I am a long-time promotional products supplier and I am shocked that people are still charging and still paying for set-ups, run charges, color matches etc.

Stop it Now!

Let me let you in on a secret.

As a supplier of swag who sells to distributors I am going to tell you now that you should never, ever, pay for set ups, run charges etc. It is a scam.

Issue #1

When was the last time you bought blanks and decorated them yourselves? Never. You always want it logo’d!

Issue #2

If issue #1 is true then why don’t suppliers just price out the product with a logo on it? They already know you’re going to want it with a logo!

Issue #3

Here’s where the suppliers who charge will say, “well…there’s a cost difference for 1,2,3 or 4 colors.” I say Bullshit!

I tell you this, the cost difference is so small that if a supplier can’t charge you an all inclusive logo cost or better yet an all inclusive product with logo cost regardless of how many colors you need then they are not very informed or  are playing the game as seen in the next issue, #4.

Issue #4

Suppliers who charge run fees, color matching etc. do this for 2 reasons…..1 to make more money and 2 to make their product appear less expensive than it really is!

Issue #4

Confusion to the client. (yes I know I used 4 twice…thought I would confuse you) Not only are these charges unnecessarily extra but they are coded on idiotic numerals like a G! This is just confusing and a time-waster.

Issue #5

Some charges are real and should be charged. When there is a real cost and its a significant one, go ahead and charge it. On our custom shaped flash drives for instance we pay $80 to the factory in China for the mold. Guess what, we charge our customers $80. I think that’s fair.

Issue #6

Make it easy on the customer. I can’t tell you how many clients I have spoken with who say they spend about 20 minutes costing out a job! 20 Minutes! Are you nuts!

The costing of the job should take 1 minute, the other 19 minutes you should be selling something else, high-fiving the guy in the cubicle next to you or rooting around on YouTube. You should get from the supplier a price. one, all inclusive price, you then would do your mark up on it and send it to the end user. Badda bing badda boom, done!

And on that note ,if you are sending a quote to customers with run charges, color matches etc….How do you think they feel about that?

In closing, I am sure there will be some of those out there who think I am nuts on this issue and that it is ok for all of these ridiculous charges. To you I say the following………You are wrong!

Below is an example of how it should be. Coded on a C to include shipping to your door and 1,2, 3 or even 4 color process logo. No extra charges! How easy does that make it!