DSF

Hi there

What's the difference between RN & Orca Coated Mugs?

Can anyone provide details of a supplier they recommend?
Im basically looking for good quality Mugs for sub at the right price.

Thanks
Martin

RN coating is the original and what many reckon to be the best, but that is probably largely down to it being tried and tested for a long time. BMS use this coating. Listawood reckon theirs is the best which is called Duraglaze. Orca is a fairly new coating coming out of China and seems to be a decent one. You also have Rhino coat which is used by a few other suppliers - Xpres, Novachrome etc. There are other coatings out there which are also good enough but not all push there brand name which is where Orca have had a big push...... much to the annouance of me when I get a load of blanks turn up with their name and made in china printed on the base.

RN (Rich Neely) coating is always playing it safe but you will pay slightly more. The mug is equally as important though and just because a supplier has this coating doesn't mean the mugs themselves are great.

RN is generally considered the best for dishwasher-safe purposes. I'm currently using Orca coated mugs, though, because some of the RN coated mugs I've used exhibit "white spots" where ink doesn't transfer to the mug. Hardly anyone else mentions it, so it's probably just unique to me. Nevertheless, I've not had the problem with Orca-coated mugs, nor with Duraglaze china mugs. Whether that's a coating issue, or an issue with the mug manufacturer, I couldn't say.

Like everything, try and get a small sample in to try out before committing your funds to a large stockpile.

You'll find Orca coating on other products, such as plates, as well as mugs.

Thanks for the info guys!

I have tried both the RN Mugs from BMS and the Orca and too close to call in terms of quality, although having the Orca stamp at the bottom is a slight niggle for me but noticed that Asda use these which is what prompted me. I might now sample the Duraglaze! I suppose its a bit of lottery on the batch you receive but cost is a big factor. I need to keep the unit cost below 90p.

It's the delivery costs that can also play a part in value for money.

Martinx;17426 wrote:although having the Orca stamp at the bottom is a slight niggle for me

In some ways, this could be considered a good thing. Only a company that has faith in their product would stamp their product - otherwise, if it failed, it'd harm their reputation. In the old days, TAMS mugs were marked on the base.

Also, your customer can be assured of always getting the same product when buying in the future because the base is marked. If the mugs are unmarked, they could be getting any kind of generic rubbish - so the mark could be used to inspire confidence in your returning customers.

Turn a negative into a positive...

JSR;17423 wrote: some of the RN coated mugs I've used exhibit "white spots" where ink doesn't transfer to the mug.

I had some like that Jonathan at the latter part of last year. I was doing full wraps & I was on the point of screaming with the white spots as they really stood out.

At the time I did post something on the problem & I then got some more mugs for a large order from a supplier I hadn't used before only to find that delivery compoany had helped themselves to a couple of the mugs & also had a couple broken too.

Like Andrew says delivery costs can play a large part in making things more expensive per item.

Ian M;17440 wrote:I had some like that Jonathan at the latter part of last year. I was doing full wraps & I was on the point of screaming with the white spots as they really stood out.

I've ended up with some left here so I put them on my website ultra-cheap - calling them "b-grade" and showing the problem on the web-page. I haven't sold one, so it's certainly not something that can be ignored. Until the situation is sorted out, I can't go back to the supplier that I want to go back to. It's very annoying. But as there only seems to be the two of us with the problem, it's difficult to know what the answer is.

JSR;17434 wrote: Also, your customer can be assured of always getting the same product when buying in the future because the base is marked. If the mugs are unmarked, they could be getting any kind of generic rubbish - so the mark could be used to inspire confidence in your returning customers.

Turn a negative into a positive...

Very Valid Point. As I mentioned Asda Use the Orca mugs so I'm sure they would of done some research into this as the last thing they would want is customers complaining about dodgy mugs.

I'm with you as well Andrew, delivery really adds to the unit cost unless you can conveniently pick up in person.

mugsquad - i had no idea we were neighbours - im in Burton Latimer