News

Happy Friday, everybody — we made it! One week closer to our respective inevitable demises. Thank goodness! 

This week I added one and a half new designs. I know that sounds insane, but it's accurate.

Welcome to our weekly Boredwalk Community series, where we ask Boredwalk fans fun questions! This week we're talking to Christ M. of Louisville KY, who's looking sharp in a Hell is Other People shirt.

1. What's your actual day job and what's your dream day job?

I work at a tech company during the day! But if I had it my way, I'd be captain of the space force...frankly, I think it's still in the cards. (Ed. note: It's seeming more and more plausible by the day...)

2. If you could have any super power what would it be and why?

Whatever powers David Blaine has going on, so I guess masterful deceit and sleepy eyes.

3. Clear up a misconception (about your job, where you are from, some other topic you know a lot about.)

Alright, I'll be the one to clear this up: Look — we're not all barefoot and banging our cousins here where I'm from in Kentucky. Hell, I would argue that we're actually trend-setters. Don't believe me? Hop on PornHub. That's right, I said it. I see all the top searches. "Hooking up with my sister" this, "banging my cousin" that. You're all sick, all of you. We've been keeping it in the family for years. People need to recognize and start giving credit where it's due ;-)

(In the words of George Takei, "oh, myyyyyy!")

4. Where can the rest of the Boredwalk community find you?

Everyone can find me on any social media platform @christmcconnell, and hopefully in a city near you soon!

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Want to be featured next? Shoot us an email at hello@boredwalk.com and we'll make it happen! 

Looking for the best feminist shirts for a loved one? Need cool feminist gifts for a bestie? In the market for cool feminist t shirts or feminist clothing to add to your wardrobe? You have questions and we have answers. So we've put together the ultimate guide to feminist apparel and feminist gifts.

What an embarrassment of riches this week! Not only do we have THREE awesome new designs to suit your sartorial needs — including the one above; scroll further to see the other two — but Meredith and I had the distinct pleasure to be joined on the podcast by actor James Urbaniak! 

Welcome to our weekly Boredwalk Community series, where we ask Boredwalk fans fun questions! This week we're talking to Ray G. of Pittsburgh PA, who's looking sharp in a Hard Pass tee.

Welcome to our weekly Boredwalk Community series, where we ask Boredwalk fans fun questions! This week we're talking to Noa S. of Brooklyn NY, who's looking sharp in a Life is Meaningless tee.

Yikes. What. A. Week.

Folks, I don't want to be a downer, but the good ship Boredwalk has run aground. 

Meredith and I delve into it in detail in this week's podcast episode — which you can (and should!) listen to below, but rest assured we still had the fortitude to put our game faces on, pour ourselves some glasses of cheap wine, and make with the funny!

Strap in, my pretties — this is a doozy of a Tuesday blog post, chock full of Boredwalk goodies!

For our first several years in business we priced our graphic tees at $25 and included "free shipping" with every order, regardless of order value. Although our costs have increased (especially with postage) we have not passed those costs onto you. Sadly, this left us in an increasingly less profitable position and did not enable us to do some things we'd really like to do. And no, I don't mean jaunting off to some beach on the French Riviera or buying our own yacht. What we want is far more modest and more reasonable, and I think (hope?) you'll agree. Basically here's why this price increase is necessary:

1. Shipping

When online stores advertise "free shipping" it's not really free. Shocker, I know; I'll wait here while you pick yourself up off your fainting couch. What they really mean is the cost of shipping is rolled into the product price. Shipping still costs money and those costs have to be paid for somehow.

We mostly ship via USPS and USPS has increased the cost of shipping every year since we've been in business. This means we've been making less money on orders every year since our prices stayed the same. If you really want something to be mad about, I think you should know that part of the rate increases from USPS are because American consumers, who buy postage to mail things around the U.S. and internationally, are subsidizing rock bottom shipping for Chinese merchants. To add insult to injury, Chinese merchants are the largest sellers of counterfeit goods on the internet. So yeah, my shipping costs are going up so people in China can steal my art and sell cheap, ugly, low-quality, and even dangerous knock-offs of my work. I hate it, you hate it, but this is the world we live in. Write your member of Congress if you think this is bullshirt!

via GIPHY

While you're getting mad at people who aren't me, let's have a wag of the finger at everyone who gives us invalid shipping addresses. We get packages returned to us every day because the shipping address provided on the order wasn't valid, or it was an old address that was lived at two or three moves ago, or because people only empty their mailboxes once a month and USPS got sick of cramming stuff in and ended up returning the older mail to the senders. That causes us to incur more shipping costs when we have to re-ship those packages — again, also on our dime. Booooo!

2. Better Customer Experience

We sell sized items, and although we try our darndest to help everyone pick the correct size with detailed sizing charts and fit guides on each product page and all over the site, the number one reason we get returns/exchanges is because of issues related to fit. Although mailing a return or exchange back isn't wildly expensive, it's still inconvenient and costs a few bucks. To put an end to this headache we're introducing FREE exchanges. To defray the cost of what can amount to the cost of THREE separate shipping labels on a single order, prices must go up.

If you order a single shirt and exchange it for another size and we cover the cost of shipping you the original item, shipping the original item back to us, AND shipping the new size to you, it ends up costing us around $11 in postage for all that shipping! At a $25 price point we just can't do it.

3. Better Quality of Life for the Boredwalk Team

We want our customer service crew to be able to make customers happy. We believe offering free exchanges will make this easier for them. We hate when customers yell at the crew; it makes them sad. Better customer experience = better team experience.

Beyond that, we want the budget to offer more benefits and higher wages to our whole company. Everyone says they want to live in a world where people earn living wages and get paid healthcare and paid time off. This means spending a few extra bucks on our products so we have the budget to do that. If you want to support an ethical business that prioritizes delivering a great customer experience and living wages, shop with us.

via GIPHY

 

In Summation:

We have raised prices slightly, but the modest price hike will create a better customer experience and better wages/benefits for our team. Even with this price hike our tees are still cheaper than dinner out for two, a movie date for two, or happy hour drinks in most metro areas. Unlike movies, dinner, or drinks — which are only good for a few hours of fun — our shirts are good for years of fun. If you wore your Boredwalk tee once per week for two years that's less than 27 cents per wear, which is a pretty damn good value if you ask us. Plus you get the benefit of supporting better American wages and independent artists creating unique graphics you can't get elsewhere. (Unless you're getting them from counterfeiters, but please don't. The finished product won't be of the same quality and it's just a shitty thing to do. Support artists, not crooks!)

If our modest price hike is enough to put you off of shopping with us we'll be sad to see you go, but we believe most of our customers are the kind of people who can understand the reasons for this decision and still get behind supporting what we're doing. Whether you stick around or bid us farewell for slightly cheaper pastures, we've appreciated your support up to this point!

This isn't meant to be a woe-is-us, life-is-hard, everybody-come-gaze-at-my-navel-with-me pity party. It's a warning and a gentle reminder that no matter what you're doing with your life — whether it's designing graphic apparel, writing horror fiction, writing poetry, digging ditches, flipping burgers, ringing up customers in a checkout line, cleaning houses, or coding the next big app — what you do has merit and should be afforded the same level of commitment, focus, and perseverance as any endeavor. Even on the (many, many) days when we'd just rather lay around in bed, prance in a meadow of wildflowers, or whatever it is we all wish we were doing instead of the hard work that, while grueling, instills in each of us a sense of purpose and value.

Welcome to our weekly Boredwalk Community series, where we ask Boredwalk fans fun questions! This week we're talking to Calla J. of Minnesota, who's looking sharp (and hangry!) in her Hell Is Other People v-neck tee! Before you start reading, scroll down and start rocking out to our Springtime Vibes Spotify playlist!