Laundry Bags

[Westlake]

Thinking about carrying laundry bags for resale. Does anyone know where to buy these at a good price?

[buddy]

www.Summitparts.com. They have very good pricing on Laundry Bags. I get it from my local supplier in NY but Summitparts also have comparable pricing.

[Fred50]

Check in archive at bottom of screen:

best source for printed bags?

09-14-02 02:10 AM by Todd

[Kitty]

We purchase the summit jumbo bags, 14.99 a dz when purchase so many....we just had them screened with the logo. The screen took well, cost approx 90 cents each.

During the build of the new comp we were very concerned the new mat would go free dry and steal all of our biz. Luckily they haven't done too much to us. But in the process of "getting ready" for the comp to open, several months prior to their opening we implemented a promotion. Every week I give away FREE WASHES.....10bucks of quarters to the winner. Each entry consists of name, and full address, as the winners are notified by mail. I have done this for about 20 weeks and have gotten over 390 names. We are ready to thank our customers for loyal patronage as they may choose other laundries. We are the most successful because they come to us. I have compiled this list and have found it very interesting as many many people pass several mats and travel many miles to come to this mat. I have prepared a 390count mailing to these customers and offering them a free gift and thank you for their business.. We are giving the customers the screened launndry bag. The costs, not including my time, includes the bags, screening and mailing....aprox. 2.40 per person. Roughly 1K bucks for goodwill, advertising and a shot at gaining more market share when all these people say how cool we are! :)

Wise guru gave me the idea, and it has been good so far, will let you all know how this little promotion pans out. Must get the kids to stamp 390 peices............should go out in the next day or two.

[Fred50]

Kitty,

Don't forget that's $2.40 per household! Not a bad deal considering that they are not only laundry customers, but they have been to your mat.

One other thing, the post office will stamp them all at no extra charge. Give the kids a break!!

[Kitty]

Do you think I didn't ask the PO if they'd give me a break? They do not have the "old meteres" so coudn't help me..........Kids are going to be stuck with it, as is the attendants I don't like :)

[Anonymous]

We sell nylon bags for 8 bucks/bag. We don't sell many though. maybe 1/wk. Some just come in annualy and buy a dozen or so to give away as graduation gifts for college.

[Kitty]

How much do you pay for the bags? We offer the bags at a5 bucks, not a great return but good enough to be able to sell the bags. However, since we are about to give them away Im sure sales will plummett!

[Andy]

We sell the bags for $5 each and the sales are spotty. Yesterday we sold six, however last month I think we sold a total of 12.

[Andy]

I don't have the direct marketing advantage kitty has with the names and addresses but what if you bought 500 names and addresses (or just took them from the phone book) and sent them screened bags with your speel. Cost would be $800 to $1000 or so.

Of course you would choose the geographic area wisely.

What do you think the return would be on drop-off?

Worth a try or not?

Someone try this and let me know.

[Anonymous]

i think we pay about 2 bucks/bag, not sure who we buy them from either. Maybe if we dropped the price we'd sell more.

[Andy]

Actually it might cost $3000 or more on the post below. I have seen bags for $1 and if you can get em screened for $1 or less and mail for another $1 or $2.

[Andy]

I think you would sell more Superdave. At $8 you are getting 3x or 4x your money. I think at $5 I am selling at a fair price and getting a decent return

[Kitty]

The "free gift" promo is costing roughly 1K and hopefully it will prove to be a great idea. If anyone is wanting names and addresses of your clientelle, it is easily acheived. The wise guru, Kirby came up with this plan to get the customer names and address for me. We give the 10bucks worth of quarters for FREE washes each week. I get tons of names every week, and we certainly don't mind giving away free washes this way....Once the names are put into the database I just add the new names each week, that have never been added. I post a large colorful paper stating this weeks winner and mail out the coupon for the free washes..... What is really nice, is being able to see where these customers are coming from. 30% of the names I have in my database pass the new mat to come to us

[Rondo]

I used to give away a Turkey or ham at Thanksgiving and Christmas to get customers names and addresses but for some reason stopped. I guess it would be a good idea to do it again and maybe add E-mail addresses to and create a data base for the future.

[Westlake]

Does summit do the screening for your bags?

[Kitty]

No, we are having the local sporting goods store do it. They screen all the local sports jerseys and do a great job. They did my reunion tshirts last July. Local is probably cheaper.

[CharlieS]

I buy bags from Object Design, out of New York. They advertise in the Journal.

I pay $2.50 a bag. This is for a heavyweight dernier nylon with a custom screen printed logo. The others I've seen are much lighterweight material for similar money.

We gave away about 1500 of these over the first 6 months. Now, I charge $5 each and sell about 3 or 4 each week. Whenever I see a new customer with 400 pounds of laundry, I have my attendants stealthily give them a bag, with the line "We're really not supposed to give these away anymore, but you look like you need one" They are always surprised and appreciative. I'll give a second or even third to regular customers if they ask. We have one up on the wall with the $5 price.

Its all about keeping them coming back.

[Fred50]

Charlie,

I remember discussing this a while back. The Object Design bags that are 200 Denier are about $3.60+ with printing,set-up,etc.

Am I missing something?

[Westlake]

I placed my first order for laundry bags with Summitparts. I order 1 dozen just to check them out. The product was shipped quickly and the merchandise looked fine. However the invoice I received online for my order was for $20.69, product + shipping. I then received an email confirming my order for the same amount. When I received my credit card bill, I was charged an additional $6.12. I called Summit and they explained that the invoices they provide online and via email where estimates only. Personally I think this is BS and considering taking my business elsewhere.

[David]

Westlake,

If that happens to me, (I've ordered several times with them.) I'll be on the phone with my credit card company and the BBB. I hope you'll do the same.

[JSVLaundry]

Originally posted by Kitty
We give the 10bucks worth of quarters for FREE washes each week.....Once the names are put into the database I just add the new names each week, that have never been added. I post a large colorful paper stating this weeks winner and mail out the coupon for the free washes.....

Kitty, how do you pick the winner of this raffle?

Vinny

[Kitty]

WE pull the name from the bucket.

Customers love it!!!

[CharlieS]

I've definitely been receiving a heavy duty bag, although I don't know the weight class of the material. I have been working with a very nice lady named Brenda. $2.50 includes screen printing on a heavy weight 30 x 40 draw string nylon denier bag, all the same color. I usually buy 400 at a time. I am familiar with the lighter weight bags used by most dry cleaners and these are much heavier material.