If you are purchasing promotional pens for your next promotion, you need to ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish with them. I receive enquiries daily for the ‘cheapest promotional pens’ we do.

They cost about 10p each and personally I hate them. You probably would too.

Promotional pens are one of the best ways to promote your business or organisation. They work well because they are useful. Everyone needs to write at home and/or at work daily.

The best promotional gifts are those that are both useful and that people want to own. When you are looking for the cheapest pens available you will most likely end up with a pen that does not fulfil either of these reuirements.

For under 20p each, you can purchase good quality plastic pens if you order in large quantities. If you are ordering a small quantity of pens, say 250 to 1000, you will want to be looking around the 30 to 40p mark for pens that write well, look good and have the added bonus of being the kind of low cost gifts people will actually want.

Of course you get what you pay for.

I always recommend asking for samples before placing an order for low cost plastic promotional pens. Write with the samples and ask your work colleagues to do so as well.

Think to yourself – do you want to own that pen. Would you write with it often? Would you throw it in the bin or keep it safely in your top desk drawer?

Anyone would prefer to write with a good quality and more expensive gift pen. These are gifts you can save for your best clients but plastic pens are still required and looked for everyday. Most people will keep a few in their desk or briefcase even if they have a better quality brand name gift pen on their desktop.

It is important to note that their are hundreds of thousands of promotional plastic pens on the market. You will want to look around and check out both the generic and name brand options such as Senator, Lecce and Prodir.

Generally speaking, the name brand plastic pens are the best but there are some very good quality generic pens on the market. Do not be afraid to ask for any of the samples of pens that are of interest to you as they are normally free of charge and will help you with your decision.

A promotional pens supplier should be able to offer you professional advice about which personalised pens are best for you. If you are looking for a long writing life you will want to look for Senator and Prodir pens. If you need to have your logo printed in full colour, Senator, Lecce and Bic are all good places to start. If you want metal pens at plastic pen prices, you should be able to find these as well.

Spend a little time while sourcing and you will be much happier when your printed promotional pens arrive.