EPT![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/disciple/newTLjersey/Post/topheader.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/disciple/SKTshirt/title.jpg)
Vestments of the Dynasty
SK Telecom T1 need little introduction. They are the New York Yankees, the Real Madrid, the Los Angeles Lakers of esports. For over a decade, they have been the golden standard to which all other teams in professional gaming aspire to. They have won dozens of championships, been home to some of the most popular progamers in the world, and played a crucial role in making esports what it is today.So when SKT send you an email that says 'would you be interested in partnering with us on a project?' you check your Inception token to make sure you are not dreaming. For TeamLiquid, it is a great honor and privilege to offer the T1 team jersey for the first time to fans around the world. For T1 fans like me, this is a moment we've been waiting on for years.
But even to fans you who have no particular allegiance to SK Telecom, this day marks an important milestone for all of us as a community. We're no longer a small group fanatics across the ocean, so isolated that we even called ourselves 'foreign.' By reaching out to the international scene, SK Telecom T1 has shown they recognize the importance of their fans around the world. Korean players, coaches, and industry insiders have all expressed how impressed they were with the fans at international tournaments. Now, they've made an important step toward making us a part of their future.
We only have 750 shirts and we won't be producing any more of this specific model. So the chance for you to own one of these is lower than the chance to own a Ferrari F40. I want to thank SK Telecom T1 for being so cooperative and great to work with. I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, and that we might work to bring the fans even more great products.
- disciple, TeamLiquid store manager.
International Shipping has been as always a tricky situation. Because the limited stock and how valuable the shirts are we decided to go for the most reliable shipping option we have on our hands. That's why all international orders from the NA Store will be shipped with Fedex International which is incredibly fast, reliable and includes a detailed tracking. Fedex is not cheap but we absolutely cannot risk using USPS in this case and if we were to do that we were not in a position to guarantee the delivery of your order. We did the same with our hoodies and I believe this is the best way to do this.
Also, because of the limited stock we have to change our story policy for that specific product - we do not offer size exchanges ! Make sure you get the right size because we won't be able to replace your shirt should you pick a shirt that doesn't fit you. We will still accept returns as we normally do for a full refund.
Finally the maximum number of shirts per order is limited to 2 so people can't buy a bunch in order to resell for a profit and further speculate with the price.
About that Price
We understand that a lot of you aren't going to be happy with the price. The shirt is by no means cheap, and I don't intend to argue with you about its value. However, I do think we owe you an explaination for the price.
As we started hashing out the details with SK Telecom several months ago, it became apparent that the team uniform would be expensive for two major reasons.
- Production costs: This shirt is manufactured by the same Nike supplier that makes the official uniforms SKT players wear in the booth. I can't reveal the exact number, but I will say that it's a high quality product that has a production cost similar to the TL hoodie (sold for around 55$ on our store). The reason why the product we are selling in the store doesn't have a Nike logo is because SKT and Nike were not able to reach a licensing agreement. Other than that, the product we are offering is the exact same quality and model as the official uniform.
- Import taxes and Shipping: Unlike other TL store products which are produced by our partners in North America and Europe, the SK Telecom T1 uniforms were produced in Korea. We had to pay to ship them to our distribution facilities in NA and EU, on top of which we had to pay import taxes. Just for the 375 shirts in Europe we paid 4000 GBP in taxes and shipping, which added 11-12€ per shirt. And of course, there's the additional 20% VAT for Europe.
These shirts are not great business for us. A TeamLiquid product that had the exact same costs and conditions would have been scrapped before making it to the store. Yet, having the SKT shirts on our store and making them available to the fans around the world is a dream for us, and we just couldn't decline when SKT came knocking. Also, we think that opening our doors in this way could be an important step toward offering more merchandise from Korean teams in the future.
Okay, so I lied about not selling you on the value. Even considering the high prices, I hope that some of you might see this opportunity for what it is: a rare chance to get the uniform of one of the greatest progaming teams of all time.
