FAQ's and Returns

What if I need to exchange my shirt?

If you should have a problem with your shirt, we’re happy to work with you. We do advise that if you’re ordering a women’s shirt, to order 1-2 sizes larger than you normally would. If you simply need to exchange the size, you’ll be responsible for return shipping. If it’s our fault, we’ll apologize profusely and cover shipping for an exchange. We think this is fair, and we appreciate your understanding. 

How long does it take to get my order?

Generally, shirts ship out once a week on Saturday. In order to keep costs down, we use the US Postal Service. Shipments around the USA generally take from 1 to 5 days, and longer for international shipments. If you need shipping faster, feel free to email us and let us know! We’ll do our absolute best to accommodate you, if we are able. If your order is currently out of stock, we’re usually able to let you know within a few days. We’ll let you know if similar sizes are available right away, also. We appreciate your patience and understanding in cases like this! We do our absolute best to manage inventory and predict sales, but we’re a very lean organization and we’re not always 100% on target. 

Can you ship internationally?

Yes! We’ve got people spreading awareness in places like the UK, Germany, Australia, and Turkey! When you get to the check out page, you should see a variety of countries listed. If yours isn’t there, it doesn’t mean you’re out of luck! You’re probably the first order and we’ll just need to set up shipping for you. Email us about additional international locations. 

I’m interested in a large order of shirts, or have a request for something you don’t have here.

No problem! Email us for a discount package for 12 or more shirts, if you’re interested in special order items or sizes, or you’ve got an idea for more IBD awareness tools! We’ll do our best to meet reasonable requests, stay in touch with our community, and help you all keep spreading awareness. 

Can you donate a shirt to my cause or event?

We’re happy to donate shirts for a number of reasons. We’ve got a certain amount of shirts allocated each quarter for these situations. Please email us and explain your idea, and we’ll work on something that benefits everyone. 

Where does the money from t-shirts go?

We work to keep the prices down, so that we can put as many people in shirts, out in the world, as are willing, contributing to more IBD conversations started by more people. We also use money to develop more resources to offer to our community, and we’ve got some things coming out soon! We also set aside a few shirts each quarter to donate to a variety of causes, including organizations looking for raffle prizes, blogs doing giveaways, and sometimes just people that are exceptionally inspirational in the way they live as IBD role models. 

Other than that, we cover administrative costs such as website hosting, printing, etc. We never use any money from shirts, donations, or other sources to pay ourselves any sort of salary, and we cover our travel or meeting expenses out of our own pockets. We're not doing this to make a living, and we're proud that 100% of funding goes back into the organization or passed onto other causes. 

What about my blog? Can I use your shirt for a giveaway? 

For blog giveaways, we generally offer a buy-one-get-one package. You can keep one for yourself, or do both as a giveaway. We’ll take a look at your blog first, just to make sure we’re a good fit for each other. We also have a certain number of these allocated for each quarter. Just email us if you’re interested! 

Why don’t you sell [logo and graphic on various items]? 

We choose our products, such as our standard “Ask Me” shirts with purpose. We consider whether items are in line with our mission of starting conversations and helping our community to get their story out there. That’s why things like pins and stickers are popular in addition to shirts and hoodies. We’re a community of empowered, supportive, and vocal patients, not an “IBD Gear Shop”. And we love it this way! 

I see questions posted on your Facebook wall sometimes. I want to ask something, but I’m embarrassed. 

We’re happy to post any IBD or ostomy questions you have! There is so much experience in the IBD community, it’s a great way to get input from others. If you email your question to us, we’re happy to post it “anonymously” or “from a friend”. Also, questions that get posted on our wall, we generally re-post so that they reach the entire community. 

I love what you’re doing. What can I do to support you? 

We appreciate all the support that comes from our community. We strive to always provide valuable and relevant resources, and to stay connected to the questions and needs of you all. The best thing you can do is to buy a shirt, or make a donation via PayPal or Razoo! Donations are used for the behind the scenes stuff that keep us going (website hosting, etc.) as well as to support some programming and resources we’ve got in the pipelines. Each shirt that goes out the door helps us maintain our organization as well, and allows us to keep our inventory more stocked and to avoid backorders. 

You can also mention us, review us, and stay active on our Facebook page. Is there anything else? Absolutely! We have a handful of partners, donors, and others who have graciously helped us along the way. Because of their generosity, we are able to keep putting our resources into developing new materials for our community, as well as keep prices down on apparel. Please consider giving your business to those who have donated their skills and services, and donated their products for giveaways. 

What about guest blog posts? 

We love being able to feature all of you on our site! If you’ve got something to say, let us know, and we’ll work out a post. Generally, topics include things like finding your voice, and opening up about IBD for the first time, inspirational stories of living your life as an IBD role model, or other things regarding IBD empowerment or awareness. If you’re a professional, we’d love to have your take on all things IBD. When we see the need for topics outside of our personal experience, we call on people such as psychologists, dietitians, and medical professionals to provide trustworthy information. 

What if we want to create a partnership or relationship? 

We’re always open to hearing about ways we can work together to reach a common goal! If our organizations work well together, and can help each other further IBD and ostomy awareness, we’d love to hear what you have in mind! If we can work out something mutually beneficial, we’re happy to work together. 

Who are you, anyway? 

The Great Bowel Movement is run by just 2 people like you, with Crohn’s and Colitis, and also with full time jobs. We don’t take a single penny from orders, and we even pay for our own shirts when we want them. We’re so passionate about this cause, and about the potential power of patients coming together to work for the cause, and we’re doing our best to live as role models for people overcoming IBD- or any other obstacles, for that matter. We cannot tell you enough how much we appreciate your patience and understanding, as we try to answer every email, respond to Facebook discussions and inquiries, and do our best to keep inventory and orders up to date. Got infrequently-asked questions? Feel free to contact us and let us know what’s on your mind.