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Q1 What are the minimum quantities I need to order for custom embroidery?
A:This is one of the things that sets us apart from our competition. We require you to purchase 1500 items. Just kidding! Our minimum order is 1 item. That’s it. There is a caveat to this. With fuel surcharges etc., it costs as much to bring in 1 item as it does to bring in 12 items. As a result, when ordering less than 12 items there will be a $10.00 additional shipping fee. If you order 12 or more items that shipping fee goes away. And yes it is true that the price goes down as the quantity goes up, but we will custom embroider a single item if that is what you need.
Q2 What does custom embroidery cost?
A:Our prices are based on the actual stitch count of the design. We will need to see your logo or design before we can give you a firm quote on what it will cost. A left chest logo can run between $5.50-$12.00 per garment, while a large jacketback design can run from $40.00 to $200.00.
Q3 What do you mean by “left chest”?
A: Glad you asked. A “left chest” design refers to both size and placement. “Left chest” means that the logo will be embroidered on the left chest of the garment AS YOU WEAR THE GARMENT - NOT as you are looking at at someone wearing the garment. There are no rules in embroidery, other than the ones that we make up as we go along. But a general guideline is that a left (or right) chest size logo measures between 2” and 4” wide, and proportionally tall. Yes the logo may be larger or smaller depending on the logo and the garment it will be embroidered on. A “jacketback” logo is, cleverly enough, a logo that is embroidered on the back of the jacket. These logos can be much larger and are generally more detailed.
Q4 In the previous answer, you mention that you will embroider the garment while I am wearing it?
A: We reserve the right to refuse to deal with people like you.
Q5 What are your setup fees?
A: For a standard left chest size logo, we charge a one-time fee of $65.00. Larger more complex designs can run as much as $300.00.
Q6 What exactly are you “setting up”?
A: The first step in custom embroidery is to take whatever artwork you send us, and “digitize” it so that it can become the embroidered work of art that you tracked us down for in the first place. “Digitize” is a fancy term that means “I am looking at the artwork you sent me on my computer and am now assigning actual stitches and building your logo or design one stitch at a time”. Logos can take from one hour to 40 hours to digitize depending on their complexity, size, detail, or if I like the logo or not. (kidding...) Once I have your logo digitized, I then embroider it on a piece of fabric to make sure that it looks as awesome in thread as it did in whatever format you sent it to me in. I will then make “tweaks” (a professional embroidery term meaning “tweaks”) to it to make sure it is perfect. I then email you a .jpg of the embroidered design to make sure the logo is how you are wanting it BEFORE we embroider it on the garment. If it is not how you are wanting it, I will stop dealing with you. (Refer to Q4 above) Kidding! This again is what sets us apart from the competition - We want the logo to be EXACTLY how you want it before we embroider it on the garment. Sometimes this takes 2 or 3 emails with design revisions before it is “just right”. Not a problem, that is how we work.
Q7 I thought all of this “digitizing” nonsense was automated?
A: It is true that there are in fact programs on the market that claim to automate the digitizing process. We have actually looked at these products because, after all, we don’t want to work any harder than you do. But what we have found is that the automated programs will more or less work for very basic geometrical shapes and non-complicated designs. We have found that we would spend more time fixing the designs that the automated programs produce than it would take for us to do them from scratch. We use state of the art Wilcom digitizing software. In our opinion (and really, that’s all that matters) this is the finest embroidery software on the market.
Q8 What is your preferred artwork format?
A: Thank you for asking! We PREFER art work in .eps, .cdr, or .ai format. These are vector graphics formats. These are by far and away the very best formats for us to work from. We can work from .jpg, .tif, or .bmp formats as long as they are clean and not pixilated. Bottom line, the cleaner the artwork, the better we can reproduce your logo or design. PLEASE! No pencil sketches on toilet paper!
Q9 I have this really cool looking logo on my business card and letterhead. Can you duplicate this in embroidery?
A: Remember Q3 when I mentioned that there are really no rules in embroidery? I lied. Some logos we receive look great on letterheads or business cards. But to reproduce them in embroidery is sometimes impossible. People usually don’t consider the fact that they might someday want their logo embroidered on a shirt or cap when they design a really complex logo for their business card with blended colors and lots of words in really tiny letters. Thread is a whole different animal than ink. If we are reproducing a left chest logo we are limited on how small the letter’s size can be, and no we can’t always make shaded letters that blend from red to orange to yellow. Once we see your logo we will give you our professional opinion as to whether any changes might be needed to recreate it in thread.
Q10 What is your turn around time?
A: Ok, you are starting to get just a bit personal now. But we usually ship the completed garments within 10 to 15 business days from when you approve the the final embroidered design. Before you ask, a business day is Monday through Friday. (Except Wednesday’s)
Q11 Is it true you have two separate price schedules?
A: Yes. One price if we are supplying the garment, and another if you supply the garment to us. If we are supplying the garment our minimum embroidery charge is $5.50 per garment. The price goes up .50 cents per thousand stitches over 5000 stitches. If you supply the garment to us, the minimum embroidery charge is $11.00 per garment. The price goes up $1.00 per thousand stitches over 5000 stitches. So bottom line, it is more cost effective to buy the garments directly from us than it is to pick up those close out deals at Walmart. Prices are subject to change. We also have different prices that we will quote by the job for such items as leather, etc.
Q12 What are you liable for if I supply the garment to you?
A: Actually, not much. I really don’t mean to trivialize this, but you assume all risks if you supply the garments to us. Trust me here, we will treat your garments with the utmost care and in fact, in the eleven years that we have been doing this we have (knock on wood) never ruined a garment supplied by a customer. (No really - KNOCK ON WOOD!) But please keep in mind that you supply the garments to us at your own risk. If we are supplying the garment and we damage it, we replace it and you never know there was even a problem. Speaking of garments supplied by you, if you do choose to purchase that $1.99 polo shirt from Walmart or Sams Club, take the time to REALLY look it over. Look to see that the placket (the center part of the polo shirt where the buttons are) is actually straight. You might be saving a few dollars on the shirt, but how does it really look?
Q13 Do you accept credit cards?
A: Yes, feel free to send us as many as you want. And for custom embroidery payments we accept Visa and MasterCard. We require half down when the order is placed, and the balance when the order is complete.
Q14 What if I don’t want to pay that much for my custom embroidery?
A: Here’s the deal. We have never claimed to be the cheapest embroidery company in the world, nor are we the most expensive. Like anything else, you get what you pay for. Sure there are embroidery companies out there who will do a job for less money. We all have choices on who we choose to do business with. When shopping around for that “cheaper price”, keep a few things in mind:
1) What are their minimums? Many companies might offer a lower piece price, but they will require you to purchase 12, 24, or more items. As stated earlier, our minimum is one piece. Yes it is true that the price will go down the more you order, but if you are only needing 1 or 2 items, we can accommodate you.
2) What are their setup fees? Many companies have setup fees starting at $125.00 and up. On the flip side, many companies offer no setup fee at all. The catch here is that you need to order a minimum of 72 pieces in order to get the setup fee waived. Our setup fees are purposely lower than industry standards. We don’t want you spending all of your money just setting up a logo. We want you as a long-term customer, not just a one time job. And if you are wanting larger quantities, we will in fact work with you on the setup fees. Just ask us.
3) Do they offer demos? With many companies, once you place your order you are at their mercy as to what your garments will look like when you receive them. With us, you will receive emailed .jpg’s of your logo actually embroidered on a piece of fabric so that you will know exactly how it will look on the finished product. If the logo is not quite how you want it, we will modify it until it is just what you had in mind. Not many companies offer this service.
4) Are they really offering custom embroidery? Many companies have not invested in software that allows full editing capabilities. You might send them your logo that may contain some obscure font. When you receive your garments, your logo might be embroidered using whatever stock font that they had available - not the font you wanted. We have invested in the finest digitizing software on the market. More importantly, we know how to use it! We can recreate that obscure font on your logo so that the finished product is actually what you had in mind.
5) Do they have references? Who would think to check references for embroidery companies? I’ll tell you who - people who have ordered blind from catalogs or companies and have received really bad embroidery, that’s who. Cheaper is not necessarily better folks. Check out your embroiderer. Look at samples of their work. Talk to their customers. Do they deliver when they promise to? We have references available upon request.
Bottom line - If you are just needing a ballcap that says “Bob” on the front, there are hundreds of embroidery companies that can assist you. But if you are wanting quality work from a reputable company that delivers what it promises when it promises, then we are the company for you.
Q15 What awards have you won?
A: Oh all right, if you must know! There are several competitions within the embroidery industry that embroidery companies can enter each year to showcase their talents. We entered our first competition in 2003 and brought home the First Place award from the Gildan/Imprints Wholesale 2003 Embroidery Contest. The second competition we entered was in 2004. We brought home our 2nd consecutive First Place award from the Stitches Magazine 2004 Stitch-Off Competition in the sweatshirt category. Wanna see the winning entries? CLICK HERE.
Q16 Do you offer “Rush Service”?
A: Yes. If just this morning you suddenly remembered that big trade show that has been on the calendar for over a year, we will do our best to get you whatever you need. We do charge a “rush fee” of 25% of the order total.
Q17 Why should I pay a “Rush Fee”?
A: How shall I put this delicately? Just because you forgot about that big event (even though it has been scheduled since Nixon was in office) doesn’t mean that we can drop everything to get your order to you. As stated in Q10, our normal turn around time is 10 to 15 business days from when you approve the final embroidered design. As a general rule, we receive orders that are consistently keeping us right at this time frame. So when you suddenly remember that you need those custom bowling shirts for your sales team to wear to the big event, we will do our very best to get them done for you. But keep in mind that in order for us to get them done for you we will be working after hours and on weekends to accommodate your request. We don’t mind, but this is the reason for the rush fee.
Q18 What are your hours?
A: Our hours are 9:00am to 4:00pm Arizona Standard Time, Monday through Friday. We are closed Wednesday’s Saturday’s and Sunday’s.
Q19 “Closed Wednesday’s”?
A: No apologies here. We made the decision to “close” on Wednesday’s just so we can keep up with our orders. Nothing personal, but we don’t answer the phone and we don’t schedule appointments on Wednesday’s. It is our most productive day of the week.
Q20 Where are you located?
A: The world headquarters for Whut Marketing Solutions is Mesa, Arizona. .
Q21 Do you provide a weather forecasting service and webcams?
A: Yes. It’s called pagosacam.com. CLICK HERE to see it.
Q22 Can you show me some samples?
A: Yes. CLICK HERE to see sample of our work.
Q23 How do I contact you?
A: CLICK HERE to get further information.
Q24 What other services do you offer?
A: We offer a wide variety of services in addition to our Award Winning custom embroidery. We are an Independent Advertising Specialty Dealer, which means that we can supply you with everything from magnetic business cards, to pens, USB drives, coffee mugs, wine glasses, and over 750,000 other advertising items. These items can be emblazoned with your company logo and web address. These are just a few of the unique and fun things that we offer to our clients. Explore our website to learn even more about us!
Q25 My current promotional products supplier tells me I can’t do certain things with my logo. What’s up with that?
A: We hear this a lot. Many promotional products suppliers are just that - suppliers. They don’t have the ability to work with your logo or manipulate artwork. We do! We work with both the Corel and Adobe families of graphics software. We can work with your existing logo, update your logo, or create a brand new logo for you. We can change the colors, resize, and/or redesign the logo to fit whatever the need may be. We offer suggestions for your promotions and back them up with printed examples. In short, (It’s far too late for that!) we are your full service, One-Stop Promotional Products Shop. From custom embroidery to business cards, we can handle ALL of your promotional products needs!
Q26 Do you mean that you can supply ALL of our promotional products?
A: What, did I mumble? Absolutely! Look, we’re already working with your logo for your embroidered goods, OR we are working with your logo for those coffee mugs you need. Why not let us (Whut Marketing Solutions) handle ALL of your promotional needs?
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