good idea... but who votes and doesn't buy shirts?

I was registered on the site for quite a while before I bought a shirt and I hardly visited for about a year. I signed up originally to vote on a friend's design after he told me about it.



I'm not sure about placing that kind of limitation. There may be people subbing in the hopes of winning just so that they can afford to buy tees.

Why stop there with your restrictions, Lets make it so French people can vote.



this blog is racist!!!!!

It also goes against the idea of "community" by adding a level of exclusivity.

I doubt that trolls have nearly as much of an effect as naïve voters.

Go back to your Country Club where all acceptable society is!

I like the chaos that is the threadless voting system - I think tinkering would wreck it

I have a feeling that a lot of people vote that don't buy shirts. If you think about it, how much of a restriction is it really? I think quite a few people, possibly the majority, signed up for this site to buy shirts first, and decided to participate in the community later on.



If anything, I think this strengthens the "community." I'm not saying the whole site should be closed off to non-shirt-buyers, just the actual voting. Anybody would still be able to sign up and participate in the blogs and critiques, and would still be able to leave comments for submissions.



Anyway, it's just an idea.

Most people I know that have found their way to threadless have done so because they've been asked by me or others to either vote on designs or submit designs. All of my friends are designers/artists.



I'll bet that much of the growth of threadless comes from the viral effect of submitters drumming up votes among friends and family. Not all of those people are going to come to threadless and immediately buy, but they're introduced to the site, are engaged by the ability to participate in a community, develop loyalty because of the community, and then end up buying t-shirts, usually repeatedly. This is the key to Threadless' staggering success.



New visitors only going to buy if a design is in stock that they like. If they're barred from participating just because none of the currently available designs appeal to them, they're less likely to return. Instead, as the system currently works, if they don't see a design that they like, they can vote on designs that they do like. If they ticked a design as "I'd buy it" and it gets printed, then behold: a sale. If Threadless hadn't let them vote on that design (or even see it, since why would you look at designs you can't vote on?), they'd be short one sale.



In my case, when I first came to threadless the tees I wanted were sold out. It was a while before a new design/reprint came along that I wanted. If it wasn't for the interest of spectating on and participating in the competition, I wouldn't revisit nearly as often as I do, and I would have missed out on buying some tees.

BTW, you don't need a threadless account to buy tees.

Too true - I have been buying shirts for over a year but only signed up for account in december

racist!

I came for the voting, I stayed for catdogpigduck's racist remarks.

Yeah, actually, I know a few of my friends who came to Threadless on my invitation buy tees but couldn't be arsed to vote. It's a time-consuming process that requires looking at a lot of lousy design.



But as long as the system ain't broke for Threadless, I doubt they'll do anything to change it.

I'm not a racist! Some of my best friends are races!



Anyway, I guess you all have a point. While I don't think the Threadless system is "broke," I do think there are signs that something could be done to improve it. And as the site grows in popularity, "quality control" on the voter level will be tougher keep up, and any changes that Threadless may or may not make would be easier to implement sooner rather than later. Sometimes it's too late to make a change if you simply wait till a problem arises.



How about this: instead of a restriction, using a "grading" policy instead. Therefore, anyone can sign up and vote, but votes from those who have made a purchase or whatever will count slightly more. For instance, Joe Schmo off the street can sign up and vote and it will count normally (1 vote), whereas a vote by Johnny Threadless could count as 1.5 votes. Or something like that. That way, the community is still completely open, and as far as Threadless is concerned, sales will at worst remain steady, but might likely increase.



Sure, there are naive voters even among members who buy lots of shirts, but I definitely think that those who have something invested in the process generally vote more intelligently.

Oh, speaking of voting by the way, am I the only one that thinks the critique section should have the same 1-$5 scheme as the regular submission voting? The critique section is great for feedback (comments), but the voting choices are vague and unhelpful. I think seeing a numerical voting average would be much more useful.

Well, what about the person who likes the designs on threadless, but not quite enough to buy one. And then they see a sub they love, and would definitely buy if it were available, but they can't vote?



I think it may be a bigger problem that people make multiple accounts to vote on things more than once.

It's a good idea, but part of the voting process is to provide the illusion of participation, and once people get involved they are more likely to buy shirts. So it's actually a marketing strategy to let people vote.

You have a point about the multiple accounts thing, but check out my other post above about the possibility of "grading," which would actually go a long way towards alleviating that problem. It wouldn't restrict anyone from voting, and would lessen the effects of multiple accounts. That is, unless someone bought a shirt with each account. Either way, Threadless wins.



By the way, the variable in the grading doesn't have to be a purchase either. That was just a suggestion off the top of my head. Better possibilities might be how long the person has been a member, how many submissions they've scored, etc.