What goes into a custom promotional product?

Bespoke promotional merchandise begins with a brief from you, the client, to the consultant. It will detail the budget, expected quantity, timeline and target market or event for whom or where the product will be released. Our consultants also research your brand and get a feel for what’s important to you. With this combined knowledge a creative session takes place wherein the whole team comes up with ideas, some mainstream and some way out there. When we’ve narrowed down the ideas that sit just right, we forward them to you as a creative. You pick the ones you like and request a quote, then place the order.

Impact puts the order in to one of our factories, who then create a pre-production sample. A sample costs money for production and shipping but is absolutely worth it to guarantee you are getting the product you want exactly the way you want it. If an amendment needs to be made, here is where it happens and another sample is produced for your approval. Once you’ve approved the sample, production of the complete order begins.

It is important to note that the production timeline does not start until the sample is approved. Sample manufacture and shipping must be taken into account when you’re looking at the overall time frame of a custom product. Have a look at our blog to see exactly why custom promotional products take the time they do.

We try to factor the price of shipping into the quote that we send you. Knowing your timeframe and budget at the beginning of the order process is very helpful as these greatly affect the way your custom product makes it to your doorstep. Our offshore factories offer air or sea shipping. Air is faster but more expensive, both in general and especially for large quantity orders. Items coming from overseas will often spend at least a week in customs and have an extra cost associated. These costs are included in the price originally quoted, so you’re not blindsided by unexpected fees.

Australian-made products do not have the issue of delay and cost at customs and when the factory is Australian, the delivery method can be chosen specifically for pricing and speed.

Our consultants have the ability to track orders and can provide updates as often as required. This is a service that we recognise as very important when quantities are large and deadlines are tight.

Once you’ve received your custom promotional product, Impact will send you an invoice for payment. It is due seven days after delivery. However, when an order exceeds $15,000, Impact charges a 50% deposit and 50% on delivery. This is a policy that allows us to continue ordering while items are in production.