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Posts Tagged ‘urgent’

It’s Hard Hat Time For Anyone Selling USB Promotional USB Sticks

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

It’s time to hunker down and put on the hard hats. Every year we think it can’t be as bad as last year but every year (and we’re in our tenth year) it seems to get more manic!

We’re referring of course to the havoc that the Chinese New Year Holidays causes within the promotions industry and in particular the panic that ensues because companies can’t get promotional USB sticks printed and delivered in time for their key events and shows.

USB Sticks in a Hurry

USB Sticks in a Hurry

The primary problem is that during Chinese New Year normal lead times get stretched from a reasonable 7-10 days to around 4-6 weeks and if customers have not anticipated this then they tend to turn to the web in an endeavour to find a company that can meet their requirements. Consequently for the few weeks that Chinese New Year is on our phones run red hot and our on-line lead enquiry system “chatters away” all day.

Fortunately, having been here before we now order plenty of blank stock to see us through Chinese NY so we are in the enviable position of being able to respond to the enquiries we get and we are turning around requests for printed USB memory sticks in as little as 24hrs.

We’re working flat out and our print schedules are filling up fast which is great but it does mean that if you want us to supply you with promotional USB sticks during this tough period then you need to get your order in quickly.

So, if you need USB sticks in a hurry, or perhaps you’ve been let down by another supplier who over promised during this period then give us a call or fill our on-line enquiry form and one of our team will get back to you.

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It’s Hard Hat Time For Anyone Selling USB Promotional USB Sticks

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USB2U Are the 4th Emergency Service For Custom USB Sticks

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

If you didn’t realise Chinese New Year was going to have such a big impact on your ability to source custom USB memory sticks and you need them now then you’re in for a nasty surprise.

Custom USB Emergency Delivery

Custom USB Emergency Delivery

During Mid-January to Mid-Feb it’s mayhem as companies and schools looking for custom USB sticks scramble to secure the limited amount of stock that is readily available in the UK. Of course if you can wait a few weeks it’s not a problem but if you need them quickly then it’s best to start looking for a supplier that has stock in the UK and can get them printed and delivered in your timeframes. Unfortunately there are very few companies that hold stock and even fewer that can print them and get them delivered in a day or two!

If you find yourself hunting around for custom USB sticks during Chinese New Year you’ll soon realise that it’s not pleasant. It’s a bit like being a parent at Christmas trying to hunt down that elusive “must have” toy for your child – you end up in a war pitted against other parents all after the same thing and all desperately hunting down the elusive toy/gift.

Of course if you’re working on a project, a show or a press event and you’re up against a hard deadline then, the last thing you need is to be told by your supplier that they can’t deliver your order on time.

All the planning and preparation in the world can’t accommodate these little “bombs” when they happen but what you can do is try and factor in a little contingency in your plans. Granted, it’s not always easy and contingency has a nasty habit of just being “absorbed” in the project.

If you do find yourself in a tight spot and you need custom USB sticks in a hurry then don’t panic. At USB2U we pride ourselves on being the “4th Emergency Service” of the custom USB  stick market. Unlike our competitors we do hold lots of plain, unprinted stock in the UK which we can print and get delivered to you in as little as 24hrs!!

You won’t have the full range of USB sticks we sell to choose from and you might have to compromise of colour and memory size but iif you are up against it or you’ve been let down by another supplier we can normally help.

Just give us a call and speak to one of our experienced sales team – they’ll talk you though the options and our in-house designer will work with you to make sure we can deliver a custom printed USB stick that not only gets you out of trouble but delights you as well!

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USB2U Are the 4th Emergency Service For Custom USB Sticks

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Where Can You Get Printed USB Memory Sticks In 24hrs?

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

The usual lead-time for USB memory sticks printed with your company logo or brand on is typically around 10 days from confirmation of your order. During certain times of the year (January and February) when the market is badly impacted by Chinese New Year it can be as much as 4 weeks.

So, if you need to get hold of branded USB memory sticks in a hurry you’ll have to find a local supplier that can offer a “rush” service but even this normally means a wait of around 3 days (typically a little longer if you need data pre-loading onto the USB sticks as well).

USB Sticks in 24Hrs

USB Sticks in 24Hrs

The problem is that most suppliers of branded USB memory sticks don’t hold any stocks of USB sticks in-house preferring instead to place the orders on their factory as their customers confirm them. This de-risks holding stock that might not get purchased or simply might devalue based on fluctuations in the price of flash memory and currency exchange rates (all USB flash memory and memory sticks are traded in US Dollars).  Those suppliers that do hold stock typically only hold very small quantities of a very limited range of model and styles and even then they can’t print them on-site.

One supplier that is different is USB2U. Established in 2002, USB2U been supplying branded USB memory sticks longer than any other promotional supplier in the UK, they hold large quantities of stock in the UK, they have invested in professional data-loading equipment and they have the latest printing technology in-house.

The combination of their experience, their large stock levels and their investment in the latest state of the art technology enables them to provide a lightening fast delivery service. Customer who take advantage of their rush service and who place their orders by 10am can opt to get them delivered the following business day. That’s fast!

So, if you do find yourself up against a tight deadline and you need USB memory sticks, USB credit cards or USB business cards with your company or school name/logo printed on (full colour) then get in touch with the team at USB2U.

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Where Can You Get Printed USB Memory Sticks In 24hrs?

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Promotional USB Flash Drives Will Be In Short Supply During Chinese New Year

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

Chinese New Year is coming at us like a steam train and pretty soon it’s going to be too late to avoid the mayhem it causes to the promotional USB flash drive market.

We say it every year and every year we end up with disappointed customers who wanted a specific USB flash drive and in a particular pantone matched colour. In 2012, the Year of the Dragon, the holiday break is going to be even longer than normal with lots of factories closing from the 6th January to the 4th February – during this period nothing gets produced and nothing gets shipped. Nada, zip, nothing!!

Even when the factories return to work it take a week or so before things start to get back to “normal” but there are always the inevitable backlogs to deal with so typical leads times of 7-10 days can be stretched to several weeks.

Promotional USB Flash Drives

Promotional USB Flash Drives

If you know you have an event, show, seminar, press launch or any other activity for which you need printed or promotional USB flash drives during January to mid-February then you need to be placing your orders now! Don’t put it off because Christmas is looming or you think you’ll be able to “sort it out” in the New Year because you might find you can’t.

Having been through the trauma of Chinese New Year factory shut-downs for the last 9 years we now do all we can to ensure continuity of supply to our customers even it the supply is limited to a small number of flash drive models and colours. But, with a limited supply in the market and lots of customers chasing the stock the tendency is for the prices to shoot up (partly because UK print costs are higher and partly because of usual supply/demand economics) – so, whilst you may find some stock your model choices, colour choices and memory size choices are likely to be very limited and you’ll end up paying a premium for your failure to plan ahead.

Without wishing to sound like a broken record we strongly urge anyone who is likely to want printed USB sticks to plan ahead now and get any order(s) in early. You don’t have to pay for them when you order them, you’ll get exactly what you want and you’ll save yourself money – pretty compelling arguments to get any internal (early) approvals you might need.

Understandably this is not always possible but at least armed with an understanding of the issues/challenges you can hopefully find a way to work with the situation.

If you are too late then don’t forget that USB2U hold thousands of USB sticks in stock and can deliver them (printed) in as little as 24hrs – you may have to compromise a little on model and colour but at least you’ll have something!

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Promotional USB Flash Drives Will Be In Short Supply During Chinese New Year

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Get USB Sticks Printed With Your Logo In 48Hrs

Monday, September 5th, 2011

If you find yourself up against a really tight deadline for some printed USB memory sticks then don’t panic because if you have your artwork ready to go then we can supply a range of different USB flash drives from stock and get them printed and delivered in only 48hrs!

You will pay a premium for this Rush Service simply because of the higher costs of printing in the UK. The core cost of USB sticks are the same whether you need them in a hurry or have a little more time for us to ship them in for you from our factory in China.

USB2U Rush-Service

USB2U Rush-Service

UK print is charged “per colour” and there is a set-up fee for each colour as well so it’s not really a service that makes sense for very small quantities simply because the fixed set-up costs have to be amortised over a small number of sticks.

In an ideal world you really need to allow around 10 working days for any order of customised USB memory sticks because this way you can take full advantage of the cheaper costs of getting the sticks printed at our factory in China and you’ll get a much wider choice of USB sticks to choose from.

The models of USB sticks that we tend to hold in the UK ready for “rush printing” are the Twister, the Chic and the Trident and we’ll normally hold these in a range of standard colours which typically include as a minimum black, blue and red.

The most popular size of flash drive requested by our customers is 1Gb or 2GB so these tend to be the sizes that we carry but if you want something different it’s always worth checking what we have available.

Chic, Tridet, Probe and Twister Flash Drives

Chic, Tridet, Probe and Twister Flash Drives (Price exclude Rush Service)

Most suppliers of USB flash drives won’t entertain pre-loading data on “rush jobs” but if you have your data ready and it’s less than say 100MB we’ll try and support any request to load this onto your USB sticks as well.

So, if you’ve been let down by another supplier, or perhaps you’ve just left things really late give us a call and we’ll do all we can to help you with a solution.

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Get USB Sticks Printed With Your Logo In 48Hrs

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Branded USB Memory Sticks in 48 Hrs – No Problem for USB2U

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

The shutters are down, the factories are not quite in darkness and machines have not quite been turned off but new orders for branded USB memory sticks with a delivery date before the start of Chinese New Year are no longer being accepted.

So, from today any new order for branded USB sticks will not be delivered until mid February at best and possibly later because there are always delays when the factories return from a prolonged holiday. It takes the factories and the infrastructure that supports them a few days to get back up to speed and this includes the international courier companies that ship the printed USB memory sticks from the factories to the UK.

So, if you’re looking to place a new order for branded USB sticks and you wanted them in a hurry your only option is to find a UK supplier that holds stock and is able to get them printed and branded for you.

This is not as easy as it might sound because whilst there are lots of companies claiming to be the “No.1 supplier” of flash drives in the UK very few of them actually hold any stock. Even when they do its typically just a few hundred Twister flash drives in black and in one memory size; typically 1GB.

Holding a wide range of blank USB flash drives in different colours and different memory sizes is something most UK

USB2U Rush Service

USB2U Rush Service

suppliers try and avoid because it requires a significant investment and has an impact their cash flow. For others they are simply too small to take this commitment on and unfortunately for their customers this means a long wait.

USB2U is one of the few genuine large players in the promotional USB market and always carries a large stock of blank stock to ensure that its customers are not disappointed. As well as making a significant investment in stock USB2U has a dedicated in-house design team who can turn around mock-up requests and concept ideas in just a few hours. As a result USB2U can deliver printed and customised USB flash drives from initial enquiry in as little as 48hrs. So, if you’re in a hurry for branded USB memory sticks or perhaps you’ve been let down by your regular supplier then give the team at USB2U a call on 0800 008 7079

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Branded USB Memory Sticks in 48 Hrs – No Problem for USB2U

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USB Drives In A Flash – 48Hrs No Less

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

It’s a notoriously difficult time of the year for anyone wanting to order USB flash drives printed with a logo on to get them delivered quickly. The simple reason is that most USB flash drives are manufactured and printed for customers in China and then air freighted into the UK for onward delivery. Surprisingly this is not normally a problem because this whole process takes just a matter of days from time of order but at the moment China is effectively “closed” because of the convergence of two National Holidays.

This year the Mid-Autumn Festival will run from 22nd Sept to 24th Sept shortly followed by Chinese National Day holidays that run from 1st Oct to 7th Oct. Some factories and courier firms will be operating during the few days between these two holidays but many won’t. Some businesses are expected to remain closed from the 18th September to the 10th October!

Urgent USB Flash Drives

Chinese Holidays - USB Flash Drives in 48Hrs

The consequence of these holidays is that the lead-time for USB flash drives manufactured and printed in China will extend to several weeks rather than days. So, if you have not placed your order by today and been given a confirmed delivery date then you may be looking at mid-October as a realistic delivery date.

At USB2U we plan for these holidays every year and we stock up with blank USB flash drives that we print in the UK and turnaround in 48hrs or less. We don’t carry our full portfolio of USB flash drives but we do have a reasonable selection of both USB sticks and memory sizes.

If you find yourself needing USB flash drives printed with your logo on anytime during the next couple of weeks just give us a call and we’ll talk you through the options. Don’t leave it too late though because it seems that no matter how much stock we buy in we always struggle to fulfil all the orders we have.

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USB Drives In A Flash – 48Hrs No Less

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Branded Memory Sticks – Waiting For The Dust To Settle

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Whilst the UK’s Met Office describe the eruption of the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland as “weakening” its impacts are still being felt in the most unlikely of ways. The vast majority of branded memory sticks are air freighted into the UK from China on a “just in time” basis using carriers like DHL, TNT and Fedex. Whilst many of these carriers have their own fleet of aircraft they are affected in just the same way that commercial carriers are impacted – they are unable to fly their planes into and out of the UK.

Even when the restrictions are lifted there likely to be days if not weeks of delays as the networks and carriers struggle to return to normality. During this period of uncertainty its going to be incredibly difficult to give any firm commitment on delivery dates for branded USB memory sticks – at least those that are being manufactured and printed by the factories in China. The “normal” lead times of 10-14 days are likely to go out of the window in the short term but at least customers placing now can, to a degree, plan for this.

The bigger issue is for companies that have already ordered branded USB memory sticks in good faith with an expected delivery date of any time now. Many of these companies will have placed their orders to coincide with a show, a press event or media event and the non-delivery is likely to throw their plans into chaos.  It’s of course difficult to anticipate these events and no one is really to blame but are there any options to deal with the issue.

At USB2U we are fortunate to hold a significant amount of blank stock of USB flash drives and we are able to get these printed and delivered within 48hrs of an order. We don’t have all of the models shown on our website but we do have quite a few in different colours and memory sizes. So, if you are in desperate need of branded flash drives give us a call and talk to us about our “rush” service.

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Branded Memory Sticks – Waiting For The Dust To Settle

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Iceland Volcano Delays Branded Flash Drive Orders

Friday, April 16th, 2010

It not just passengers that are being impacted by the activities of the Icelandic Volcano, anyone waiting for the delivery of branded USB flash drives over the next few days could be let down as well.

Red Hot Branded Flash Drives

The Air Traffic Control Body for the UK, Nats, has just announced an extension of the restrictions into and out of UK airspace until Saturday 0100BST at the earliest. With conditions deteriorating today its anyones guess when the restrictions will be lifted and “normal service” resumes.

Realistically even when the restrictions are lifted it will be days, if not weeks, before things return to normal.

The majority of branded flash drives are manufactured and printed in China and then air freighted into the UK with carriers like TNT, DHL and UPS.  The operations of these carriers are all severely impacted by the suspension of flights in and out of the UK and as such there will be many customers anxiously waiting for news on their branded USB flash drive orders.

If you have got an event, show, activity which the USB flash drives were ordered for and it looks like they are not going to arrive in time you could consider getting some printed in the UK.

At USB2U we hold significant quantities of blank (un-printed) USB memory sticks that we can get printed up and delivered to you within 48hrs. Even if we don’t have exactly the same model or size of the ones you’ve ordered we will have something that will get you out of trouble.

We can’t suggest that we anticipated the eruption of the Volcano but we do always carry UK stock to allow us to provide a “Rush” service to our customers. Whether you been let down by a Volcano, another supplier or you just need branded flash drives in a hurry we can help so pick up the phone and give us a ring to talk through you requirements.

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Iceland Volcano Delays Branded Flash Drive Orders

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