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John Diehl
01-14-2009, 8:56 PM
I have a small trophy business and would like to get a wider variety of suppliers.

I use JDS Industries, Discount Trophy (Marco), PDU, Continential Trophies, Jon-Ko and Plastic Plus.

Does anyone know of anymore wholesale suppliers?

Thanks,

John:)

Stephen Beckham
01-14-2009, 9:54 PM
John,

The biggest thing you need to do right now is wait for the big three to fight it out - actually JDS is going to stay as is....

But Plastic Plus and Plastic Dress Up (PDU) have just split ways after 21 years.

So - Plastic Plus apparently is going to team up with Marco to replace their PDU line.

And - PDU is teaming up with CAT (Continental Award and Trophy I think).

The rest are smaller distributors. Several others are out there - RAM is another one that comes to mind. If you go to PDU's site, they give you a list of all of their distributors so you can find one local. Otherwise, you're going to get stuff from one of the main warehouses across the nation.

Of course - this is all according to my little world of Garp as I understand it - I'm no official, just trying to keep up with the letters I'm getting.

There is one other big guy out there I almost forgot about Freeman...

Good luck - don't give your customers too much to choose from, you'll be ordering $10 from one company, $12 from another and yet even more from the third all to make one set of trophies - adding three different shipment costs as well. I use to let my customers 'ala-cart' order from the catalogs, ouch - that was a learning experience....

Martin Boekers
01-15-2009, 9:03 AM
I really try to keep my suppliers to a minimum, Too many catalogs take to much time as does inventory control. Outside of that, I do keep some specialty catalogs for signage and unique product lines just in case. I try to develop strong relationships with "Quality Comapanies" as they will try to help you any way they can, as well as stand by their product lines.

You give your customer too many choices it confuses them and takes up too much of your time going through all the products.

Also as with most of the manufatures (buy from them if you can and not just the distributors, distributors usually don't give the discounted rate) they offer dramatic discounts if you purchase $5000 - $10,000 a year, and that can really help out on the bottom line!


Marty

Stephen Beckham
01-15-2009, 9:43 AM
Marty,

Good point - I have my primary book (and extra copies) that sits out in front. I gently steer everyone to that book first because it keeps my total purchases above their discount requirements.

But when the picky person comes in and just doesn't like the cow that company "A" has, I'll let them go through the other companies...

Once they start going ala-cart on me, I give them a warning of a surcharge because of the extra shipping required to get piece parts from different catalogs. That usually settles them down to sticking with the one or maybe a second.

Martin Boekers
01-15-2009, 11:12 AM
Surcharges will get them all the time!

I'm sure everyone faces this dilemma, that the clients that take up much of your time, the ones that just aren't quite sure, are the ones that don't understand nice quality products do cost and take time to produce. They are usually the ones that have a limited budget & want it now.

I try to "gently" recommend them to competitor, If I'm feeling real "evil"
I'll send them to Things Remembered in the mall after the get a quote of $30 for a small plate they usally come back with a better understanding!;)

Marty

Bill Cunningham
01-15-2009, 10:59 PM
Ya! I learned very early, 'never' give your customers a book of fonts to look for one they like.. I had one woman that wanted me to make her $8.00 rubber stamp my life's work..ha..

John Frazee
08-29-2010, 1:27 AM
I wanted to bring this subject back to the top. It has been awhile since all the split ups and wonder how the trophy supply buyers are liking the curves we have been thrown. Since this thread was first started, there have been many more distributers to leave pdu.

I was a Plastic Plus/pdu customer and have wanted to just throw my hands up and quit ever since the split up. I thought pdu was the best thing since sliced bread until my orders had to come from them instead of PP. I am now going through the agony of switching my showroom to Marco. pdu claims that I am the only person having trouble with my orders. How has the supply been to the rest of you that buys from them? They have been out of most of the cups they carry, female victorys, most of the standard sport figures during the particular sport, coulmns, marble, even checkrings, hexnuts and ferrules. It is hard trying to stay with a supplier that can't supply my needs. Again, I was told by a rep named Irma that I was the only person having any trouble. Is it true? Don't think so but please let me know.

Terry Swift
08-29-2010, 8:36 AM
John,

Probably not; as many distributors and not just those in the Trophy Business have experienced issues with supply to meet demand. Unfortunately so many are stuck at the hip with Chinese products / producers that their provider can't always meet their requests. It has become that way in many industries, as my wife works in aircraft hardware and when a customer orders a product - sometimes the lead time can be 4-6 months; as base materials are in short supply, the line is running another larger order and won't finish it for awhile - then they have to retool, etc.; so many companies in America no longer do business here because their are no suppliers and have to go around the world to find them.

Sad state of affairs for what was once a great industrial nation. :mad:

Scott Shepherd
08-29-2010, 9:32 AM
I don't do trophies, but I've spoken with a few people that do and last time we spoke, they were in frenzy trying to track down trophy parts. They said no one in the country had certain things and with it all coming from China, everyone was in the same boat, sit and wait. They had just come from a gathering of people in the business from all over the country and everyone was facing the same problems.

I did use Plastics Plus and really liked working with them. I wish I could say the same about Marco. I HATE their system of order taking. They are local, but we can't call the local number and place and order for pick up. We have to call a central number, and they process the orders to the locations. So if we run out of a material or have problems, and we say "Just run to Marco and get some more", which we used to do with Plastics Plus, now it's a real pain, as it may take hours for them to key the order in.

Last order we did, we ordered it, someone drove down about 45 minutes later, the order wasn't ready and they didn't have it yet. Had to sit and wait for almost another hour before it came through.

I hate their centralized ordering process.

Martin Boekers
08-29-2010, 1:51 PM
I haven't noticed much different with PDU, but I only order from them about 4 times a month where
other shops it's a couple time a week. I always tried to order directly from them, as some of their dist.
didn't give the same discount.;) I don't do much in trophies though. Marco is about the same. JDS is
about an hour away but they ship quickly. Their online ordering is good. If they are out of stock you can
search instantly their other warehouses to see inventory.

I did have some problems earlier this year with another vendor and got a similar reply that you did from PDU. after a few emails
and a couple weeks their president sent a letter explaining the issues they were having. Haven't had any issues since.

It's not Just PDU others have had inventory issues.

Tower used to be a PDU vendor and sometimes I did order from them as
they are close and shipping is the next day. I have been buying more from them lately as the have a new line of
resins that have worked well for me.
Also it doesn't hurt to check with previous PDU vendors, if they still have
some product left some very good deals can be had!;)

Liesl Dexheimer
08-29-2010, 4:54 PM
Since we are on the subject of trophies, I need some advice...

We generally don't offer trophies, esp since we have limited space and the market around here is pretty much sewn up. We have one customer that has ordered trophies from us 3 yrs now. I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth it. They want marble bases but don't want to spend a lot of money.

By the time all the labor is taken into account it seems like we may profit a couple hundred dollars. They typically order 200 trophies but it takes so much time cutting up the columns and then vacuuming out the chips not to mention assembling everything. If they come back to us this year I kind of feel like telling them you have a few options: spend more money on marble trophies, choose pre-assembled trophies, or choose resins. We really could use the $ but it feels like the labor just doesn't justify the job anymore. What's your advice? Where would you suggest to order pre-assembled trophies other than JDS?

Martin Boekers
08-29-2010, 6:47 PM
liesl,
here is a supplier for assembled and in kit form.
I don't do much trophy work so I don't know
many suppliers.

http://www.trophykits.com

If this is for a club or organization they might
be interested in buying them in kit form with
plates to save some money.

I feel your pain on assembly, if that was my main line
I'd go nuts!:D

Marty

Tony Lenkic
08-30-2010, 10:57 AM
Liesl,

I use to come across ads from Buckeye Trophies on monthly issues of Engravers Journal. BT had various pre-assembled trophies and all you would need is top figurine and plate. Don't know if they are still in business so you can Google them and check if they still do pre-assembled trophies.

The EJ add had them listed as follows:
Buckeye Trophy
1709 Lincoln Way East
Massillon, Ohio

Please note that I have no affiliation to this company. Just passing on the info I have at hand.

Ross Moshinsky
08-30-2010, 3:21 PM
JDS Industries, Discount Trophy (Marco), PDU, Continental Trophies, Jon-Ko and Plastic Plus.

I am a mid sized trophy dealer and I can get most anything I need (substituting similar items when needed) from the above suppliers.

We are fortunate that PDU, Marco and JDS are all in the same industrial complex near by. My freight costs from trophy parts, laminated boards and engravables are negligible. We can order on line and pick up on our way to work several times a week so that way we have a well controlled inventory.

Liesl Dexheimer
08-31-2010, 3:33 PM
Thank you for the suggestions, I will definitely look into those suppliers. :)

Steve Gamble
08-31-2010, 10:33 PM
I wanted to bring this subject back to the top. It has been awhile since all the split ups and wonder how the trophy supply buyers are liking the curves we have been thrown. Since this thread was first started, there have been many more distributers to leave pdu.

I was a Plastic Plus/pdu customer and have wanted to just throw my hands up and quit ever since the split up. I thought pdu was the best thing since sliced bread until my orders had to come from them instead of PP. I am now going through the agony of switching my showroom to Marco. pdu claims that I am the only person having trouble with my orders. How has the supply been to the rest of you that buys from them? They have been out of most of the cups they carry, female victorys, most of the standard sport figures during the particular sport, coulmns, marble, even checkrings, hexnuts and ferrules. It is hard trying to stay with a supplier that can't supply my needs. Again, I was told by a rep named Irma that I was the only person having any trouble. Is it true? Don't think so but please let me know.

PDU..is SOL for my purchasing, Always out of or low on stock for about everything I need everytime I give them a chance.
I stick mostly with Marco and have been 100% happy with them.
Engraving and Dye sub materials, and helpful.

Dan Ashlin
09-01-2010, 4:12 PM
I keep it between JDS and Marco. Marco seems to have the better prices, but JDS seems to have their act together more. I don't like the way Marco bills and it seems that if i place a big order, im getting them from 14 different warehouses with shipping charges to boot. JDS usually always has everything in one place and its billed right away. If i ever have a problem, they tend to be better with replacements too.