Teespring Community Forum Guidelines
Welcome to the Teespring Forums! We hope you’ll visit and post often!
In Announcements you’ll find the latest Teespring news and updates affecting Teespring Creators. You’re able to click on each announcement and post any questions you might have regarding the announcement.
What belongs in Discussion? Discussion is a place to get answers from the community and Teespring Team. Post here when you are looking for an objective or definitive answer, advice or interested in starting a debate.
Use the Community section of the forum to discuss meetups, look for people interested in teaming up, share suggestions on how to improve Teespring, chat about other topics, and connect with the community.
What about bugs? To report a bug please contact [email protected]; this is the fastest way to resolve bug related issues.
Forums Policies
- Above all: treat one another with respect. Remember, there is a real person behind each name.
- Don’t disparage a specific member, store, item, or category of product (identified either by name or with detailed hints) with unconstructive, negative posts.
- Offering helpful, constructive criticism or voicing a dissenting opinion is okay, but don’t be mean or disrespectful when delivering your message.
- Harassing, insulting, bullying, or abusing other members is not allowed. No trolling or baiting.
- The community spaces are public. Use discretion when discussing transaction and/or reviews, and don’t disclose private details such as usernames, shop names, real names, email addresses, etc. You can always contact the Creator Support team for help via [email protected].
- Don’t publicly post another person’s private information without their explicit consent (for example: phone numbers, addresses, full names, or the content of private email, Conversations or letters).
- Don’t use the Forums to facilitate or arrange any sort of auction or transaction.
- Solicitation for direct donations or fundraising is not allowed in the Forums.
- You may not use an undisclosed alternate account (also called a “sock puppet”) in the community spaces.
- Content posted in community spaces must not promote, support or glorify hatred toward or otherwise demean people based upon: race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, disability, or sexual orientation. You must not promote or encourage others to engage in violence or illegal activity.
- Community spaces on Teespring are not intended for people under the age of 18. If your account involves a person under the age of 18, your account may not utilize the community features.
- Unsolicited promotion or advertisement from representatives or affiliates of outside services, websites or other products is not allowed.
- Promotional content isn’t appropriate for the Forums. Don’t post to promote your own or others’ store, products, coupon codes, blog, social media channels, etc.
- Consider carefully what information you post in the Forums. In general, the Forums serve as a public record. In certain circumstances at Teespring’s sole discretion (for example: if a member insults another member), Teespring may hide content from the Forums.
- The actions of Forum Moderators are not up for public discussion. If you have a question or concern about a Moderator’s action, please contact [email protected].
Teespring reserves the right to remove or archive Forum threads for any reason. Threads may be moved to a more appropriate section without notice. Violating Forums Guidelines may result in temporary or permanent suspension of community privileges and/or account termination.
Express yourself!
The Teespring Community is made of intelligent, charismatic, and funny people. Every person brings a different perspective and voice. Variety’s the spice of life, as they say. We cherish this diversity, but with so many voices, there may not always be harmony.
There are many avenues for sharing your thoughts. The Forums are just one of them, but they’re a common area you share with all of us.
If you choose to express your ideas here, you must follow a few guidelines.
We reserve the right to hide what isn’t appropriate. This might include, but it’s not limited to, posts that are:
- snarky, sarcastic and mean, negative for the sake of negativity
- disrespectful
- promotional
- critical without being constructive
- posted from a sock puppet account
- referring to moderator actions or matters between a member and Teespring
Every member is responsible for what they post in the Forums, and we don’t hide content by request.
Positivi(tee) and Pride
There is already plenty of negativity in the world. The Teespring Community is a positive force. Be part of that power.
Does your post add value? Is it kind? Does it come from a good place?
What you say represents your business, your craft, or you as a person. Be proud of what you post. Once you post, everyone, not just Teespring members, can see it.
Two weeks from now, two years from now, will you be proud of what you said?
Respect
You deserve respect. So does everyone else. You wouldn’t tolerate someone being disrespectful to you. We don’t tolerate it either.
Insulting someone else doesn’t make them look bad. If you bully, harass, or insult another member, you’re disrespecting not only them but the space we all share.
We are a global community, and we are proud of that. Members come from a myriad of backgrounds, and readers can’t hear your tone of voice. Pause. Take time to read over and revise your post. This might help you get your point across more clearly and respectfully.
Never promote or glorify hatred, violence, or illegal activities.
Detrimental comments based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, gender identity, disability, or sexual orientation are not OK.
Don’t be sarcastic and mean. Don’t bully, harass, or bait other members into breaking Teespring’s rules.
Don’t threaten anyone or anything. For example, don’t say that you’re going to damage a person or property, virtually or in the real world. If you are just being facetious, make sure it’s abundantly clear that you are not, in the slightest, serious.
Ideas, Suggestions, and Criticism
Criticism and sharing ideas can be super productive. Help someone be a better seller. Help Teespring improve the site.
Teespring welcomes your suggestions about the site, as long as it’s constructive. We’ve used many great ideas from members.
Good criticism is constructive and well intentioned.
Bad criticism, criticizing without being helpful, is just rude.
Getting Personal
When offering an opinion, you may disagree. Debate is healthy and makes for good discussion, and it often leads to the discovery of new ideas.
Don’t make it personal. Separate the idea from the person behind the idea. In other words, critique a shop, not the seller. Give feedback about an Teespring feature, but don’t criticize the folks who built it.
Avoid posting when…
- You’re getting angry.
- You’re typing with that “now I’m going to tell them” feeling.
- You will feel vindicated after posting.
- You’re using sarcasm or snark to deliver your message.
Seeking and Giving Advice
You’re welcome to ask for a critique of your shop to get advice from the community.
If you share advice with someone who asked for help, be…
- Patient. There’s a lot to learn!
- Compassionate. We all make mistakes!
- Understanding. When you started out, did you feel a little overwhelmed or lost? Others may feel that way, too!
- Constructive. Every point is a chance to learn and grow!
- Sensitive. Some suggestions are easier to hear if they’re delivered with kindness!
By doing this, you’re taking part in a truly special aspect of the Teespring Community–using what you’ve learned to help others grow. Thank you!
To better explain a question or answer, it’s OK to link to a store or product page. Just be mindful of the rules about promotions, described below.
If you want to help a seller who hasn’t asked for a critique, share your advice with them via commenting. A general post in the Forums is not an open invitation to criticize a store, product, or business practice.
Experienced sellers can often look at a shop and quickly identify potential problems, but don’t use the Forums to tell someone they’re breaking laws or Teespring’s marketplace policies. If necessary, flag the shop for review by clicking “Report a campaign” on a product page.
Helping new members understand how the Forums policies work is a nice thing to do. Make them feel thankful for your help, and not ashamed about their post. Don’t be rude to someone who broke a community policy, even if you think they did it on purpose! You can always simply flag the post, and a moderator will review it.
Promotion
The Teespring Forums are not a channel for promotional content.
We hope you’ll share items and shops you love and great experiences you’ve had. However, don’t use this as an opportunity just to talk yourself up.
Don’t promote your store or products, teams, coupon codes, sales, etc. Don’t solicit entries for giveaways and similar promotions, don’t link to your blog, social media channels, website, etc.
If you’ve had a great experience with a seller, by all means let everyone know! Don’t forget to tell us what made the experience special, so other sellers can learn from it.
If you have reached a milestone as an Teespring seller, let us celebrate with you! All the better if you tell other sellers how you did it, so they can learn from your success.
A moderator may close any thread, whether or not it contains links, at their own discretion and without notice, as needed to keep the Forums organized and relevant content easily accessible to all.
Talking About Transactions
Business transactions and the communication that goes along with them are private, and the Forums are a public space, readable not only by Teespring members but by everyone. Consider that discussing a private matter in a public space may not be a good idea. Everyone can see your posts–sellers and potential buyers, too.
If you need help with a private matter, you can always contact Creator Support via [email protected]
It’s never OK to use the Forums to vent about someone, warn others about a buyer or seller, disparage specific members, shops, Admin or Teespring.
Sock Puppetry
An account that serves to hide your identity is a sock puppet account. Don’t be a sock!
Moderator Actions
Moderators ensure the Forums are a welcoming place for all. They help keep the Forums organized and constructive, while encouraging great conversation. They ensure that members understand and follow our policies and guidelines.
Moderators may take certain actions like ending a discussion thread, or even suspending someone’s posting privileges. They may move, hide, or consolidate content without notice, at their own discretion, as needed to keep the Forums organized and helpful for everyone.
Actions taken by moderators are not up for public discussion; if you have questions, disagree with, or want to discuss moderation actions, we’ll be happy to do that via email.