"Can I borrow your pen...?"

February 13, 2007 11:02 AM

Looking to buy some promo pens (yeah I know, very unoriginal) but I'm looking for cheep... cheeeeap ones. Minimum amount (at least 50) and minimum price (less than $100) Checked a few sites, but nothing has caught my eye yet. Recommendations ?
posted by Webbster to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

Unless you're someone who buys these sorts of products on a regular basis, you're unlikely to get good pricing.

Minimums, based on our suppliers, are 150 pens to get the pricing you want. You may have better luck with smaller local suppliers, but we have contacts with every single promotional supplier in Canada, and they all have the same minimums on pens.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 11:14 AM on February 13, 2007

Cheap, yes. Low minimums, not so much. But 4imprint.com has been wonderful to work with for our company. Plus they send you freebies every few months. Who doesn't like freebies?
posted by orangemiles at 11:28 AM on February 13, 2007

My partner has used this company with success. As a bonus, they are environmentally concious. You'll have to email for a quote though. I know that they are quite small and have only been around for a couple of years so they may be more flexible than other places.
posted by Cuke at 1:06 PM on February 13, 2007

FWIW, don't go too cheap. Spend the money to reflect well on your company. As someone who's gotten a lot of free pens at trade shows, the cheaper ones don't last long and you throw them out faster (and with it all the business's info imprinted on it). The nicer pens last longer and stick around the office and do their job: getting your name seen. Plus, people will think favorably of you because it's a decent pen.
posted by NoraCharles at 1:33 PM on February 13, 2007

Cheap? Low minimum? How about pencils from ol' Lillian Vernon.
(Fun, not elegant).
posted by artdrectr at 1:46 PM on February 13, 2007

I recently got a free pen from a business that I am likely to use. But it had no phone number, and that's critical to reserving time at dog kennel. Make sure the information your customers want is there.
posted by theora55 at 2:26 PM on February 13, 2007

Pensxpress
posted by sandra_s at 6:52 PM on February 13, 2007

one of the reasons you may have trouble finding what you want is that custom printing pens actually involves setup overhead (e.g., burning the screen to print on the pens). much like anything else you would print, the cost is going to go down significantly as you order larger quantities. with smaller quantities, the cost of setup and processing the order is spread over fewer items. you may be able to find someone to do a small run, but no one could afford to do a really good job or offer any level of customer service at that level. my company sells lots of promotional pens and we do a great job, but there's no way we could offer our level of service or product quality and also process orders under $100.
posted by snofoam at 8:49 AM on May 21, 2007