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Hi, Heidi Thorne of Thorne Communications for Promo With Purpose Today. Did you realize
that promotional products have a shelf life? A lot of people don't. Pens and things like
that, they do go bad.
I had this demonstrated not too long ago with one of my clients who has been ordering pens
from me for many, many years. They called me and said, "You know, these pens just aren't
working right. How can that be?" So I thought about it, and we'd been buying from the same
supplier. It's one of the top ones in the industry. I thought this is strange. So we
took the pen and shipped some samples back to the supplier, and what we found out is
that the pens that they were having the trouble with were five years old. That is long after
the shelf life of pens has expired. Usually for pens, maybe about one to two years is
a shelf life maximum for those. The ink starts to dry out, and they start getting not useful
anymore. So do plan on that when you're buying pens.
The other item that it's really critical on is food items. For food items, I would say
not more than three to six months. Some of them can go a year, from what I've seen from
some of my suppliers. But truly, I would plan for about three to six months and then cut
it off.
Now the other shelf life that you have to consider is your boredom. You are going to
get bored with your promotional product long before your customers do. But you're still
seeing it every day. So plan on for your own personal boredom. Usually, I recommend not
buying for more than 6 to 12 months out, because then you won't get bored with it, your customers
don't get bored with it, and you'll save some money by not having to pitch promotional product.
So again, keep in mind the shelf life, and my name is Heidi Thorne of Thorne Communications
for Promo With Purpose Today.