NikeTalk New Era Fitted Cap Release Thread

[celticspride34]

What's the minimum number of hats you'd have to order?...

I'd happily pay a high premium, up to $100 for a hat... Especially knowing the no money is being made on these...

 

[Methodical Management]

What's the minimum number of hats you'd have to order?...

I'd happily pay a high premium, up to $100 for a hat... Especially knowing the no money is being made on these...

144, I believe, but without a retail partner the only product we'd consider would be snapbacks made available via promotions.  Giving away a snapback to someone who donates $100 to a group fundraiser would cost us a significant amount of money, but there would be a clear net gain for charity and we don't have to deal with chargeback issues or any other nonsense.  The donation would be non-refundable, weeding out the frauds, and I'd spring for sig confirmation if necessary on the shipping.  

For their part, Cap City has expressed willingness to help us order such a product at their cost - but they will not be distributing them.  That would fall to our staff.  

 

[heliumclinton]

So, in essence, we're being faulted for our failure to impose a purchase requirement that is impossible, unfair, and unlikely to actually prevent the incidence of fraud.  

No, we (the consumers) are being faulted for a situation that you clearly just stated is impossible to prevent.

I'm over it though like I said can't wait for more charity opportunities

 

[Methodical Management]

No, we (the consumers) are being faulted for a situation that you clearly just stated is impossible to prevent.

And what's your alternative?  

Remember, part of the reason Cap City never wants to do this again is because of all the calls and complaints they received.  They didn't exactly feel appreciated for all the effort they put into producing and selling this product for charity.  I can't say I blame them.  

The sense of entitlement some people seem to have about this is a poor motivator, to put it kindly.  

"When are we getting it?"  "When are we getting it?"  "When are we getting it?"

"Here it is.  We made twice as many as last time and all the proceeds will go to a great cause."

"Why didn't you make more?"  "Why can't you guarantee that I'll get one?"  "Why do I have to pay for shipping?"  

 

 

[heliumclinton]

Happy to hear about the innocent inmate being helped off death row that's dope

One of my best friends from middle school got sentenced to life with a chance of parole in Virginia Commonwealth for a gun charge one of the hardest states

to get released from prison in

 

[DonRafa]

Methodical Management thanks for the update. Sad to hear that we may never see another NT fitted, but definitely understandable. Hopefully these charge backs get resolved and what was originally intended can be donated

 

[d rodz]

Find another hat company to make some. You can then place an ad here for a buy in. Take the payment up front. When they are done, you can then show proof that you received them before you ship them to the NTers that purchased one them. The hats should only be available for purchase on NT. Do not let another company handle any sales. I've been part of custom hat buy ins that have gone smoothly. The only complaints that I've seen were people commenting that they wish they had gotten in the hat buy in. Didn't hear of any charge backs in all the hat buy ins that I've been in.

 

[Bert.]

What's the minimum number of hats you'd have to order?...


I'd happily pay a high premium, up to $100 for a hat... Especially knowing the no money is being made on these...

144, I believe, but without a retail partner the only product we'd consider would be snapbacks made available via promotions.  Giving away a snapback to someone who donates $100 to a group fundraiser would cost us a significant amount of money, but there would be a clear net gain for charity and we don't have to deal with chargeback issues or any other nonsense.  The donation would be non-refundable, weeding out the frauds, and I'd spring for sig confirmation if necessary on the shipping.  

For their part, Cap City has expressed willingness to help us order such a product at their cost - but they will not be distributing them.  That would fall to our staff.  

Didnt Hat Club offer to hook up with you guys on this long time ago? Id contact them and look into it

the community shouldnt suffer and lose out on fitted hats in the future, i know none of us posting in there and you or ecap are at fault but its clear people still want these hats. We should just find a way for real members to get the hats they want

 

[Bert.]

No, we (the consumers) are being faulted for a situation that you clearly just stated is impossible to prevent.

And what's your alternative?  

Remember, part of the reason Cap City never wants to do this again is because of all the calls and complaints they received.  They didn't exactly feel appreciated for all the effort they put into producing and selling this product for charity.  I can't say I blame them.  

The sense of entitlement some people seem to have about this is a poor motivator, to put it kindly.  


"When are we getting it?"  "When are we getting it?"  "When are we getting it?"
"Here it is.  We made twice as many as last time and all the proceeds will go to a great cause."
"Why didn't you make more?"  "Why can't you guarantee that I'll get one?"  "Why do I have to pay for shipping?"  

 

I mean no offense but we can both agree, they handled it poorly. You told us the hats would release at an unknown time on a certain date.

then ecap went and posted an exact time on social media for people outside of NT to see.

Didnt they also post a link a day or two early and let people order? and order multiples?


As much as i complained in here, i would never call or email them to complain because really its not that serious especially over a freaking cotton hat.

 

[romcadoo]

I'm gonna have someone make a NT hat for me

 

[celticspride34]

I completely agree on ecapcity botching it on their end...

I appreciate the charity donations that they made... And any money given to a reputable charity is always a good thing... But I don't believe they viewed it as anything more than a tax write off...

They either didn't know, or didn't care that this has is/was very special to many of us... Just as NT is a special to many of us, for many different reasons, representing NT is also special...

Ecapcity: announced the time and date of launch; put it up for sale early; honored some of those early sales; apparently sent out multi's; and then had the nerve to say it was a hassle for them; their site crashed; and the sale started late...

I will never purchase anything from them, even though though have my #2 GOAT hat, 70's Red Sox with the green underbrim... How anyone can honestly say they did a great job is beyond me...

It could have been a simple endeavor... Create a link that is not posted on Twitter, Facebook, or ECC home page... Only place to get it is an NT-user exclusive forum on NT that lurkers can't see... Meth says he posts link at 9am on Sunday and no new sign ups will be accepted till the following Monday... Meth posts link at 9am on Sunday... NT'ers get exclusive first chance... Everyone wins...

 

[Methodical Management]

Find another hat company to make some. You can then place an ad here for a buy in. Take the payment up front. When they are done, you can then show proof that you received them before you ship them to the NTers that purchased one them. The hats should only be available for purchase on NT. Do not let another company handle any sales. I've been part of custom hat buy ins that have gone smoothly. The only complaints that I've seen were people commenting that they wish they had gotten in the hat buy in. Didn't hear of any charge backs in all the hat buy ins that I've been in.

Pre-orders are bad news for reasons we've explained countless times now.  

There's just too much that can go wrong.  (Production delays, material substitutions, sizing issues, etc. etc.)  Though crowdfunding has made pre-ordering merchandise months in advance more commonplace, it's a recipe for nonstop complaints.  (Why aren't they ready?  Why don't they look like I imagined?  My hair is longer than it was two weeks ago, can I change my size request?)  That's a headache we don't need.  

Then, on top of that, we'd have to deal with payment processing and distribution.  We'd be responsible for collecting and remitting any applicable sales tax, all of the associated accounting issues, and other logistical issues associated with playing retailer for one product.  

For comparison:  our group fundraisers, which allow nonprofits to receive money directly, have generated MORE per event than our apparel offerings and nobody walks away disappointed or defrauded.  I'd rather spend time fulfilling our digital rewards (e.g. account badges) than dealing with chargeback fraud and other nonsense.  

I completely agree on ecapcity botching it on their end...

I appreciate the charity donations that they made... And any money given to a reputable charity is always a good thing... But I don't believe they viewed it as anything more than a tax write off...

They either didn't know, or didn't care that this has is/was very special to many of us... Just as NT is a special to many of us, for many different reasons, representing NT is also special...

Ecapcity: announced the time and date of launch; put it up for sale early; honored some of those early sales; apparently sent out multi's; and then had the nerve to say it was a hassle for them; their site crashed; and the sale started late...

I will never purchase anything from them, even though though have my #2 GOAT hat, 70's Red Sox with the green underbrim... How anyone can honestly say they did a great job is beyond me...

It could have been a simple endeavor... Create a link that is not posted on Twitter, Facebook, or ECC home page... Only place to get it is an NT-user exclusive forum on NT that lurkers can't see... Meth says he posts link at 9am on Sunday and no new sign ups will be accepted till the following Monday... Meth posts link at 9am on Sunday... NT'ers get exclusive first chance... Everyone wins...

That's not really fair.  

First of all, understand that nobody is chomping at the bit to take on all of the work required to make and sell these caps for us - especially not when we require that the profits go to the charity of our choice.  

I get that the product is special to you, and I appreciate that.  Everyone on the staff is grateful that so many people want to represent our community.  But there are people who want to represent the community and appreciate that the opportunity to do so requires an incredible amount of effort with or without financial compensation, and then there are those who have a false sense of entitlement and believe that they're somehow "owed" not only a fitted cap at a suitable price point, but a guaranteed purchase and an experience that meets or exceeds those offered by billion dollar multinational corporations.  

It's unfortunate that those in the former category - whom I believe comprise the majority - must now suffer because those in the latter category have made themselves insufferable.  

Remember:  it's because of Cap City that we've been able to produce NikeTalk fitted caps, period.  

Claiming they were motivated solely by a "tax write off" is just plain ignorant.  What do you think a tax write off represents?  Some sort of incredible financial boon for Cap City?  If I give you $500, tell you to donate it all on my behalf, and then you report the $500 as income to the IRS while simultaneously recording it as a tax deductible charitable contribution, did you get $500 for FREE?  No.  You spent time on an effort from which your net financial gain was absolutely zero.  The government doesn't give you BACK the $500 you donated on my behalf.  You just don't have to pay taxes on it.  

It's easy to ask someone to create some special, super secret URL that's only given out to a special select few, but you're ignoring the difficulties involved on the technical side to set something like that up and you clearly haven't given your proposal adequate thought. 

Assuming I want to set up some secret, elitist, "members' only" forum just for a 288 piece fitted cap release, who gets access?  Every registered member?  If so, that's no barrier at all.  Anyone who wants the cap can just create an account in five minutes and subscribe to the new forum to receive an update via email when the link goes live.  What a waste of everyone's time.  If, to prevent this outcome, we begin arbitrarily deciding who is and who isn't "worthy" of a cap, how is that fair?  Someone who signed up last month isn't "good enough" to represent the community?  Someone who's lurked for over 10 years?  Someone who was an active poster on ezboard, but whose account didn't survive the transition to our current platform?   That's your plan to prevent complaint and disappointment? 

And all it takes to break your "perfect" release is for a single "qualified" person to leak the link on Twitter.  

It's so easy to criticize.  Respect is due for those who actually put the time and work in to make these caps possible.  This release was far from perfect, but it was an improvement on the initial NT fitted release in many ways.  More NikeTalk members walked away satisfied and far fewer came away empty handed.  When all is said and done, we hope this release will still yield more money for charity than the previous offering, even though New Era charges significantly more per unit and we're likely to suffer a significant loss due to fraud.  

Though I wish we could start work on a follow-up release that could improve upon this one, between the fraud and the negativity we're going to have a very difficult time finding a new retail partner now that a small minority of you have successfully alienated Cap City.  

When you make this a no-win proposition for someone:  "get it perfect by my unrealistic standards and do a lot of work for no money or we'll punish your business", it's pretty obvious what's going to happen.

Barring some sort of miracle, I don't see anyone stepping up to assume the burden of producing these things at no profit for what's now viewed as a demanding and unappreciative audience.  

And that's really unfortunate, because the small minority of frauds and malcontents has essentially ruined this for all those who were genuinely grateful, patient, and deserving of the substantial effort and sacrifice such a project requires.

 

[pftjordans]

It's nice out ... why not show some NT support.
View media item 1517078

 

[d rodz]

I'd like to but I wasn't able to get one. I'd be so lucky to have a 7 1/2 come my way.

 

[caguioa]

im still looking for a hat :/

 

[Chiron]

can we lock the thread...
i already gave up hope on ever getting a fitted. Its just torture at this point

 

[mj 23]

 

[davinci]

was about to wear my NT hat to the amusement park last weekend

decided to go with my Nationals cap instead

joint flew off during one of the wooden coasters

i would've been blown if i had lost my NT one 

 

[donovandoesit]

Any way to still get this 

 

[Methodical Management]

As many of you know, our fitted cap release from this past December was intended to raise money for the Equal Justice Initiative, an amazing organization devoted to confronting inequities in the criminal justice system. 

Although we sold out of our fitted caps almost immediately, we were then faced with fraudulent chargeback requests from a disturbing number of customers, who received a confirmed delivery of the product and yet demanded - and received - full refunds.  In attempt to deliver as much money as possible to the Equal Justice Initiative, our friends at Cap City attempted to work with PayPal and the US Postal Service to open investigations into these false nondelivery claims.  

Ultimately, more than twenty fraudulent chargeback requests were honored, amounting to hundreds of dollars in stolen merchandise and shipping fees.

As this process dragged on with no end in sight, we became increasingly frustrated.  More and more prominent cases related to the work of the Equal Justice Initiative were making headlines (particularly those concerning racial bias), which made the wait all the more agonizing.  As distressing as these cases were in their own right, it hurt to know that these funds could and should have been mobilized immediately to help a noble organization combat injustice.  

In early April, we contributed $10,000 from NikeTalk's advertising revenues to the Equal Justice Initiative to ensure that the organization received our immediate support.  In an act of solidarity, our friends at @INSTYLESHOES  matched this contribution with a $10,000 donation of their own, issued as part of their ongoing pledge to give back a percentage of their store's earnings to NikeTalk's preferred charities. 

After over eight months of frustration, the decision was made in August to cut our losses and tally up the proceeds from our fitted cap sales, minus the amount lost due to fraud.  After accounting for fraud, the net proceeds from our latest cap sales totaled $3,011.58.  Our partners for this release, @eCapCity, issued a check and I'm pleased to report that I received confirmation from the EJI that it has been received by their accounting department.  

In total, then, we raised $23,011.58 for the Equal Justice Initiative through the efforts of Cap City, Instyleshoes, and, of course, our fellow NikeTalk members.  

Thanks to all of you for your continued support of our community, and, of course, to everyone who purchased (and actually paid for) a NikeTalk fitted cap.  We're honored that so many of you wanted to represent our community with these caps and hope that initiatives like this one allow you to do so with pride.  

Though a number of people managed to detract from our efforts by attempting to defraud or harass our friends at Cap City - to the point where they would understandably prefer not to go through this process again - we know that the vast majority of you conducted yourselves in a way that underscores rather than undermines all that's best about our community.  Despite this setback, we'll continue to work our hardest to honor your continued support.

 

[trueprada]

hurry mine was to big and helped out another nter 

 

[DonRafa]

Thanks for the update Methodical Management !

sad to hear that soo many people were able to get a way with stealing from a charitable cause.



Look forward to the next release and as always thanks for all the work you and everyone else put in regarding making this happen in the first place

 

[harlemtothebronx]

That spoiler.

Props to everyone involved (ISS included :x ).

It really is a shame that selfish people chose to ruin something that was being done for charity the way they did. I'm glad I was able to be a part of it all...thanks Meth. Still wear my had regularly.

I'd be down to pitch in and help out with the next hats if need be. Keep it up.

 

[putting in work]

can't believe people pulled the chargeback scam on a charitable cause.

Methodical Management is their anyway to link the scammers to their NT account because whose to say they wouldn't scam users on here... or else where?

Great work and I'm happy we raised that much

 

[rillo561]

Scumbag NT'ers, not surprised