PringOO March 20, 2008
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Photos & DIY content , trackbackOne of India’s own entry to Do-It-Yourself Content business. PringOO lets users create and sell their own designs on various mediums (T-shirts, mugs, teddy bears, coasters, bags, mousepads etc.).
The concept is tried and tested for success. The US analogs like CafePress, CustomInk, Zazzle etc. were founded in late 90’s. (CafePress is a popular one- Seth Godin, a leading business author, is a fan too. Another interesting factoid about CafePress is that it was co-founded by Maheesh Jain). The concept has since branched out into niche business models like Etsy and Threadless.
PringOO folks have designed the site well- navigation is easy and there are plenty of ‘how-to’ and FAQ help pages. Of course, I have a soft corner for startups that are astute enough to put up a ‘beta’ sign and ‘Report Bug’ link. In terms of content, they are getting traction. Not a wide selection, but significant considering they are pretty new to the game (launch date was 7th December 2008). Some good associated functionality like forum, seller blog, store list, design contest are provided but the differentiator is the with ‘free shipping‘ service. Overall, I think this would be a compelling reason for the creative Indians to showcase their design talent and actually make money in the process (PringOO shares royalty back with creator for every item sold).
Edit: Thanks to Aditya’s comment, I stand corrected. Seems like there are more entries to the DIY content space (Myntra, DilSeBol) and ‘free shipping’ is a service offered by them too. He gave more detail about ‘
free shipping’ process too- seems like the default is Indian Postal Service and you need to pay extra 
for using a courier service.
Further Edit: PringOO founder Varun defends his site with some counter-arguments in his comment below. Seems like the jury is still out.
Comments»
Guess you missed out http://www.myntra.com and http://www.dilsebol.com. These two websites were launched in mid 2007 and are doing much better than Pringoo. Free shipping is not a differentiator at all. They actually tell you that you need to pay 45 rupees extra if you want the item to be shipped by courier. Otherwise they ship the item through India Post, which may or may not reach you at all!!
Zazzle.com is another US based site you failed to mention. They are continuously innovating with new products and technologies and may take over cafepress soon.
Hi Pallav:
This is Varun from pringOO.com. Thanks for the post and I do appreciate you took time to analyze pringOO. However I would like to list few things which can speak for pringOO and how it is different and better than any other in Do-It-Yourself business in India.
Note: I did not find “FREE SHIPPING” written anywhere at myntra or dilsebol. Please do not ignore Tax part that is 4 to 12.5% in India.
How pringOO stands out (please correct me if you find myntra or dilsebol have followings and I would be more than happy to accept it
100% money back guarantee, if customer is not satisfied in 2 working days from the date of delivery. No question will be asked, however feedback will be appreciated to improve the service. (I hope this can give you an idea that how serious we are about products quality and services)
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Designs are independent of product that means you create design once and that can be printed on any available products. So if you ever wish a design which has originally been created for coffee mug and want to get printed on t-shirt or any other merchandise then you can do that at pringOO.
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Very competitive price, our prices are inclusive of all charges, no surprise for customer at the time of checkout (Almost all e-commerce sites add VAT and shipping charges). Our free shipping is through Indian Postal department. For expedite shipping, courier charges applied. Even after adding courier charge, our price is lower than others. And I would like to know any customer who has opted free shipping and who did not receive it through Indian postal REGISTERED shipping. We are proud to say that we never have such experience and if it ever happens in future then we will take care of it promptly. By the way items get lost in courier too isn’t it, yes probability is less.
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International shipping - anywhere in the world.
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We also offer ‘cash on delivery’ as payment/shipping method in India. Which helps anybody who does not either have credit card or not comfortable using it online. Please remember many students in India do not have credit card .
COD payment option can also give you an idea that why do we have this. We have a big risk that customer may not accept item at the time of delivery. But we strongly believe in our product quality and services and because of that we continue having COD as payment option and our customers have never returned any item.
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We are first and only one in India to use eco-friendly color for on-demand printing using world class Industrial Japanese printer. Which gives better color vibrancy and wash ability.
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Do you know, at pringOO it is in Designer’s wish how much royalty he wants (up to 15%) to get on each sell of his/her design. That way even a beginner designer can sell their design by keeping low margin or similarly a design guru can earn more money by keeping their royalty high. So this is a freedom for any designer to judge their creativity them self and choose royalty. It gives an opportunity for beginner to learn the market.
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At pringOO.com, if customer liked any existing designs (created by any designer) but want to add his/her own message on it then s/he can do it. It gives extra customization feature to customer to further personalize any designer’s design for his/her own use. For example, you liked a birthday design created by a designer, but you may like to add your personal message on top of it , something like, “Happy birthday my lovely daughter”. Then pringOO provides you such option.
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Aditya wrote “These two websites were launched in mid 2007 and are doing much better than Pringoo.”. It would be nice if any reference can be provided for it.
pringOO started on 15th Dec 2007, but operation started in Jan 2008 only. And we are just 3 months old now and I think it would not be correct comparison in terms of numbers of designs on site. Other two sites have been in market for more than 11 months.
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Site navigation and design lab user-friendliness speak for itself.
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We have various styles of t-shirts, not just one boring basic t-shirt.
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…. just a beginning ….
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