Thursday, February 10th, 2011
A common technique used by some suppliers of USB flash drives is to play on fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) of customers. By suggesting that the prices quoted by their competitors are “unrealistically low” or that goods supplied will be of “very poor quality” or that they are supplied from a “non-certified” factory they infer that the buyer and more importantly the buyers brand will be put in peril if they buy from anyone but them.
FUD in the branded flash drive market can be particularly unnerving if you’ve never purchased USB flash drives before not least because some of the terms within the industry will be unfamiliar to any new buyer.
Branded USB Flash Drives
If you are considering buying branded USB flash drives from USB2U then here’s a few facts to help dispel any FUD being put around by our competitors:
- USB2U and USBNow are trading names of Secure Living Ltd and have been supplying USB flash drives since 2002. During this time we have supplied USB products to over 250,000 customer including thousands of schools, universities and companies both large and small. Our university clients include Cambridge and Oxford and we’re regular suppliers of flash drives to some of the leading companies in the world including Microsoft, BT, IBM, Orange, Unilver and many many more.
- We don’t have our own factory because we prefer to partner with a small number of manufacturers including Netac who invented USB flash drives back in 1999 and who hold the core patent for them. Just like Netac all of our partner factories are certified ISO9001 and we visit them regularly to ensure their on-going compliance.
- Cheaper prices – By partnering with factories we don’t have to pass on the overheads of managing and maintaining a factory to our clients. Instead, by creating a competitive environment between a small number of trusted partners we are able to secure the best possible prices for the flash drives and ensure diversity of supply.
- Fast Lead Times – the vast majority of our customers will receive their printed drives within 10 working days from order and artwork confirmation and for many its even quicker. Unlike many other suppliers we also hold significant stocks of blank (unprinted) flash drives in the UK that we can get printed and delivered within 48hrs!
- Always New and Grade A Chips – Our flash drives are built around New Grade A memory chips and you can even request a specific flash module if you have a particular requirement. We can supply Samsung, Hynix, Intel and Micron.
- In-house design team – we have our own team of designers in the UK who will work with you and our factory partners to ensure you get a top quality product – the amount of repeat orders we get from our customers is testament to the quality of the drives we produce.
- Our “standard” minimum order threshold is 50 flash drives. We can supply less and have accepted orders for 10 units but the reality is that when you buy less than 50 units each flash drive has to carry a number of “fixed” costs, which in turn makes the drives expensive.
- We offer 30-day payment terms to all educational establishments, public sector bodies and customers who place a second or subsequent order with us (subject to credit approval).
- No Fancy London Office – we’re based in Northampton in the Midlands in a comfortable but basic office/warehouse. The price you are quoted for your flash drives reflects this. Our focus is not on global domination but on providing top quality flash drives at the best possible price in the shortest time we can realistically deliver them.
Tags: branded printed, buy, choose, Flash drives, Memory Sticks, recommend, review, usb, usb2u, why
Posted in USB2U News, branded flash drive | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
If you’ve only got a relatively small budget for branded USB memory sticks and you want to know how far you can stretch it then there are some steps you can take to maximise your spend. There are also some pitfalls to be aware of when trying to “trim” costs so that you don’t end up with poorly finished sticks that are prone to failure.
Things to do to ensure you are getting value for money and that you don’t overspend unnecessarily include:
- Shop around. There are lots of companies offering to supply branded USB memory sticks these days so make sure you get at least a couple of quotes and make sure you get a fully inclusive price. Its perfectly acceptable for the actual carriage costs to get the sticks to you to be quoted separately but all other set-up costs, origination costs, data-loading costs etc. should be factored into the unit price when you are making comparisons.
- Don’t pay for lots of unnecessary memory. USB memory sticks come in various memory sizes starting at 64MB and going all the way up to 32GB. The most popular memory size for a promotional USB stick is between 512MB and 2GB. USB memory sticks of this size are large enough to carry your companies brochures, sales material and media files as well as being large enough for the recipient to use for the storage of their own data.
If you are looking purely at “lowest cost” promotion giveaways then think about using a 64MB or 128MB stick. These will be the cheapest options. The downside is the usable memory on them won’t make them that attractive to the user because they’ll fill them pretty quickly but they still have a reasonably high perceived value and they’re useful for distributing your own information.
- Printing is expensive and consequently the more colours you want printed on the USB memory stick the more expensive it’s going to be. It’s worth considering reducing complex logo’s with lots of colours to a single or two-colour version. Single or two colour prints still look great you just need to be more careful about choosing a body colour for the memory stick that works with the logo.
- Don’t leave it to last minute to orders your branded USB memory sticks otherwise you’ll have to buy locally held and locally printed stock. Many USB suppliers will hold some local stock but you’ll have far less choice in terms of style and memory size and you’ll pay significantly more to get them printed locally rather than during the manufacturing process at the factory. A lead-time of around 10-14 days should be ample.
- Stick to the more popular factory designs like the Twister USB flash Drive or other “classic” models. You’ll pay a premium for wood, metal and custom USB flash drives.
USB Memory Stick
In your search for value you should also be on the lookout for the following:
- Companies that offer a price that simply looks “too good to be true”. If one company’s price is significantly cheaper than the other quotes you’ve been given then it’s worth double-checking that you are not being offered Grade B (re-cycled) flash modules. It not uncommon for these to be passed off as “new” by some less reputable companies. The USB memory sticks will look and feel the same as the genuine article but Grade B chips are notoriously unreliable and tend to be very slow at transferring data.
- Make sure the suppliers you’re talking to have a contact phone number and a proven track record of delivery. If things don’t arrive on time or there is a subsequent problem with your order that you need to resolve then it’s important that you are able to get hold of them. With growing amounts of business conducted over the its increasingly difficult to know just how big or small the company you are dealing with actually is. Don’t be afraid to use resources like Google Earth, Companies House and other Trade bodies to check them out.
- Be aware that the price for USB memory sticks is volatile and driven by a number of factors including the currency markets, the supply/demand for flash chips around the world and Chinese Holidays! Because of this it’s important to get any price locked down and confirmed in writing.
Branded Memory Sticks
As a general rule of thumb you should be able to buy around at least 165 USB Memory sticks that are supplied in a gift box with a 2-colour print. These will be USB sticks at the bottom end of the memory size but they should be supplied with new, Grade A flash chips and controllers.
Tags: Branded USB, budget, buy, how many, Memory Sticks, price, Printed USB, USB Flash Drives, USB Memory Sticks
Posted in Branded Memory Sticks | Comments Off
