Posts tagged ‘Choosing a Supplier’

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January 31, 2012

Adding glamour to your plastic cards is easy (and cheap!)

Bring on the Bling this February!

What’s so great about a plastic card? Plastic cards reveal uniqueness.

In Identification, plastic cards are used as a validation tool. The card proclaims “This person, seen here, is important to this company!” Plastic ID cards allow access into certain areas. They provide certain perks and they recognise the importance of that individual.

In loyal sectors, a loyalty card and membership card  is exclusive- even a little luxurious. They entitle the bearer to special treatment, discounts or opportunities.

People who carry plastic cards relish in their own uniqueness and in their own sense of belonging to an exclusive segment of society. Making your card feel luxurious and exclusive is the key to launching your plastic card campaign.  By embracing the feeling of uniqueness in your card holder, you increase their willingness to spend money at your establishment!

Thankfully, there are many ways to add glitz and glamour to your plastic card campaign without costing you a small fortune. This month, we are featuring our new most popular (and FUN!) glitzy features.  We offer a selection of “bling” that you can add to your plastic cards while we manufacture them and capitalise on that sense of exclusivity.

Add Sparkle:VIP Plastic Card Sparkle Sparkles are now available on digital offset!  Most recent to the CardsPlus arsenal is the ability to produce sparkle plastic cards in our standard 2 week turnaround. This shimmer metallic effect is particularly striking paired with light artwork, and provides an elegant backdrop to your gift card, loyalty card and membership card. This process of printing is a quick, cost-effective method of adding shine and character to your plastic card campaign.

Add Embossing: embossed-gift-cardSometimes called “Raised letters”, embossing is a beautiful and functional feature to add to your card. The cards are run, one by one, into a large embossing machine that punches the numbers and letters into the plastic. The cards are then “tipped” with a coloured foil to make the characters stand out visually. We recommend choosing silver or gold foil for the most shine. Embossing is most appropriate on gift cards, loyalty cards, or membership cards, although we’ve seen several companies use embossing for their luxury business cards.

Add Foil Stamp: Foil Stamped Loyalty CardFoil stamps are the most flexible and fun way to personalise your card design. Foil stamps are custom die cut foil pieces that are stamped into the plastic. By resting above the overlay, the foil provides a brilliant shine in the design of your choosing. The foil dies are precise and can be used for geometric shapes like circles or stars (Hint! Sterkinekor uses gold foil stamped stars on their cards!) or organic swirls or text (Hint: Truworths uses foil stamped text on their gift cards!). The design options are huge!

Although most frequently seen on gift cards and business cards, foil stamps are moving into every industry including security, loyalty, and membership. Foil stamps are available in many different colours, as well as a fun mirror finish.

Adding little touches like these to your plastic card campaign will make your card just a little edgier than the rest of your competition and secure a little extra loyalty from your very important clients.

If you would like to add extra features to your plastic cards, contact us for a complimentary consultation and quotation. We want your campaign to succeed!

Posted in CardsPlus Services, Demystifying the Technology, Design, Gift Cards, Insider Insight, Loyalty Cards, Plastic Cards, Pre-Printed Cards | 2 Comments »

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November 7, 2011

Manufacturers Versus Resellers : Choosing a plastic card supplier

 

 

Purchasing directly from a manufacturer has its share of benefits.  Resellers often add an extra element of service and value add to the project. There are benefits to both. And while the decision as to which is best for you is a personal choice, you need to feel comfortable that the company you work with is offering you the service you are paying for.

But what are the benefits to choosing one over the other?

Manufacturers:

The biggest benefit of purchasing from a manufacturer is service flexibilty

When you approach CardsPlus directly, you will receive the most flexible option available. When you require something less than straight forward, you can be assured that the printing company knows exactly what you need without relying on additional people. There are no long delays waiting to hear back from the printers, since we can look at our production schedule right away.  With information “straight from the horse’s mouth” you can be assured that everything is being handled.

Great Pricing

Since there are no additional mark ups, you can feel confident that you are receiving excellent pricing.

Indepth Information

Plastic cards is what we do. It’s our specialty, our livelihood. We know plastic cards inside and out. If you require information about the technology or it’s application, you best contact someone who has pinpointed vision on the industry.

 

Resellers:

CardsPlus has a strong network of reselling agents and we believe in promoting our reseller base as there is value in buying from a reseller.

The biggest benefit of purchasing from a reseller is Added Value.

Each reseller packages their value-add in different ways. Some offer free artwork, some have a wide variety of suppliers and can offer a more inclusive product solution, others suppliment cards with loyalty provision or other software or system add on.

Advocacy

All resellers act as the mediator between the manufacturer and the end user. They keep track of your order, ensuring that artwork is completed, proofs are signed off, and delivery is arranged. While some manfacturers, like CardsPlus, offer order tracking, and delivery, it is sometime nice to have additional advocacy to the manufacturing company.

 

Are you not sure if your supplier is a reseller or manfuacturer? We have addressed disturbing trends in the industry about this very thing.

 

Choosing a plastic card supplier is a personal choice, and can refer to the time and resources available to spend on your project. I believe in the value of purchasing straight from the manufacturer. This is why CardsPlus transistioned from a printing service to a manufacturering company. Yet, the industry is so big and full with unique projects and situations, there is sometimes a better fit with a reseller than the manufacturer directly.

If you would like more inforamtion about how an order would be handled at CardsPlus, please give us a call.


Posted in CardsPlus Services, Industry News, Insider Insight, Pre-Printed Cards, Pre-Printing 101, Printing 101 | 1 Comment »

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November 4, 2011

Is your supplier a Reseller or Manufacturer? : Choosing a plastic card supplier

I, initially, began this post as “Warning, not everyone is who they say” as an outcry to a client’s recent experience with a plastic card supplier. Their experience was quite upsetting as they were led to believe that their supplier was a manufacturer but then discovered the company was not being competely honest – just when they needed them the most.

They were misled by phrases like “direct from the manufacturer” meanwhile, the company was a reseller posing as a manufacturer.

This does seem to be a trend in our industry, with small businesses misleading clients to believing that they manufacture onsite, while they actually import their products from an overseas or local manufacturer.

Purchasing directly from a manufacturer has its share of benefits.  Resellers often add an extra element of service and value add to the project. There are benefits to both. And while the decision as to which is best for you is a personal choice, you need to feel comfortable that the company you work with is offering you the service you are paying for.

Here are a few tricks to finding the truth behind all the marketing:

1: ASK if your potential supplier is a reseller or manufacturer

The best way to find out if you are working with a reseller or not is to ask them. Most companies are honest enough to say that they are not the producers of the goods in question.

Perhaps you aren’t dealing with a highly scrupulous company, and you catch a hint that perhaps they aren’t being completely honest?

RUN!

If they are fibbing about something clear-cut and straightforward, how do you think they are going to handle the situation if something goes wrong?

2. Pop in for a visit (or say you are going to)

There are only a small handful of local manufacturers, of which CardsPlus is the largest.

We each WANT you to come in so that we can dazzle you with our productivity, interior decorating and staff personalities.

If your supplier does not want you to come in (whether you actually choose to or not) red flags should be popping up in your mind.

Ask yourself what they might be hiding.

3. Look at their website and marketing information

Does the company claim to manufacturer onsite? Are they a large international company (hint: they import!) or do they seem smaller than they say they are? Are they vague about printing terms or do an excessive amount of “checking” whether something might be acceptable for print? These are all tell-tale signs that your supplier might be a reseller.

Through a little investigation, you can start to place where the potential supplier falls and with these hints in mind, you can avoid being misled and disappointed.

Posted in FAQ, Insider Insight, Pre-Printed Cards, Pre-Printing 101 | 1 Comment »

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