key rings

[Bill Dewison]

I got my samples of the keyrings I mentioned today Eddie, I’ll dig out the web link and post it on here. The prices are pretty reasonable, just the guy has been on holiday, hence the delay.

I think the markup is similar to things like the medals Rodney makes, so tagging them to another product, or having a minimum quantity of 100 is probably the best way to go.

Cheers, Dewi

[Kevin.Beck]

we do quite alot of the plastic key rings.

we just print the design on an inkjet, with cut lines.

Hand cut with a cheapy gilatine(sp)

And put them together. This is the most time consuming taste. We tend to bring the lot home and put them together while watching tv. As we could be doing something more profitable in the shop.

Because of the time it takes to put the lot together, we bang on quite a bit.
£40 for 100 if I remember correctly. We buy them in for approx 8p each.

if the customer doesn`t want it, we let him walk. As with most small promotional items, the profit is not huge, hence the high numbers required.

[Rodney Gold]

There is a real problem with cheap key rings , they are VERY poor PR , regardless of whether they are freebies or not.
If Im offered a real cheap keytag , I either throw it away , toss it in a drawer or use it for the toilet/storeroom key. My car keys keytag HAS to be good quality and its one I have had for yonks , I wouldnt add a plastic thingy to it.
The perception of a co that gives away cheap promo items IS cheap! That’s the harsh reality of it all.
Rather than give away 1000 pieces of poor PR , give away 100 high quality items at 10x the price to a targeted market.
If you want to make a keytag , get someone with a CNC router to cut blanks for you out of 1mm brass or the like , print and die cut the sticker to a little smaller , but following the shape of the brass and then dome the whole thing and put on a decent splitring and chain.
Margins on real cheap stuff are mickey mouse and its not margins that count , its profitability. To do 1000 cheapys will take a LOT longer than doing 100 high class and the margins on high class are much better , you can make 4 quid on a high class keytag costing 5 quid and might only make pennies on the plastics and do a tone of work for it.
At the end of it all , the versacam is capable of very high quality die cut work on multiple substrates , so , being really blunt again , what does a printed insert in a cheap plastic enclosure that anyone with 79 quid desktop printer can do say about the machine or it’s capabilites. Its a waste of a resource that should be used for better stuff and it’s not going to make any money to speak of.
If you want a nice “new” line to promote , why not cut a 9 cm disc out of 3mm acrylic , print an 8cm disc with co details etc and perhaps all the bank holidays or the local emergency no’s or world time zones or something like that , overlaminate with a nice wheat grain cold pressure film , die cut and apply to the disc and give em out as coffe mug/drinking mug coasters. You can market these as singles , sets of 4 or sets of 6.
You can use these as YOUR promo gifts/business cards etc , anyone with a cnc router or laser can cut the disc easily and they shouldnt cost you a fortune , the cost of the print and lam will be around 25 quid per sq meter at the VERY worst , you should get around 140 printed discs per sq meter , IE about 18 pence a piece and the pex shouldnt cost more than 40-50 pence to laser cut on a decent qty. Total cost should not be more than 75 pence a piece and Im being overcautious in costing here.

[Dazzel]

Don’t muck about…we did years ago and had loads of little ladies at home “clicking” key fobs. For pennies for them..and pennies for us !! – The reasons someone wants a cheapo key ring is “They don;t want to spend anything” so your profits will be small. As Rodney states above.

If you want to supply them try these guys –
Diagraph on 0115 924 9111 – Ask for ali ba ba and tell him Paul at automarque sent you. That way you get a good deal and the cheaskate can buy me dinner next time.

EXAMPLE 250 plastic key fobs – 1 colour both sides = £60.00 So i wouldn’t ever again spend the evening “clicking”.

ps. They also do the Quality stuff, GOOD GUYS

Paul

[eddie cotter]

nice one paul, your probarbly right, if their isnt much profit in it,
not much piont in doin it, i might follow rodneys advice and just do a few
classy ones, god idea rodney about the coasters, 😉

[J. Hulme]

You’ll end up with nothing more than sore fingers.
The money is only in the wholesale of the keyrings to the supplier

I have a ‘ very ‘ good supplier if you need a price.