Mike
Thank you for your reply. I have applied for a UPIC #. Do I need to wait to get that before I can join sage?

Thanks

no, no upic is required...

Sage is only a service you buy.. They have awesome websites to go along with their ad specialty search tools as well...

You spend nothing to join.. You're not a member , but an independent business person...

Please use my name... they have been very kind to me..

fyi,
Mike

if you need to contact me direct : info@gocutedge.com...

Good Luck !

Coach,

What do you mean by, "You spend nothing to join"? I thought every user has to ante up?

Dave

Mike,
Will the vendors that they represent sell to someone without a UPIC?

Thanks

Chuck,
Yes, they will. The UPIC is nothing really necessary to have. It is helpful because many vendors recognize it.

Actually, almost all of the vendors recognize all of the US Treasury code numbers also - like $1, $5, $10, $20, and $100. Very few of them will turn those down :)

Seriously, you do not have to worry much about the vendors doing business with you. Most have an open policy. There are a very few who operate on a closed policy anymore.

Dave,
You do have to pay for their basic service, $495 or $395 depending on whether you use online or cd. Their other services are completely optional.

Pete,
Thank you. I have Treasury numbers...... only a few, but I've got them :)

Thanks

Thanks, I thought so.

Dave

That is why they are so readily accepted - no one has enough of them :)

Most vendors will ask if you are ASI, but when you tell them you are a SAGE member, they will accept that even if they don't know who SAGE is. I think you will be happy with SAGE, they are very professional and have about 10 times more items in their database than the free services.

Chuck,

Check it with them.. but I have never had a problem..
I do not know or care what UPIC is ... I am in the personalization business as all of you are... that is the important thing...

Just use the Tropars, Owens , Barhills etc... as your references, because all of these companies have ASI personalization service as well...

Sages' vendors are ppai and asi vendors ....

The same vendors as with any ad specialty search tool service...

I have NEVER had a problem with doing business with any of them.

However that being said, one still needs to make sure the vendors will work properly ( ie: do their work on a timely and economically feasible basis ) .. I don't take anything for granted, I even double check the numbers ( prices etc... ) with each vendor I choose.

But I can tell you that Sage has made me thousands of dollars this year and I wouldn't be without it...

Best Regards,
Mike

And open YOUR customer base up to some suppliers.....

Just be careful when dropshipping!

Remember, when dropshipping "some" suppliers have their return address on the boxes and if your customer is less than ethical, they just might try to buy their next order direct.

You don't Join Sage.. It's a service you buy period... There are no requirements to purchase.. other than to buy the service

We spend appx $495 x 2 ( 1. for the online search tool , which includes online quotations etc... 2. for the website including monthly hosting. )

Check it out at www.qti.com ( or take our link from our site )
www.gocutedge.com.

Good Luck

It is true that some vendors in the promotional products arena work both sides of the street wholesale and retail. In general, we have felt that the convience is worth the risk of losing an occasional customer. Part of that is because we sell almost completely from our websites and there is limited customer loyalty in any case. Our customer never gets to meet us and see how handsome and dashing we are. For all they know I could be a 62 year fat guy. (Maybe I got that reversed - I think I am a 62 year old fat guy.)

Pete etal;

You have me pretty convinced that sage it is. Thanks for all the input.

Thank you David! I'm thinking I originally missed most of this thread because, at the time, we were not into Promotional Products. I've just finished reading the wealth of information and advice contained in this thread and I'm sure I will be reading it again and even copying and pasting for reference.

But, just to echo the sentiments of others, Ad Specialties/Promotional Products is a great and natural extension of what we are already doing. And, so far, it is quite profitable.

The real key to doing good ad spec sales is to have really good trustworthy vendors. That isn't always as easy to find as it seems. Both Sage and ASI have rating systems for vendors. Sage's rating system is included in their base version for around $500 bucks....You have to spend around $4000 to get the same from ASI. We had ASI's base system for a year.....had our share of good and bad vendors...we finally decided it was important to have a rating system that we could count on, but couldn't justify the 4k to have it, hence the switch to Sage for us. So far...So good.

Brian G.