Flashlights as wedding giveaways?

[LEDagent]

Hello everyone! I finally found someone that accepts (more like tolerates) my flashlight hobby and guess what....I'm marrying her! What better way to gauge compatibility eh? Actually we've been together for 6 years and finally have the opportunity to move forward with our relationship. We both finally have pretty stable jobs so now we can throw a big party!

All our family and friends know me for my awkward fascination with flashlights. Throughout the years they've seen my collection grow brighter and brighter with each new LED release (oooh I think i hear the makings of a speach)....so I had the crazy idea of thanking everyone at our wedding by having cheap flashlights as giveaways. What do you think?

Since our guest list is approaching 300 :naughty:, and we're both financing the wedding on our own my budget for the giveaways is VERY limited. So that means no Quarks, Surefires, or HIDs as giveaways. In fact I was thinking more along the lines of cheapy keychain lights. I figure i'd buy these in bulk, wrap them up nicely with our names and wedding date and give one per person.

So far the cheapest I can find are from DealExtreme. They sell a pack of 10 keychain LED lights for uner $5. I figure 300 of these would be about $150 which isn't too bad. If they were a dollar a piece it would obviously be $300 but even this wouldn't be too bad but you can see where prices can jump exponentially. I've heard mixed (mostly negative) reviews about DealExtreme and I don't want to put all my trust in a company like that for our wedding. Does anyone know any other dealers that sell flashlights in bulk, preferably under a $1 a piece? Do any of you have any other suggestions?

Thanks everyone!

 

[duboost]

congrats :twothumbs

battery junction sells fauxtons for $0.85 a piece if you were to purchase 300 of them. http://www.batteryjunction.com/titanium-keylight.html

or they also sell ones you can put a custom label on for $1.20 each. http://www.batteryjunction.com/titanium-keylight-custom.html

 

[Moonshadow]

I notice they offer a free keylight on orders over $20.

Kinda fun when you've just ordered three hundred of the things !

 

[JBorneu]

About Dealextreme: I'm actually quite pleasd with them, but I have not used them often. Shipping is slow, but when my DSD charger broke they sent me a new one free of charge without asking me to send the old one back. It seems to me that they have finally realised they need to offer some customer service if they want to attract serious buyers.

With an order of 300 keychain lights you can add EMS shipping for $13. That way you won't have to wait as long and you can be sure your packages will arrive.

 

[glockboy]

Get the 50 for $22.50 one.
SKU 3261

 

[EXCALIBUR1]

I've ordered fauxtons from DealExtremes many times and have always been pleased with the service and delivery times. Whether you order 10 or 300, just go for it.

 

[RobertM]

What, no SF M6s for everyone? :laughing:

You might try contacting some dealers about discounts. For example, I see that LH has them for $0.85 for 100+. You might see if they can help you out with an ever bigger discount for 300 of them.

Congrats on the upcoming wedding :twothumbs

 

[Tremendo]

I ordered a bunch of custom labeled keychain lights and they came out great quality, brighter than any others I've seen, and I think ran about .65 each for 500 I did about 3 years ago. (I just saw that the place no longer carries them.) I did too many letters, so it was VERY tiny and tough to read. Keep it SHORT and simple, use the biggest font you can and a couple lines.

 

[Yucca Patrol]

I've also had very good experiences with DealExtreme. When I had a cheap flashlight show up DOA, they were very professional and quick to replace it. The replacement arrived in about a week and they did not require me to send it back first.

One trick with DX. . . . Since they ship for free no matter what size the order is, do not put 10 items into one order. Instead, make several different orders or even order each item individually. That way, your items ship as they become available instead of when the very last one is ready to ship.

Also, a large order is more likely to be delayed if sent by registered mail since those undergo more scrutiny in customs in addition to having to wait an extra day or go to the post office to sign for the package.

 

[slipe]

I just took delivery of ten of the DX 22k keychain lights. All of them worked perfectly.

DX put a large DX label on the back in the past. They have evidently quit doing that as my order of black lights had no labels and someone on the DX board said their clear lights also had no label. I bought them as givaways and am glad they didn't come with the ugly DX label.

They have a tighter beam and better throw than most keychain lights. I don't know about 22,000 mcd, but they are brighter than the Countycomm keychain lights I recently received.

 

[computernut]

I joked about this with my fiancee, I think it's a good idea to hand out little flashlights to everyone. I managed to convince her that getting matching engraved Surefire E1B's would be a cool idea since it's tradition to give him a gift.

Maybe someone knows of a place that would also label the lights with your names or something. Probably be cheaper to just make up decorated cardboard tags though.

 

[LEDagent]

Thank you everyone for your responses.

It seems I may have rushed to judgment about DealExtreme, however for my piece of mind, I think i prefer to deal with someone stateside just to eliminate any possible hassles with customs. I've shipped stuff overseas before and there's always this fear that things could get lost, tampered with, or stolen. I know the chances are still slim but the pressures of wedding planning is enough to worry about for me. oo:

I'll definately look into batteryjunction and LightHound for these lights. I've ordered from LH a multiple of times in the past and my items always arrive within 2-3 days as expected. I recieved one of their free keychain lights on my last order and now that I know I can get them for under a dollar...cool.

I plan on giving some higher end lights to my groomsmen...maybe a few Quarks? :twothumbs

Thanks again everyone!