Interview: Prinstant Replays on Multiple Jobs, Balance, Traffic, and Sports

We have used Shopify for 2+ years, and have always enjoyed it. The interface and order fulfillment process is clean and easy. The updates have been continuous and the app options are endless.

I compared two free and cheaper platforms. They didn’t have the functionality I was looking for. The combination of interface / ease + originally they connected to Stripe, which I had an account, and I knew I could grow into it as the shop grew. With the others, I didn’t feel I could.

I like to be efficient. e-commerce is all about finding ways to do things faster, cheaper, and easier. The fact that I can run a profitable business out of my home, with no office space, employees, or start-up costs is pretty phenomenal.

Mostly through people sharing the plays they love on social media outlets. I get a lot of help from blogs that enjoy the content as well. Just a month after I started, I began seeing a lot of traffic from Sports Illustrated. I traced the traffic and realized I had been placed on their 2012 Holiday Gift Guide! Seems like things like this have happened fairly often since we started up, and we feel extremely blessed by that.

We have also done several deal sites like JackThreads, Huckberry and Fab. We have also seen great traffic from relationships with awesome blogs like Uncrate, Cool Material and Gear Patrol. These relationships work well for both ends. They get traffic from people sharing posts, and we get sales! (hopefully)

A developer at the software company I work for full time knew about this project I was working on, and somehow came across a blog post about Printful in the very early stages. The concept clicked immediately and I knew I would be interested. At first, when the Shopify App wasn’t available, I was planning to have a developer connect my shop to the API, but instead I waited for the App, and I think I connected the first day it was available.

The game-changer with Printful is this – I pay no expenses UNTIL I am paid for a product. I was buying 10-15 posters, or 60-75 shirts at a time, then hoping to make up those costs over a long period of time. Now with Printful, I get paid $xx, then I pay $x for my product. I never am at a loss.

Just get it up and running. People think, strategize, and plan too much these days! Once you have your idea, get it mocked up, get it out there and see if people respond. If they do, figure out a way to get them their product. If they don’t, take it down with little money lost. I continue to see people so confident in their product that they buy bulk amounts of it, place it online and can’t sell it!

I recommend starting your shop with very clear messaging – letting the buyer know that your product will ship in 2-3 weeks. This will give you time to get products ordered, and for you to work out the kinks in starting a business. Just don’t assume you have to have it all set and ready – this isn’t the same as a brick and mortar shop, so take advantage of it.

Thanks to Hunter for taking the time to talk to us!

Bonus!
Prinstant Replays does a great job at taking advantage of everything technology has to offer. One perfect example is by using their Google Analytics stats. They identified that people were using searching “1 second shirt”, and were being re-directed to the Prinstant Replays page. To take advantag of these people who are obviously looking for a specific shirt, they went and created one, so that these people could buy what they’re looking for. That’s what we call listening to your audience.