The Role of Samples in Custom Merch Projects
Part of our commitment to sustainability means we want to make sure you get the right custom-branded merch. Samples can play an important role in determining if the product is the right fit for your brand or campaign. We get a lot of questions about our sample policy so we’ve laid out this primer on how we approach promotional product samples at Fairware.
While we have many of our top-selling items at our office in Vancouver, generally we ship samples directly from our manufacturers to you. If you want to come to our showroom, give us a heads-up so we can make sure we have the items you’re interested in on hand.
Types of Custom Merch Samples
Random/Quality Samples
If you’ve not seen the product before, it’s useful to get a random sample to check quality, feel and colours. Generally, these samples are either blank or have a random logo printed on them. While it may be intuitive to order samples of more expensive merchandise to ensure it meets your specifications, we think they’re especially needed on lower-cost items to ensure they fit with your brand.
Pre-Production (Peace of Mind) Samples
A Pre-Production sample (or ‘pre-pro’) is a sample that is printed with your artwork and is sent to you for final approval before printing the full order. We highly recommend a pre-pro when you’re ordering over $5,000 of a single item to bring peace of mind to the project or if your logo or branding is particularly complex. It may add a week or two to the process and generally adds a small fee, but we find it’s worth it to ensure the end result is what you want.
Who Pays for Samples:
Samples less than $20 – For samples less than 20$, our policy is to pay for the samples and charge you for shipping. We provide up to 50$ of samples per job unless otherwise agreed to. We reserve the right to charge for samples if the order doesn’t go through. We don’t ask for low-cost samples to be returned as our suppliers generally don’t take them back.
Samples greater than $20 – If samples are more than $20.00, we charge for the samples or ensure they’re returned within 2 weeks. We’ll work with you to arrange returns.
Brokerage – If we’re bringing products in from another country, there can sometimes be a brokerage fee. We’ll let you know if that’s the case.
Let us help you get the right product for the brand or campaign. By getting custom merch you actually love, we’ll all help keep stuff out of the landfill.
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