Promotional Items

[accdave]

We keep getting asked for the cheaper promotional items ie pens, badges, balloons etc.

I see many of the companies offering these products all seem to have the same web site. Does anyone know who the source company is ?

[John G]

There a few promo membership sites where a collective of printers/suppliers club together and offer there services under one umbrella - one such site is promota. That's why you'll find most of the photos on websites are the same - they're all members.

I think it's quite expensive to join and you'd have to weigh up the benefits as to whether it would be profitable to become a member.

Cheers John

[socialgiraffe]

Listawoods are a good start. Great company to deal with and they are a supplier on here. Their promotional range for screen print is huge. Becki is the contact for sublimation supplies on here and I am sure she will be able to put you in contact with someone on the screen print promotional range.

The other big player is a company called SPS. Again they have a huge range but be warned. They are a bit of a nightmare to deal with, late orders, incorrect orders, lack of communication. I would not recommend them unless they have got significantly better over the last year or so. I once had to do 115 rubiks cubes for ABBA. It took them 8 attempts to get it right. Also, this was a specialist promotion and the printed numbers had to be exact as they were going to be individually numbered. Imagine my surprise when I found them on ebay three weeks later. Turns out that someone in the print room decided they were too good to miss and printed a few more to make himself a few quid. Needless to say a few lawyers got quite rich out of that!

Personally I would stick well clear of pens but simply recommend a supplier. I am constantly bombarded by the likes of The Pen Warehouse (my dealings with them have been disastrous), with offers of pens at 6p including the print. Not worth getting involved as you will find that you are constantly pricing jobs but not converting them.

If you print yourself then Listawoods and SPS sell blanks.

Mid Ocean brands also have a huge range and do offer a printing service although I think they are more on selling blanks. Mid Ocean supply everything out of Holland so it does take a little bit longer.

All the above are trade only so you will need to apply for an account before accessing their range.

[Andrew]

Anyone mentioned above plus the rest of the suppliers in the industry are generally found on the Sourcingcity.co.uk website. This is a one stop portal for all of the trade suppliers to sell to the industry and for promo companies to find a supplier for virtually anything. Sourcingmachine is another. You get access to all of the suppliers plus you can get an enduser website at different levels if you need.

[accdave]

Thanks for the replies. The research should keep me busy for a while

[Justin]

Do some companies allow you to become an agent for want of a better word....they put your logo onto one of their catalogues? I've been given catalogues before form companies that obv. don't do the stuff themselves.

Does anyone on here print promo pens, keyrings etc?

[Andrew]

There are a few different ways to get your branded catalogue but everyway involves a cost. There are a few like Promota and Trade Only type associations but you also have several independant Catalogue Groups. The easiest entry is probably through the likes of SPS or Mid Ocean Brands. The latter has a higher level and often more executive range. Both these supply non Branded catalogues so you do not have to go throught the added cost/ larger run of your logo officially added. You just place your contact details into the back by way of sticker.

[Justin]

I only ever get asked for cheap pens, cheap key-rings etc. I'm tempted to turn it away but these customers buy/will buy other sublimation stuff so maybe worth a shot. I'd hoped someone on here might already be doing this promotional stuff and I could just put everything through them. I'll do some more homework.....

[Andrew]

What type of promo keyring are you after? We do some basic types only. There are many trade suppliers out there for both pens and keyrings. What budget and volume can often dictate the right supplier for you. Try signing up to someone like www.sourcingcity.co.uk or www.sourcingmachine.com on a trial if available and they will list all the options. Not sure if they do trials but you are in the trade at the end of the day so it is worth a try.

[Justin]

At the moment I have an enquiry for just 250 keyrings and 250 pens. Cheap is the keyword as usual but they don't want rubbish