Hello Everyone!
Long time lurker and thanks to everyone for all of the knowledge I have gained from reading this forum.
I have engraved many different gift items over the years and water bottles have been one of the most popular. Yeti products are the most coveted but a minority because of the expense and difficulty to add a reasonable markup. I have used several other vendors but there always seems to be limitations with color/size combinations or what manufacturers offer through a resale program. I like the RTIC and Mira products but again, the available colors and wholesale issues make it hard to fill a small order or match a previous one.
Does anybody have suggestions for manufacturers or other ideas? I spent a considerable amount of time and $$$ looking for overseas manufacturers but their minimum orders are too large for me. My idea was to bring in bare stainless steel bottles and have them powder coated locally to whatever colors and quantities were needed to fill an order. It was expensive but still less than the cost of a wholesale product. I have literally begged JDS to add water bottles to their Polar Camel line, both at trade shows and on the phone. They told me at least year's NBM show the bottles were coming soon but it's been more than a year and still no changes.
Any help/advice/war stories would be sincerely appreciated!!!
Take Care,
Mike.
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Michael Vlietstra
michaelv.design
Fountain Valley, CA
– Epilog 50W Legend 36EXT
– Adobe Creative Suite and CorelDRAW
– 30+ years of mistakes! :)