faqs - Happysmile Promotional Products

Basics:

What is a Promotional Product?

A promotional product is defined as articles of merchandise that are branded with a logo and used in marketing and communication programs. They are sometimes called Promotional merchandise, promotional items, promotional products, promotional gifts, advertising gifts or even marketing collateral. They are used for a multitude of purposes, and can range from a simple pencil to a bespoke made car cover.

Their purpose is to reinforce a brands identity, to promote their existence in the market place and to extend a brands reach as well as acting as support materials for staff, suppliers and resellers and as well as a means of recognition to those who are supporters and users of the Brands in their day to day business and social activities.

Sourcing:

What is your ethical sourcing policy?

As a member of the British Promotional Merchandising Association (BPMA) we are duty bound to adhere to ethical sourcing policies and therefore have no links or trade with any suppliers who use unethical means of procuring or producing goods or providing services that would contravene these standards.

Do you provide reseller services?

We work with a number of creative agencies and design professionals and provide sourcing and unbranded blind services to organisations throughout the UK. We have done this for many years and can provide a variety of services, please do not hesitate to get in touch to discuss your individual needs.

What is the minimum order quantity?

MOQ stands for Minimum Order Quantity, this is the minimum volume of a certain product that the supplier is willing to print, this is based on the economies of scale, which means that is cost effective to set up and print the goods in question. This will differ from product to product and some suppliers will print lower quantities, however they will have a minimum print charge that will drive up the unit cost significantly due to the lower volumes required.

Pricing:

Express Charges:

Please note express charges differ from supplier to supplier, therefore each product that requires express services may be priced differently. Due to the variations in production and manufacturing processes some items can be printed faster than others. This can range from 15-20% of the individual quoted price.

What is Origination?

This is sometimes known as a set up costs and the process will differ from one personalisation process to the next and is priced differently as well, however we build this cost in to our pricing so not to cause any additional confusion.

The origination process is the process of converting your artwork into the appropriate format to personalise your goods by means of the technology required. This will also be required for each colour when printing and this can range from a printing plate to an embossing die or an electronic embroidery file to talk to an embroidery machine.

The cost is can be determined defined by how many colours are in your logo for printing as each colour is printed separately. Unfortunately, this cost will be required every time you repeat the printing process as the printing screens oxidise and are not kept. However, some processes only require a one off set up fee for origination.

Full address requirements:

Please ensure that you have supplied Happysmile Ltd. with a specific delivery address including full postal code with your final signed approval. We are unable to change delivery addresses once a job is in production as this can impact the timescales as the production management systems need to take them out of the print cue to adjust these details. Failure to do this may delay the production of your order as some suppliers will as not accept a factory order without all of the necessary delivery details.

Can I collect my order to reduce the carriage costs?

We use suppliers all over the UK and they ship the goods to us on in most cases directly to our customers, therefore there is no cost benefit reduction in collecting the goods from us as they will have had an associated cost in getting delivered to our offices.

What Does Plus or Minus Mean in Custom Print?

Printing is a manufacturing process and like all manufacturing has a degree of error estimated into every job, this is to allow for the machine get up and running with the new print job. Typically, this margin is roughly 10% plus or minus the quantity you order. If the job goes to plan the 10% over the quantity ordered is referred to as “Overs”, likewise 10% under the quantity required is called “Unders”. Where possible we will try to achieve the desired quantity ordered, however depending on the complexity of the print, some items may have a +/- of up to 10% on volume ordered and the final invoice may be adjusted to suit.

Payment:

What are Price Breaks:

We operate in a volume base marketplace and individual goods are priced due to the quantities required and therefore the more you require the less per unit each individual product will cost, and this also applies to print and therefore where requested we will provide a secondary price break, which outlines you the cost savings that can be made from ordering more for a lower unit cost.

Do you accept PayPal?

Yes, we have a PayPal account, please let us know and we will send you a PayPal link.

Do you Accept Credit Cards?

Yes we can accept credit cards payments via Stripe, a link is provide on our invoices to make the process seemless and efficient.

How do I get a quote, what information do you need?

In order for us to provide you a quotation we will need a few facts to help us put together a precise cost for the goods required. Ideally, we would like the volume required and can provide price breaks based on this, we also need to know how many colours you would like to print on to each item and how many positions on the individual product, and if that is the same artwork or will it be different. We will need to see your artwork to confirm that it can be printed on the items in question. Finally, we need to know how many locations you need to send the goods to as this will also have an impact on cost.

How do I pay for my goods?

All goods will be invoiced on a 14-day payment terms provided you have an account history with us. Public sector clients will require an official purchase order, which will be required prior to goods being dispatched. New clients or those with poor payment history will be subject to proforma invoices which will need to be paid prior to goods being dispatched.

How Can I make payment?

We prefer Bank Transfers all our Bank details will be include
on all our invoices.

Cheques: These are accepted; however, funds will need to have cleared prior to goods being dispatched.

Returns:

What is your returns process for faulty goods?

For any orders deemed to be faulty, please inform us within 7 days of receiving these items and we will investigate with our supply chain on how best to resolve this matter. This will require samples of the goods to be returned to evaluate the nature of the fault before any action is taken by us and any liability is agreed.

What if the print is wrong?

If there is a print error deemed to be our fault we will offer to re-print the products or provide a refund. We undertake an approval process to ensure that colours are correct and that print values are correctly supplied, however we cannot be held responsible for misprints or typographical errors that are identified after the printed goods have been received, even if an approval has been received agreeing to print. The responsibility for correct spelling is not ours, that responsibility is one the individual signing off the approval.

In all situations we will require photos or samples of the items for us to assess before any action is taken by us and any liability is agreed.

What’s the Benefit of a Vector Format?

Due to most printing processes, we must be able to divide up the art into each of the (spot or process) print colours. Only Vector artwork allows for this colour separation. Also, if a vector design needs to be made larger, it can be scaled up without effecting the quality of the original artwork and can make amendments if required. Also, if all the fonts are converted to curves this also allows for manipulation to scale.

Why do we need convert Fonts / Typefaces to curves?

It is always a good idea to convert text to curves when sending artwork file as we may not have the same fonts on our system and this prevents the font being substituted when we open the file to impose the artwork. Some printing processes, particularly those that involve printing on textiles, requires text to be converted to outlines.

What if I don’t have artwork in a proper format?

If you cannot supply your design in a vector format, we can facilitate this process by recreating artwork on your behalf at a fixed charge of £25.00, which once complete will be supplied to you for your own use in a suitable format. Please note that any complex designs may incur further charges which would be advised as we would provide a quotation for this in advance of commencing work. If you need any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be more than happy to talk you through the process

What do you need from us to recreate artwork?

In order for us to recreate your logo/ design we would require a high-resolution jpeg or png or tiff files which we will use a basis to redraw your logo into a vector graphic image. If you do not have any of these you can send a rough visual of what you are thinking, we may also need to know what typeface you would like or was used in the non-vector design. Once redrawn we will send a visual over to you for your approval before we would proceed to use the artwork in your order, if changes are required we can also make these at no additional cost, however this is with will need to be within reason.

What are PMS colours?

PMS, stands for Pantone Matching System, and it is a universally recognised system designed by the Pantone company to ensure that all colours are printed consistently across multiple media, and across several jobs. However, it should be noted that the consistency of print colours can vary from material to the next, with that said PMS is used as a benchmark to measure all colours and match against it where possible.

How we work?

An order confirmation is received based on a quotation provided received including quantities, number of printed colours required, along with any further instructions. Please supply your artwork/ text including all pantone colour references (PMS) as well as any layout instructions for our in-house design team. For further instructions on how to supply artwork please see above.

Artwork Approvals

Once artwork is received several layouts are created and supplied to you for your review. If adjustments are required, we will amend as requested in order for you to achieve the desired look and re-supplied for your final approval. We will send artwork approvals for each item ordered, even on repeat orders. Once all layouts are as required all you then need to do is to approve the artwork and email us to confirm your approval to proceed.

The individual who has signed off the artwork as signed and dated, accepts responsibility for proofing all the artwork accurately. Any changes or alterations to these approvals must be made via email as we are unable to accept changes verbally. If the artwork is being signed off is on behalf of a third party, please ensure artwork has been viewed and approved by the third party. We cannot accept responsibility for
corrections or changes not implemented and or requested after the artwork approval stage. Any alterations requested after client and factory approval of artwork may result in production delays and / or expenses for which the client will be invoiced accordingly.

Once approvals are received we will send off factory orders for production and printing and the delivery of goods should be 10 – 14 working days from approval of final artwork unless otherwise notified.

What is your standard lead time?

This can vary from product to product, however all orders will be dependent upon a print proof approval for each item. The average shipping time for most goods is 10 – 14 working days, but this can depend on seasonal fluctuations and where these goods are produced. We try to keep you informed on scheduled dispatch dates and work on the basis of aiming to exceed where possible.

Can I return a printed item?

Please Note All printed stock is non-returnable due to the bespoke nature of the print. These are considered personalised goods made to your specifications and cannot be re-sold to anyone else, hence the reason we undertake an approval process. We will all ways endeavour to resolve any problems that should arise and work hard to reduce errors and omissions, however people being people mistakes do happen.

What is your returns process for damaged goods?

For orders which have been damaged in transit please inform us within 48 hours of delivery and we will investigate with our supply chain on how best to resolve this matter. We will need documentary evidence, so please take as many pictures as possible of the goods and the packaging so that we can assess the situation before any action is taken by us and any liability is agreed.

Do you offer Express or Timed Delivery?

Yes, this can be achieved however this may incur additional costs and also may be dependant where your goods are being shipped within the UK. We work with clients up and down the country and work with a number of carriers to ensure goods are delivered to a scheduled timescale, however we need to be informed well in advance that your delivery location closes early or opens late as we cannot ensure these goods will be received on time and on date if we are not provided the significant information.

Samples:

What is your sample policy?

Please note samples are only available to genuine business customers. The majority of our samples are chargeable and non-returnable. This is due to the nature of the goods and how they can be shipped and in most cases, it is the cost of carriage that adds to the cost. Please call to discuss whether the sample you require is chargeable.

Due to our large range of products we cannot possibly keep all samples in stock, therefore we purchase many of our range on a “as required” basis from our supply chain some of which are branded named goods. So please bear this in mind and are sold on a non-returnable basis due to the administration required to restock the goods.

We appreciate that physical samples allow you to evaluate the colour finish and quality of the goods you are looking to brand, and we are more than happy to organise these, however you will need to be aware of the following. Samples are organised via our suppliers and we cannot guarantee the sample you will receive will be plain or personalised and this is sometimes dependant on the product in question, please let us know if you require them plain stock otherwise they may be supplied already branded as they could be a bespoke item.

Small samples are normally despatched by post and on the whole, are not chargeable, however we cannot guarantee that so please do not take that as given. Larger samples are sent by carrier at our discretion. If a strict timeline is required i.e. the
sample must be there tomorrow no fail, then we strongly suggest a carrier is used, as although it is more expensive than the post, it is the only way to guarantee the arrival of the sample in question.

It should also be stated that samples sent outside the UK, will incur additional freight charges and that due to high administration and processing costs samples will strictly not be accepted back for credit or refund.

Clothing samples:

Sampling clothing can be expensive as they are chargeable. Clothing is one of the only items that you can return; however, restocking fees will be charged. Clothing wholesalers can charge between 15-25% of the garment price or a flat fee of £15.00 and above. Therefore, we suggest you request a colour swatch if you are looking to evaluate colours.

If you would like to evaluate sizes, order a mixture of sizes leaving a size in between size which will help you identify which are the best sizes to order for your final order. This will help you avoid restocking fees. Please note that most garment samples are supplied plain stock.

Pre-production samples:

A pre-production sample is the physical, 3D version of a digital visual. This is not part of the standard service however from time to time on higher value items you may be sent a sample of the chosen finished product or even a picture of a physical sample to evaluate and approve the print finish. This is to give you the assurance that your order will come out exactly the way you’d envisioned it.

It should be noted that this is usually done on higher value items and digital finish solutions and is part of the approval process, however it is not the standard service and can be a chartable process. Please call to discuss this further as this is not a standard service.

Design Services:

What type of Artwork do you require?

In order to produce good quality reproduction of your logo and design we require vector graphic artwork. This will ensure the quality of print is achieved. Poor quality artwork supplied will lead to poor quality results and may also delay the production of your order.

To achieve this, we required your artwork to be supplied in one of the following PC file formats: Adobe Illustrator / EPS (Encapsulated Post Script with fonts converted to curves) / PDF’s with fonts converted to curves.

Deliveries:

Deliveries

All deliveries will be made between 09:00 and 17:30 hours (depending on the carrier which is chosen by our supplier) – we cannot guarantee when delivery will be made. If your order is required by a specific date and time, please notify us of this prior to completion of sign off. We will then be able to give you a quote for a specific delivery slot. We cannot be held responsible for a missed delivery if your allocated delivery address is closed.

Call: 0131 443 0004

Email: sales@happysmile.co.uk