stevenets365's blog

Printed USB Flash Drives in Just 24Hrs

Now we've entered Chinese New Year it's a bit like going going on the dark side of the moon if you're trying to source printed USB flash drives.

The problem is that pretty much every supplier that sells printed USB flash drives sources them from a variety of factories in China and when these factories close for Chinese New Year (and they can close for 2-3 weeks) nothing happens - nothing gets printed, nothing gets assembled and nothing gets shipped.

Even when the factories return there is normally such a backlog of work that it can take weeks before things get back on track again and a normal lead time of circa 10 days is resumed.

During this closedown period if you need printed USB flash drives you'll have to join everyone else hunting down the limited stock that is held by local suppliers. Most won't hold any because this demands cash, secure storage and a willingness to take a risk. So, it's only the larger, more established suppliers like USB2U that will carry stock in any volume and will carry stock across a range of products.

USB2U also have the capability to print in-house and dataload in-house so if you're really pushed then can turnaround printed and dataloaded USB sticks in as little as 24hrs albeit during Chinese NY their order books gets pretty rammed!!

Your best bet is to call them or get onto their web site and get a quote request in.

The image below shows some of the USB models they carry in the UK for immediate print and despatch!

Get Samples Of USB Sticks Before You Commit

Choosing the right type and style of promotional USB stick for your business or school is not easy these days because there are so many suppliers and so many different models of USB sticks to choose from. Do you go for a rugged leather model, a super slim credit card shaped USB flash drive or perhaps something a little more conservative like the ever popular twister USB flash drive?

Like most things the best way to narrow it down is to see the products in the flesh and to "touch and feel" the various models that you've shortlisted. The problem is that most suppliers of promotional USB flash drives either don't carry samples or will want to charge for the supply of samples!

One suppier that goes out of its way to not only supply you with free mock-ups of all your shortlised USB sticks (with your logo on) but that is also happy to supply you with a range of different samples (free of charge) is USB2U.

Let's face it if you're about to commit to buy hundreds or thousands of printed promotional USB sticks then you must make sure before you take delivery of them that the quality is good, that they're going to be right for your project and more importantly that your boss is going to be happy with them. If the suppliers you are talking to back off from sending you samples then take your business to a supplier that will. Simple as that!

Here's the sample pack that USB2U supplies to its customers:

Don't get Stung When You Buy USB Sticks - Check The Certificates

Making sure your supplier of USB flash drives is actually supplying products that complies with the current legal requirements (RohS, CE, FCC etc.) should be at the top of your list but so often it's price! Whilst price is understandably a key driver when making any buying decision if you base the decision on price and price alone then you could be storing up a whole world of trouble - failure to ensure your supplier sells you with properly certified products can leave you facing some pretty hefty fines - ignorance is no defence.

Metal USB Keys

It's strange really because some people call their USB flash drives "USB Keys" but now there are lots of USB flash drives that are in the shape of a house key so they get called USB Keys - confused?

Hopefully this picture will help - these are all USB keys, they're made from metal and they come in lots of different memory sizes. They pop onto a keyring just like any regular key and providing you get any image you have put on the key engraved rather than printed then the brand should be around on the key for quite a while - avoid the urge to print on them because whilst they may look good when they arrive you can pretty much guarantee that the ink will be scratched off in minutes.

Most USB key are available in silver, gold or a sort of "burnised" silver giving them a black sort of colour. They are a number of different styles of USB keys around but we like these square versions. As you can see from the image these have been engraved and they're supplied by the folks at USB2U.

USB Wristbands A Big Hit With Schools

I guess it should come as no surprise but the USB wristbands are incredibly popular with school and colleges at the moment. It's not because everyone is bored with standard USB flash drives but because the schools are looking for something a little bit different.

USB wristbands have exactly the same functionality as other USB drives, they come in a wide range of memory sizes and they can be produced in different colours and different sizes (for larger and smaller wrists)

As well as being incredibly useful to store and carry homework and research on they're also great fun and the children that are given them tend to get very enthusiastic about them. For schools or colleges that have a "house" structure they can buy them with a different colour for each house.

If you've got children of school age don't be surprised if you see them coming home anytime soon with a USB wristband

Black and Yellow USB Flash Drives

It was only a couple of weeks ago that I seemed to be cursing the radio every 5 minutes when Wiz Khalifia Black and Yellow song was blasting out at us in the office.  I admit it's a pretty good song but after you've heard it what seems like a million times it begins to grate!

I'm not sure if the people buying USB flash drives from USB2U picked up on the whole "Black and Yellow" vibe because there seems to have been a flurry of branded USB flash drive produced with black and yellow colours.

If you're looking to make a strong visual impact then these colours seem to work really well albeit I've seen other colour options that are equally as strong.

Go Large on Your USB Flash Drives

You have to take your hat off to the fast food establishments around the world because judging by the size of the average waist size in the countries where they are popular they're very succesful at what they do!

Vendors of USB memory sticks on the other hand tend to be a little too conservative when it comes to upselling which is a pity because the price differential between a 1GB USB flash drive and a 2GB USB flash drive is tiny. So, next time you're looking to buy these branded with your company or school logo on perhaps you should prompt them to give you a price for go large!

Custom USB Planes

Now these custom USB flash drives are georgeous - they're made from top quality polished stainless steel, they're heavy and they look fab.

The only downside is they are so heavy you wouldn't really want to carry them around with you but they do double up as a brilliant paperweight. It's the sort of thing you've really go to see/feel in the flesh to get a proper feel for the quality of the thing.

In terms of marketing, the Sky's the limit with these custom planes (I know - poor pun)

USB Pens

Still struggle with the Typepad interface and tools - compared to the old Vox ones they are pants (do people still says pants) - anyway we've had some brilliant USB pens to push lately and I wanted to post some pics of them but I'm not sure if the editor will let me do it - here we go

Missing my Vox Site already

Oh well I guess beggers can't be chosers and it was easy enough to transfer my stuff over but I really liked the Vox interface and themes. Maybe its just a question of spending more time on this and getting used to it.Change - not a strong point of mine.

On a more positive note we've had some cracking jobs come in including Armani, Firetrap, Sony and loads of others....here's a few nice pics of the branded USB drives of late....