A petition has been floating around the Internet for the past few weeks seeking signatures to convince custom t-shirt printing company Spreadshirt to accept Bitcoin payments.
The creator(s) of the petition have even gone so far as to recently hire twin models to, um, raise awareness about this specific issue.
The petition at the time of writing has just 56 of the 1500 signatures it seeks.
Spreadshirt
According to the petition itself, this all came about as a result of comments from Spreadshirt CEO Philie Rooke:
“I receive hundreds of requests a month from consumers and our ecommerce platform sellers wanting Amazon checkout and payment,” Rooke commented on InternetRetailing.net in March.
“We have yet to have one for Bitcoin. If Bitcoin is not mass market, then it will be of little use to ecommerce retailers and platforms. The Internet is a funny place however, where new ideas do catch on. My job therefore is to try and cover as many of our customers’ needs as possible, so if enough people want to use either Bitcoin we will adapt and find ways of taking payments!”
The petition’s author retorts:
“We believe Bitcoin is the future of digital currency. We would like to request as a community and as consumers for Spreadshirt to implement Bitcoin as a payment option.
“As an international online retailer operating in 17 countries we feel you have nothing to lose but only gain by granting our request.”
Why Is This So Important to Someone?
Either an enthusiastic Bitcoin user has gone shirtless for more than a month now, or someone is trying to drum up some viral interest.
It seems the latter is more likely: Just a little bit of playing connect-the-dots led this reporter to the Facebook page for Bitcoin Tees, which first promoted the petition back in mid-April.
Our research team reached out to the creator of the petition, who wished to remain anonymous, for commentary:
Our research team reached out to the creator of the petition, who wished to remain anonymous, for commentary:
I have informed the press team of Spreadshirt that I’m behind the petition and requested an official statement. No response yet unfortunately. I will update petition when and if they reply.
I appreciate some people will ask why Spreadshirt and I assume the cynical understandably will accuse me of trying to capitalise on the petition as I have an invested interest as I am one of the 72,000 sellers using their platform to sell designs through their service.
The reality behind the petition is simple. I could see there was demand.
I originally wanted to create a [t-shirt] design just for myself, and I found Spreadshirt’s service was best suited for a number of factors — product range, quality items, reputation, competitive prices, excellent printing techniques and good shipping rates, etc.
My original aim was to increase Bitcoin’s presence in the public space. Not start a business. I noticed I got a good reaction from the public and people started to ask me questions about my shirt. One thing lead to another, people kept requesting different products like hoodies, women’s range, golf shirts, phone cases, etc., and eventually it grew into a full-blown store.
It still surprises me that some people do not know what Bitcoin is. As I stated previously my objective was to increase public awareness. So although the current payment options not including Bitcoin is not ideal at this moment in time, the message and purpose of the store still holds true.
It would be easy for me to dismiss Spreadshirt. But I believe in Bitcoin and what it represents, so instead of highlighting the problems and pointing fingers, I’m taking action and trying my best to get the solution we all want for the community.
I have been an active member of the Bitcoin community for a quite some time now. I believe in truth and transparency. So if you are passionate about Bitcoin like I am and believe in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Please get behind this petition and show your support.: www.ipetitions.com/petition/philip-rooke-ceo-spreadshirt-please-add-bitcoin
I know some will only want to support the Bitcoin ecosystem, which I fully understand and support. However, the Bitcoin ecosystem will not grow if we choose to just isolate businesses. We need to do the very opposite and encourage companies to adopt Bitcoin. I’m passionate about Bitcoin and what it represents. I feel t-shirts are the perfect form of free advertising to the public and businesses displaying how strong the community is.