08/2019 at 13:16 UTC
10 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Thanks for putting this up and raising awareness!
Comment by [deleted] at 02/08/2019 at 14:19 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Also, another thing to be aware of, are the posts that are like "How to train your dragon 3 movie 33% off!" for example, then they link a twitter post which has a amazon affiliate link. These are misleading, as they're never on discount, and the people/person posting them is just trying to make money. Their reddit post history is always just spam of affiliate links. It's not so much a scam than it is misleading and annoying.
Comment by chiefhiccupofberk at 03/08/2019 at 15:41 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I’m new to Reddit and I had no idea! I probably wouldn’t have tried to buy a shirt anyway since I’m poor but thank you for spreading awareness!
Comment by enfrozt at 01/12/2019 at 17:45 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Is there a list of spam websites we can add to automod?
Comment by TotesMessenger at 04/12/2019 at 03:55 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I'm a bot, *bleep*, *bloop*. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:
*^(If you follow any of the above links, please respect the rules of reddit and don't vote in the other threads.) ^(Info[2] ^/ ^Contact[3])*
3: /message/compose?to=/r/TotesMessenger
Comment by Jaywalk66 at 05/12/2019 at 14:26 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I had something similar happen on a different sub. I showed a pic of a new shirt and this dude popped up with a link like that saying he made it. Funny thing is it was from my personal threadless shop so I knew it was my design. He kept commenting then deleting when I hit him up about it.
Comment by Davixxa at 17/12/2019 at 12:25 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Welp. /u/NyteMyre. You might want to update this post as well. They've gotten more advanced.
There's this one post that's a legitimate T-Shirt post made by a user, but a T-Shirt bot commented with a similar T-Shirt in the comments, replying to another user, legitimately expressing interest to OP's T-Shirt.
Comment by bkbk21 at 19/12/2019 at 19:33 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I want this on a shirt
Comment by [deleted] at 27/12/2019 at 11:49 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I’ve had it recently go like this:
Where do I get one
Bot posts link
User says “thanks”
You brought up the point that scammers could be the ones making the “where do I get this” comments. Is it a mistake to warn the person, as they’re probably a scammer alt?
Comment by AmbitiousAttitudes at 04/01/2020 at 14:21 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Any idea how Qwertee pays the actual artist? Seems like that site uses other people's designs but doesn't give much credit to the designer. My son is working to sell t-shirts with his designs so I'm trying to help him find a few good places. Good to know about GearLaunch- thanks for that.
Comment by srgtrex99 at 25/01/2020 at 11:30 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Teespring is another legitimate website that I've seen artists sell their shirts on.
Comment by Informal-Homework-25 at 01/02/2023 at 18:38 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I ordered a jacket and it took a month to arrive. It shipped from China. Needless to say, the quality is inferior and the color is different from the website. I asked for the adress to return it and a doubtful email address answered back asking all kinds of questions but no an adress to return to. I know I am not getting my money back but at least I can prevent someone else from losing money.
Comment by Jessy7217 at 02/12/2023 at 03:41 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Ah. Just like this one. GearLaunch
I knew I was right to suspect it.
