Online Greek Shop Suggestion?
 

I was curious if anybody has a recommendation on where to go online to purchase custom greek sweatshirts. There's a bunch of online stores that I found through yahoo and google, but wanted to see if anybody on this forum would recommend any particular place.

Do a search. There are already threads on good and bad online companies.

Thanks for the response. I should have done the search first. That was stupid of me. Anyways, from reading the 8 pages I found that there were some companies listed as having good stuff.

Designergreek.com
joetoga.com
greekgiftetc.com
stitchzone.com
sororityspecialties.com
greeknation.com
collegiategreek.com
greekonyou.com
fratrow.com
adgreek.com
customink.com
greekshop1.com


People apparently had a problem(s) with the following:
Thegreekshop.com
greek101.com
greekgear.com
letters4life.com
grafficcow.com


This above summary should help people because I had a hard time scrolling through each posting.


Anybody have any more to add to the list???

As far as where I am going to go to buy, I guess I've a bit more research to do. At least it's been narrowed down. Thanks everyone for all your comments I read

I've heard from numerous people that fratrow.com is fast and good quality. I just ordered something from them the other day, actually.

Definitely recommend them!

I had nothing but problems from connectsports.com

However, I imagine they probably aren't around anymore.

ETA: I looked it up, and they are there, so I'll add what I know:

I ordered a "quilted baseball style jacket" from them. After more then 6 weeks and several phone calls with them, I finally got it. They had charged my credit card twice, and when I opened the package it was a flimsy piece of $hit (NOT quilted, and NOT what they showed on the website) and it was stained with a black tar like substance. The embroidery had random black threads running through it, and the stitching on the cut out letters on the back looked like a three-year-old did it. I called them and said I was NOT happy, it was a piece of junk, and I wanted my money back for BOTH times they charged my credit card. After numerous calls, reports to the BBB and many other efforts (including mailing the jacket back to them) they never refunded EITHER of the times they charged the credit card.

Could you explain the nature of your problems? I liked GreekNation.

I would disagree. I know a lot of people who have used both companies with no problems. I personally love both companies, and have ordered many different things from them.

I've bought from Greek101 recently and damn their stuff is expensive. I was hoping that their quality would match the price. Unfortunately it looked like the worst sweatshirt I ever owned. Their stitching was all loose looking.

I've had pretty good experience using www.getsomegreek.com

Greekshoponline-Warning!!!
 

Stay away from them!! They have closed up their storefront in Terre Haute, IN and I never received my merchandise!!! Their website apparently is still up and running!! Do not buy anything from them!! You will get burned!!

Now that really sucks. Hopefully you can call your credit card to cancel the charge, if you actually paid with credit card. Thanks for the heads up on this company.

Eh....my fraternity uses Greek101 every semester to order large amounts of gift paddles and we have never had a problem.

I've used several different companies when purchasing Greek paraphernalia:

SimplyGreek.com: I ordered a line jacket from them a couple of years ago. It was hell keeping up with them. Their customer service SUCKS, their contact numbers didn't always work and it took almost 4 1/2 months to get the jacket --- but they didn't waste time cashing my check. :mad: On the upside: They do good work -- my jacket was perfect the first time, and it was very heavily customized. However, the experience was such that I would never do business with them, EVER AGAIN. :mad:

AdGreek.com: They also do good work but the customer service is below average. They often take days to respond to emails and you can never get them on the phone --- and you REALLY have to stay on them to make sure your order gets processed. :( On the upside: The workmanship on the jersey I ordered from them was very good. Also, they didn't charge setup costs when I sent them an image I wanted on the jersey.

However, I doubt that I would consider dealing with them in the future; it still wasn't worth the hassle in the end.

The best experience I have had by far was from a company called Stuff4Greeks:

Some of the things I liked about this company and its business practices:

1) Their online ordering process is very user-friendly (where you get to choose the detailing to go on the items your order, such as color, letter and image styles and placement), as well as the rest of their website.

2) This online process starts a series of order email notifications where they send you a proof of how the finished item will look. You can review the proof and decide if any changes are needed and then send an email reply documenting the changes. They will make the changes and resend the proof for you to review again. They seem to allow you to do this as many times as you want (I went through this loop with them at least six times). When you are satisfied that the proof represents how you want the item to look, you send an email reply to them stating that the design is APPROVED; they will not start on any customizations until they receive this email.

3) Afterwards, their customer service department sends you an email stating that the approval is acknowledged and the item is being made and will be sent (you can no longer request changes after this point). I also received follow-up emails concerning the shipping and delivery of my item(s) through UPS. In short, the customer service, at least in my case was, in a word, EXCELLENT. The only downside was that the delivery of the items took at least three weeks longer than expected; however, my order occurred during December so the Christmas season rush probably contributed to that problem.

4) They support a wide variety of fraternities and sororities and other fraternal societies (NPHC, NPC, IFC, Mason/OES, etc.)

5) They are one of the few Greek nalia companies that support the music Greeks (namely KKPsi and TBS).

6) They have a wide collection of images that can be used for personalizing Greek items.

7) In case I forgot to mention it, they do EXCELLENT work. I now own a nice-looking Greek "old-school type" cardigan that represents my org well. I plan to order other items from them in the very near future...

I highly recommend Stuff4Greeks, based on my personal experience. And I'm not even being paid for the plug...:D :cool:

adgreek is really good for locals in ny because you can go to the store (in queens) and they are very helpful. i have also ordered online through them and i didn't have any problems.

All this info I believe is helping people sort and make decisions on where to shop. Although it could be luck of the draw/timing/bad luck...

that's great to hear because I just ordered a jacket from them this week and it is being made now.

I plan on using stuff4greeks whenever I get my slpit APO/APhiA jacket made. I haven't decided 100 percent how the jacket will look, but I know I want the back to say:

THIS
JACKET
VIOLATES
PROTOCOL


:)

I don't have a preference, (or really a need for this stuff) since I'm an alumnus. My spare closet is full of old party shirts which mainly get worn to the gym. Outside of formal and homecoming, I generally don't sport greek apparel.

At any rate, a word of caution. Before using ANY of these companies, make sure to check with your HQ to ensure that the company you're using is actually licensed to use your organization's colors/symbols/letters, etc. Otherwise, you could very well be unknowingly supporting someone stealing from your organization.

LOL!!:p

blkwebman basically said all the sites i was gonna mention...

but the only other site i know from those 4 is http://www.artaddiktion.net but they have only para for NPHC orgs

GREEK MERCHANDISE
 

There is a place in Terre Haute, Indiana, called Sycamore Sun and Spirit; their website is www.greekshoponline.com and is an excellent source for shirts and other gear. They are a smaller family-owned shop, but they have a quick turn-around and do custom designs. They are used to doing shirts and other Greek gear for two local colleges, so they have lots of experience with Greek organizations and know their colors, symbols, etc.

What I like the best is that they have local artists that they work with. So, for example, if you have an idea but no real design, they will take what you give them, have their artist sketch up sample designs, and e-mail them to you. This way--if you are working on a rush shirt during the summer--the final design can be e-mailed to the rush chair and whoever else for final approval. You also won't end up with some design that appears in a catalog that you see coming and going on every campus.

Their prices are VERY good---the more shirts you order, the better the price. And--they will tell you up front about the shirt quality. The group I work with has had their designs used for several years, and the shirts have NEVER faded. It's funny to see seniors wearing their freshman year rush shirts that still look almost new!

They do a great deal of on-line work as well as in their own store. I will say I know a couple groups who have gone on-line with the "big" companies have had errors and cheap shirts and have gone back to Sycamore. They have done many, many of the national groups as well as back-to-school Panhellenic and IFC rush shirts. They also do pledge class shirts or sweats if you use those. I guess what I really appreciate is their quality and perfection. Before anything goes to the screen printer, they have the group take a final look on-line and approve the printing---your "big" companies will not usually do that.

OUT OF ORDER, ROTF.....:D

Kevin,
You brought up a good point. I just checked the stuff4greeks and they aren't greek licensing, but from their design section, they did something for your group Sigma Nu. They did a "Sigma Nu Star". And checking on the greek licensing site, they aren't licensed...

Damn their pricing seems high to me as compared to:
www.stitchzone.com
or
www.greeknation.com

www.villagegreek.com

theyre really helpful and have great customer service

I just ordered (and recieved) a sweatshirt from

http://www.greekspirit.org

I recieved the sweatshirt in a little over a week, and they did a wonderful job! :)

It's been a while...but I think the company I used last was called It's Greek To Me or something like that. I ordered a hat for myself and an ADPi hat for a friend's birthday gift with no problem.

Damn so many companies. At least there is some price competition.

I once purchased a lettered tote from them and they were very efficient in shipping that to my residence. It didn't even take two weeks.

Love it.