Promotional Stress Balls - Read This Before You Purchase Stress Toys To Promote Your Business

I have been selling promotional stress balls since 1994. In that time, I have met my suppliers on many occasions. I know how their factories work. I am confident that their primarily Chinese staff are treated very well and that they are happy. Unfortunately, this is not always the case when dealing with Far Eastern factories but I believe it is paramount that every possible check be made to ensure the work conditions are good and that no children are being employed.

Another important issue is that of quality. You see, there are very good quality stress balls on the market and there are also some pretty lousy out there. This is why it is important to always check the quality of the products before you order. Usually this will not be a problem but it is better safe than sorry. There are a few cowboys out there who try to make a larger profit by selling inferior stress balls that they purchased on the cheap. You can weed them out by asking for samples.

When purchasing stress balls, you will want to ask the following five questions of your suppliers. If they do not answer yes to each of the questions, you may want to look for another supplier. Failure to do so could lead to you paying over the odds for these fun products.

Q: Do you feel you have done the proper checks to ensure the factory or factories you deal with treat their employees fairly and that they do not employ children? Yes can be the only acceptable answer!

Q: Do you purchase directly from the factory that makes the products? The answer should be "yes" or you will be paying too much.

Q: Can we have the stress balls in the colour and shape of our choice? This question helps to confirm the first question. If a business gift supplier says that special colours and shapes are not possible, they do not have a good relationship with the manufacturer.

Q: Can we have the stress balls printed in full colour? Most suppliers can only pad print the stress balls they supply to their customers. This is because they order their stress balls from a wholesaler and then have them

printed either by the wholesaler or by another printer. Pad printing is inferior to transfer printing that is standard with most Far East factories. Recently a few UK and US companies have begun to transfer print stress balls but it is quite a lot more expensive when not done at the source.

Q: Can we see free samples? "Of course you can," should be the answer. Suppliers that specialize in promotional should have samples of all the products they sell. These samples should be printed so that you can ensure that not only the stress ball is good quality but that the print is excellent as well. There is no point handing out stress balls at an exhibition with poor quality print!

Q: Can you send me a quotation? This is the question that all suppliers hope you will ask! Get quotations from as many companies as possible! The three quote rule does not apply any more. In the UK, I know of one Sheffield/Leeds based company that has at least four websites. Each site features the same products and prices but they have given each a different company name. The owners of the company are experts at search engine optimization and they have used this to their advantage, deceiving people into thinking they are getting quotations from several different companies when in fact they are talking to the same company. When searching on Google or Yahoo for some promotional gifts, they have been given the top positions as it is currently not possible for the major search engines to know that these companies are actually the same. They have even opened offices recently in the US so beware!

Fortunately for you, they are much better at search engine optimization than they are at promotional products. I recommend that you get prices from at least ten companies. It will be obvious which companies work directly with the manufactures because their prices and the quality of their products will be much better than the others. Take your time and you will be in the position to promote your company with top quality stress products at a fraction of the cost you may have if you had not read this article.