Other suppliers?

[Dave Johnson29]

Hi people,

Are there other comprehensive product line suppliers besides LaserBits? I like to shop around and so far have only found LB.

I did look in the sticky posts but could not sort out a shortlist without a lot of work. Sooo, lazy me asks.

Thanks in advance.

[Mike Null]

I use JDS Industries and Johnson Plastics.

[Dave Johnson29]

I use JDS Industries and Johnson Plastics.

Hi Mike,

Thanks, I have bookmarked there sites for future use.

[Scott Shepherd]

Don't just bookmark them, call both of them and get catalogs. You'll find the majority of items you'll ever need for most common engraving items there, and both have excellent catalogs and both come with the price lists.

And both are free :)

[Dave Johnson29]

Don't just bookmark them, call both of them and get catalogs.


Thanks Scoot, that will be my first job tomorrow.

[Stephen Beckham]

Dave,

The key might be to pay attention to who get's what from whom....? For instance, I spent a lot of money with Johnson Plastics to order some boxes. Come to find out they buy them from Laserbits. Could have saved about $.28 each if I had bought them directly from Laserbits.

Not putting either one down, I use both for their prospective items....

I made up a matrix of who sells what item and the prices of each. Now I play the 'who imported it' game to find out the #1 guy versus the re-seller.

The other key is research. I just found out the importer's name and contact information for a ornament hangar I sell. Why - my supplier stopped carrying it because their supplier stopped selling to them.

Soooo.... Once I found out, I let the marketing department know from my supplier so they can pick the line item back up - at a cheaper price than they were originally paying - oh and I told them that I'd be getting the hangars myself at the same price now... It's not personal, just good business. Not everyone will want to deal directly with an importer - or want to buy the 100's required to get stock...

One other note - if you play the game and learn the products/prices/quantities from the prospective providers, you can be honest (and should be) with them - they will understand because they already know the comparisons. But trust me - not many of them will give you a "Progessive" type comparison with their competitors.

[Dave Johnson29]

I made up a matrix of who sells what item and the prices of each.


Hi Stephen, thanks for that info. This is not a full fledged business as I am retired and have just finished rebuilding this old laser. I'd like to do some work with it to supplement income, so 100s of anything is out of my scope, but I appreciate you taking the time to outline it. Thanks.

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

What kind of jobs are you doing? I use all three suppliers listed above plus about 10 or so others. I might be able to help you out with more contacts and information on some companies.

[Dave Johnson29]

What kind of jobs are you doing?



Hi Gary or Jessica,

Thanks for the offer. I have just recently got this laser working and I am trying to find a niche or two. There is a local awards (sublimation) guy but he does not have a laser and is happy to pass on laser requests, but he said he only gets about 3 such requests a year.

I want to buy materials to try and see what I can make that sells or at worst peaks interest. So at this point I cannot be specific but I am looking at everything to see what might apply in a small (2600 Pop.) country town.
We have several schools and a College but not a lot of industry. Fortunately there are 6 other small towns within about a 30 mile radius all with similar populations so I can spread the "joy."

Thanks to links provided by the good people here I have some plywood and other woods in transit from Sloan's and LaserArt.

I have talked with JDS and Johnson Plastics and await their account approval and subsequent catalogs. Once I get those I will be in a better position to begin finding that niche but in the interim, all help is gratefully received, so suggest away.

Having said that, the guy I spoke with yesterday at JDS seemed a little hesitant as I do not have a store front, but then again neither does the sublimation guy and I know he buys wholesale. Still I am optimistic of seeing the JDS and Johnson catalogs soon.

[Craig Hogarth]

Dave,

The key might be to pay attention to who get's what from whom....? For instance, I spent a lot of money with Johnson Plastics to order some boxes. Come to find out they buy them from Laserbits. Could have saved about $.28 each if I had bought them directly from Laserbits.

Not putting either one down, I use both for their prospective items....

I made up a matrix of who sells what item and the prices of each. Now I play the 'who imported it' game to find out the #1 guy versus the re-seller.



Personally, I'm don't really pay much attention to cost as my costs are factored into my pricing. What I do pay heavy attention to is the shipping and the minimum order amounts.

There's some things that laserbits has cheaper than elsewhere, although not very many. I try to use them as little as possible since I hate their $50 minimum order. For the most part, I order primarily from johnson and JDS. Even if I can save a few bucks by going elsewhere, combining all my inventory purchases into two shipments from two suppliers is saving me quite a bit.

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

"I want to buy materials to try and see what I can make that sells or at worst peaks interest. So at this point I cannot be specific but I am looking at everything to see what might apply in a small (2600 Pop.) country town.
We have several schools and a College but not a lot of industry. Fortunately there are 6 other small towns within about a 30 mile radius all with similar populations so I can spread the "joy." "

Okay that sounds very similar except the town we live in is a bit bigger. We have communities around us and schools and a jr. college. Have you tried to get some samples from chewbarka tags? You would not believe how much the kids here love dog tags. The traditional GI type tags sell the best, but we are receiving lots of comments and sales on the apots tags. www.chewbarka.com (http://www.chewbarka.com) and you can find them on ebay. They have an ebay store. We sell our tags to schools around us as a fundraiser. We do have a store front so we offer free name engraving when brought in to the store. (Free publicity) We typically put the team mascot, team name, and school name on the front of the tags. (i.e. Austin Alligators with the picture of an alligator) Each elementary school has a different mascot. Then you have the middle schools and then high schools and then the college. You just found your niche. We have sold probably over 3,000 tags without really trying. We have our store front and it's a retail/gift shop. If you got a sample of each and went to the schools, I think you'd be able to offer something not too many people have thought about.
Another piece of advice is order catalogs from everyone you can. Get ideas, get creative , think outside the box and be unique and you'll be successful. If you need any vendors info I can help. My email is laseretched@gmail.com

[Steve Clarkson]

Gary and/or Jessica,

I was thinking about doing the same thing with the dog tags as fundraisers. If you're willing to share, can you tell me how much you sell them for to the school and then how much they turn around and sell them for? What is the size of a typical order from each school? And how long does it take you to engrave that typical order? Thanks!

[David Dustin]

We do dog tags as well, but in an on demand way at festivals and with images.
High pressure and you need to be fast. My anal retentive tendencies get in the way a lot...
Some good results as far as sales, but kind of hit and miss.

The fundraiser idea is great!

Can you PM me with your pricing as well and I will share mine.

Thanks,
David

[Dave Johnson29]

Okay that sounds very similar except the town we live in is a bit bigger.


Hi Gary/Jessica,

Thanks for that. I had to laugh at the "get creative," I am an Engineer and my creativity runs to anything with straight lines and more lines equally either side of them. :D

I envy you people that can do the creative work. My SO can draw stuff that looks real. She is into watercolors in a big way, had no training and just sees it as something she can do. I could never "get creative," but thanks for the suggestion. :) I'll have to see if I can cajole her into some assistance.

I will order some tags and make some samples. Lettering etc, now **that** is something I can do. :) Well, actually Corel can of course.

Thanks so much for sharing.

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

Steve,
Our dog tags cost us from $.60 to $.80 each. This of course depends on how many we purchase from chewbarka. Laserbits sells them as well, but they come straight from chewbarka. I will engrave school mascot and school name with a sport (in text) and sell in store for $5.00. This comes with the chain. We typically sell to schools at either $3.00 or $2.50, depending on quantity of their order. We have had between 50 and 600 at one time. My husband made a jig that holds 56 military style tags at once and it takes about 25 minutes to run all of them. Again I have a 35W epilog and run 100 speed and 80 power. We do most tags at 600dpi because of the detail in the mascots. I'm sure it would take less time at 300 or 400dpi. We prefer the look of the 600dpi.
Dave as far as creativity, their is nothing to it. Dog tags don't have to be too creative.

[Zeev Goldin]

Jessica how do You approach those schools? Do You call them ? Who you talk to in that case? Do You actually go to the school and show them? Who You show it to then? I am kinda at a spot where I do not know how to approach the marketing aspect.
Please help.

[Dave Johnson29]

Dave as far as creativity, their is nothing to it. Dog tags don't have to be too creative.


Thanks,
Forget my last email, I should have looked here first. :rolleyes: I blame old age and laziness.

[Steve Clarkson]

Gary and/or Jessica,

Thank you sooo much for that information.....it was VERY helpful to me.

Steve

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

Zeev,

Start with the PTA. Yes, it's always best to go with product in hand. (At least one sample). Again, all of this happened by chance to us. God has been very good to us. He opened one door for us and we continued to open the rest. Thanks for everyones interest.

[Dave Johnson29]

My husband made a jig that holds 56 military style tags at once


Jessica,

That sounds like some jigs I made with my CNC machines for a friend's laser business about 8 years back when he had a bunch of weird shaped anodized aluminum to mark. Some he did 10 at a time others were 4 or 5.

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

The PTA and / or the booster club is a good place to start. They are usually the most active fund-raisers related to schools. Always best to have a sample in hand when you make your initial contact.