A Letter From Transtech - Fargo Printers

To View online on Transtechs Site go here GINGO'S JUNK Nov. 24, 2010 I sit here this morning thinking back to the beginnings of this digital desktop PVC card printing business all the way back in 1993-94 when Fargo Electronics introduced what was a low-cost alternative to what were then megalithic, expensive units affordable by only large players. For those of you that were around in those pioneering days, you may also fondly remember the hey-day and high margin sales we all enjoyed as we happily converted the thousands of instant-film badging systems that then proliferated. I am also sitting here in shock as I read the latest eNewsletter I received only last week from Fargo Electronics-becoming-HID Global. In a section entitled "HID IN THE NEWS" there is a link to an article with the name "Crucial factors to consider when buying an ID card printer." Click on the article name here to go to the article itself.  Given where the industry was only 16-17 years ago in terms of profitability (ungodly high, as I recall), reading this article has given me a new-found appreciation, and some significant cause for concern, that our little business segment has, indeed, "grown up" and become seriously commoditized in the process. In my opinion, margin deterioration began back when Privilege-became-Eltron-became-Zebra aggressively entered the market in the late 90's to compete with Fargo-becoming-HID Global.  Their stated goal was to drive prices down, over-distribute the products to make them available virtually everywhere and run their competition's market share and profitability down significantly while growing their own. The result can be summarized in a quote taken directly from the article I mentioned above:  "It would help if you would purchase online because the online market is able to give out prices that are more affordable than those offered in the traditional market." Remember, this article has a prominent position on the front page of a newsletter from a company many of us began with, when they and we both needed each other to build market share and make sales so crucial to each of our success.  We relied and counted on each other to make that happen, and back then we had a true "relationship" in which we distributors and dealers were truly valued for our ability to tell the Fargo-becoming-HID Global story and proselytize for and educate customers about the benefits of that particular brand. However, as the market grew and more competition entered the fray, Fargo-becoming-HID Global, Privilege-became-Eltron-became-Zebra and others, then public companies for the most part, developed a completely different motivation, mostly driven towards share price.  We heard endlessly about the race to win the "units shipped" war, or the "dollars sold" war (not to mention the "dollars per unit", "profit per unit" and "number of dealers" wars.) Well, the result is that we who (still) have the end-user customers and make recommendations to them have been completely marginalized and Fargo-becoming-HID Global is apparently now publicly advising their potential end-users to bypass us completely and go to the internet and buy on price alone. "If you choose to buy from the online market, you will benefit from conveniences and affordable rates. A Fargo printer for example, will be less expensive if you buy it online because the online market generally offers lower prices than the traditional market." This is yet another quote from the same article that reinforces what I just said, and makes it clear that "traditional market", i.e. dealers, are just too expensive, and don't offer "conveniences" as found on the internet. So it is now apparent that all our work schlepping around printers to customer sites for demos, showing the products at national, regional and local trade shows, on-site, email and telephonic pre-sales support, installation capabilities (many times for free to secure the deal) and post-installation support is not needed anymore, at least by some manufacturers. What's worse, in clicking the author's name at the top of the article, Kenzie Williams, one is taken to a page with numerous other articles submitted by the same author to Yahoo! Contributor Network, all regarding ID cards and printers.  There is virtually no contact information or credentials for this individual listed anywhere, so as far as we know, this might be someone with no credibility, expertise or experience in the industry on which they comment so controversially.  And I wonder if the manufacturers mentioned in these articles challenge their findings and conclusions as I do here or simply cite as a matter if course simply because they consider it free publicity. To be fair, I have not spoken to anyone at Fargo-becoming-HID Global about this yet, as I felt it important enough to bring to your attention, first.  Hopefully, this will give them a wake-up call and we may even see a retraction or apology, as I firmly believe the market is STILL driven by us, their proverbial "feet-on-the-street."  None of these companies can afford to lose us and our mindshare as they continue to battle for sales and market, because this "traditional" channel drives customer demand, not the other way around. True, the internet will continue to be a struggle for all of us as we go about our business and try to provide the services we know our customers need to learn about, integrate and operate the products, as many will indeed turn to it to find the cheapest price after they are confident we have provided them all the knowledge and expertise they need to buy "price-only."  This is a bitter pill to swallow, surely, but the reality of the nature of sales today, and makes it more critical than ever for you to concentrate your efforts on customers who will not so callously turn their backs on you, either. My advice, as it has been since early on, is to choose your manufacturers with care.  If you are one of the internet retailers and are all about moving boxes in volume, pushing support back to the manufacturers and trying to own the market, then you will have to choose a company whose business model reflects that same philosophy. If you consider yourself a value-added dealer, as most of us in the industry are, then make sure the manufacturers you represent actually care that you are and value your loyalty while understanding that you are the one that ultimately steers business in their direction. Who those companies are is for you to decide. Please accept my sincere holiday wishes for you and your family, and thanks for listening yet again.

Polaroid P3000 Printer Sale

Now and through the end of 2010, Card Printers Direct is offer huge discounts on the P3000E and the P4000E id card printers from Polaroid.

Never before has anyone offered such low prices on these Polaroid Printers.

P3000E Printer Models on Sale

• Polaroid P3000E Color Card Printer Single Sided
• Polaroid P3000E ID Card Printer w Mag Encoder
• Polaroid P3000E  w Smart and Mag Card Encoder
• Polaroid P3000E Printer w Smart Card Encoder
• Polaroid P3000E Monochrome ID Card Printer

P4000E Printer Models on Sale

• Single Sided P4000E Card Printer
• Polaroid P4000e ID Card Printer
• P4000e Card Printer Mag Stripe Encoder
  
• P4000E Card Printer Simplex SCM Encoder
• P4000E Card Printer Mag and SCM Encoder

• Dual Sided P4000E Card Printer
• P4000e ID Card Printer Dual Sided
  
• P4000e ID Printer w Mag Stripe Dual Sided
  
• P4000e Duplex Printer with SCM Smart Card Encoder
• P4000e Duplex Printer with Combination Card Encoder

 

C3000 Ribbon for Polaroid MiniPortrait Passport Camera is back

Exclusive media for the Polaroid Digital MiniPortrait Passport System.

CardPrintersDirect.com will begin offering the C3000 Ribbons for the Polaroid MiniPortrait Passport Camera in December 2010

Due to the high demand for this product we ask you Pre-Order.

Finished print is resistant to water, acetone and alcohol, while providing an image stability of at least ten years. Final prints can be laminated, embossed and ink stamped without degrading the image. Package includes one dye transfer ribbon ( good for 50 sheets) and two 25-sheet media packs. Compatible only with the Polaroid Digital MiniPortrait Passport System.  The Polaroid DMP camera and printer is used worldwide to produce a large volume of high resolution passport photos.

NOTE: We are expecting our container shipment of the product the second week of December, 2010. The C3000 Media is now in production and we will continue to produce to meet the demand.

The newest ID Card Printer from Zebra

Zebra ZXP Series 8 Dual-Sided ID Card Retransfer Printer

The Zebra ZXP Series 8 retransfer card printer offers picture-perfect image quality, best-in-class throughput, a multitude of encoder
options, and high reliability that minimizes maintenance. The ZXP Series 8 printer includes ZMotif software development tools for
easy integration with enterprise applications.

• 170 cards per hour (max) dual-sided printing
• USB and 10/100 Ethernet-ready5 connectivity
• Windows drivers: XP, Server 2003, Vista
• Warranty: 2-year printer, unlimited printhead
• i Series intelligent media technology
• 64 MB memory

The Zebra ID Card printers is offered by Cardprintersdirect.com

Polaroid P2500S SIngle -Sided ID Card Printer

Polaroid's most affordable, single-feed id card printer to date

The single feed Polaroid P2500S id card printer allows you to print customized cards quickly and easily.

Single feed for on-demand applications
The Polaroid p2500s photo id card printer features single card feed that allows you to produce a personalized id card on demand in minutes. This new Polaroid printer offers edge-to-edge and sharp image quality for simple and easy card printing in a very compact and highly reliable package. Perfect fo Health Clubs

Robust, compact and portable
The Polaroid P2500S printer’s intuitive light and compact design makes it easy to transport to any location or event and placed on any counter or desktop.

Now with rewrite feature
The Polaroid P2500S ID card printer now features the ability to write and erase rewritable cards, at no extra cost. Unlike some other id card printers which do rewrite only, the Polaroid P2500S does both rewrite and normal full color printing.

Ideal P2500S ID Card Printer Applications

1. Customized bank and ATM cards
2. Short- or long-term bus, train or ski passes
3. School ID, library and/or meal cards
4. Employee ID and/or access control cards
5. Personalized gift and loyalty cards for incentive programs

Polaroid P2500S ID Card Printer Specifications

 

• Print mode:  Color dye sublimation and monochrome thermal printing and rewritable technology. 
• Visual Security : The user has the option to print a HoloKote® security watermark across the card surface. When used with HoloPatch® cards, one area of the HoloKote watermark is highlighted as a high visibility security seal. A choice of 4 fixed HoloKote patterns are selectable from the printer driver.
• Warranty* Two years limited depot warranty (North America only). Elsewhere 1 year limited warranty.
• Printer Interfaces USB rev1.1 (USB 2.0 compatible).
• Software Drivers Windows 2000TM, 2003 ServerTM, XPTM , VistaTM and 7TM drivers all supplied with printer.
• Dimensions 10.6” L x 8.4” W x 9.1” H
• Print Speed 35 seconds for color and 7 seconds for monochrome.

American Made Badge Holders and lanyards

CardPrintersDirect.com is now offering the broadest range of Made In America Badge Accessories including Badge Holders, Badge Reels and Lanyards. 

CardPrintersDirect.com is now offering a complete American Made Identification and Badge Section to our Site.

Some Online ID Card Supplies Stores have made it hard to find American-made products, but our goal is to make American Made Badge Holders, Badge Reels and Lanyards easy to buy and competitively priced. Every Badge Accessory item is 100% guaranteed to be produced in the USA. Quality, style, and Made in the USA -- You have our promise. No compromise. 

• 
  Badge Holders
• 
  Badge Reels
• 
  ESD Badge Holders
• 
  
  

Nexus Collections Survey Lists Conference Bags Leader of Promotional Goods for Events

7/1/2010 - In a recent survey undertaken by Nexus Collections, 23 percent of respondents identified Conference / Exhibition Bags to be the most effective branding opportunity available.

Nick Jones, Nexus Collections managing director, said, “Naturally we were overjoyed to see that conference bags, our primary product, are still considered the most effective by conference and exhibition organisers. When encouraged to provide more information, most individuals feel that it is the bag’s longevity that makes them such good branding opportunities – particularly on the higher quality bags, which you frequently see at subsequent events, meetings or even just used by individuals as everyday briefcases!”

Pens, notepads and lanyards were all popular as well, with around 10% of the vote each. Jones continues, “Like the conference bags, both the pens and notepads have longevity with many delegates taking them away and using them on into the future. I can also appreciate the popularity of lanyards as they are so visible at events, every delegate and member of the team sees not just their own, but the hundreds around them as well.”

Full results/Question: “Which branding opportunities do you find most effective at events?”
· Conference bags - 22.6%
· Badge Lanyards - 10.4%
· Advertising - 7.8%
· Conference Notepads - 11.5% · Pens - 12.6%
· Posters - 6.7%
· Sponsorship of Catering Events - 3.7%
· Sponsorship of Educational Sessions - 6.7%
· Sponsorship of Guide / Programme - 5.6%
· Sponsorship of Signage - 7.8%
· Other - 4.8%