Frequently Asked Questions

GENERAL QUESTIONS
Who is Set In Stone Advertising Specialties & Promotional Items?
What are Promotional Products?
What are Promotional Items used for?

PLACING AN ORDER
What is the Actual Process for Placing an Order?
How Can I Place an Order?
What is Your Minimum Order?
What is considered a Rush Order?
What Additional Charges Will I Incur When I Place an Order?
Will I be Charged Tax on an Order?
Where will you ship to?
Are There Additional Charges if I Print in More Than One Color or One Location?
What are Your Payment Options?
What if I Do Not See An Item that I am Looking For?

MISC
What are Overruns/Underruns?
What is Your Sample Policy?
Why are there Price Breaks?
What if I Plan to Resell These Items?
Why Does the Final Product Color Vary From What I Saw On-line (or in a Catalog)?

ARTWORK
Can you Help Me Prepare My Artwork?
How much are Art charges?
What is camera-ready art?
Where Should I send my Camera Ready Art?
What is Color Separated Art?
What files do you accept through e-mail?
What artwork and/or graphics programs do you use?
Can we use a business card or photo copy for artwork?
How do I convert fonts to outlines or curves?
What about Trademarks/Copyright material?

ABOUT MY ORDER
How Can I Check the Status of My Order?
What if I Have a Problem with My Order?

GENERAL QUESTIONS
Who is Set In Stone Advertising Specialties & Promotional Items?
The face behind Set In Stone is Kathleen Chamberlain, an Authorized Dealer for Kaeser & Blair, Inc.  Chamberlain has worked in the incentive and promotion industry since 1995 and launched the website: www.setinstone.biz into the virtual sales market in 2002.

Kaeser & Blair, Inc., remains a family owned business since being founded in 1894 and is consistently one of the top distributors in the ad specialties industry. The Century Club is an honorary club with its membership restricted to the top professionals in the K&B organization. Century Club status is granted to dealers based upon annual sales volume.

The Set In Stone websites include the most popular products from the Best Buys catalog which offer reduced, year long pricing from many suppliers. For those wanting more variety, the Best Buys catalog can be found online at www.kbbestbuys.com. This site showcases all the products found in the catalog including products that were added after publication. Detailed information includes quantity based pricing, product and imprint color options, normal production, shipping weight and supplier location.

MISSION STATEMENT
Set In Stone Advertising Specialties offers individuals and organizations a breadth of products, presents straight answers, provides competitive pricing while delivering efficient service.

SOCIAL POLICY
We understand that our business is not about providing products. Our business is to promote companies, their products, and further their objectives. With that mission, we have made a conscious choice not to participate in opportunities that we feel promote negative social consequences. We respectfully decline those orders that contain or promote obscene or pornographic content, violence, and racism as well as promote use of illegal drugs, alcohol or tobacco.

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What are Promotional Products?
Promotional Products are items imprinted with a company name, logo or message and are used in marketing programs. They are used to promote a product, service, or company name. The goal is to give a potential customer something to remember you by. Whether you are looking to motivate your staff or recruit more business, promotional products will assist you. From Fortune 500 companies to gas stations, banks, and nonprofit -organizations use promotional products.

Products that are most typically associated with this market include radios, clocks, watches, writing implements, stainless steel mugs, and executive toys. But there is really no limit to the type of product that can be used to fit your promotional needs.

The imprint on such products is frequently the giver's company name or logo and sometimes they are personalized with the recipient's name as well.

Promotional products drive your message home and leave a lasting impression - a tangible item for the recipients to see your name. Long after the recipient receives their item they will remember your company whenever they use or see the item they have received. Promotional products encourage, inspire and remind while advertising and/or promoting your company and message.

Promotional products are made available through distributors and their authorized dealers like Set In Stone Advertising Specialties & Promotional Items. When you contact a distributor you may either know exactly what product you are seeking or you may need the consultant's suggestions for a successful program.

The industry has a history in the United States going back to commemorative buttons for the election of George Washington in 1789. Advertising calendars can be traced back to the early 1800's.

In 1914, the first trade shows became part of the promotional products industry. Today, there are shows all over the country, almost every day of the week. In 1990, industry sales were $5,012,000,000. By 1999 sales volume in distributor revenues for the industry reached $14,937,546,446. The industry has now reached well over $15 billion in distributor sales.

Available products number in the hundreds of thousands and are appropriate for business, industry and the consumer market.

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What are Promotional Items used for?
Business Gifts
Event Marketing
Trade Shows
Employee Relations
Public Relations
Motivation and Incentives
Traffic Building
Recognition / Service Awards
Brand Awareness
Souvenir / Remembrance
Safety Programs
Product Rollouts
Point-of-Purchase
Direct-Mail Marketing

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PLACING AN ORDER
What is the Actual Process for Placing an Order?

Email or call us toll-free 866-556-0127 or via secure fax at 623-505-9632 to safely place your order.
Please fax a printout of your artwork to confirm appearance and include your tax exemption at this time if applicable.

After we receive your sales order we will process a Purchase Order and send it to our supplier. You will receive an acknowledgement in the mail.

The artwork proof will be faxed to you for approval. Once it is received back from you, the order will enter the manufacturing process.

After your order is completed it will ship from the factory to you (or any place you need the items to ship to). Any balance due will be invoiced after the order ships unless you have prepaid for the order.

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How Can I Place an Order?
E-mail us at sales@setinstone.biz or call 866-556-0127.

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What is Your Minimum Order?
Minimum order quantities are listed for each product.

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What is considered a Rush Order?
Please note that normal production time for most custom imprinted orders is 10 working days, plus shipping time. Any order needed in less time than this will incur rush charges. Note: some suppliers offer "Rush Service". Additional charges for "Rush Service" will apply. Please be sure to get a freight estimate for your Rush Orders! Also, be sure to tell your sales representative the exact date that you need to have your items in-hand (the deadline date or event date).

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What Additional Charges Will I Incur When I Place an Order?
The price you see is called the "per unit price". Additional charges include, but are not limited to: set-up or screen charges, PMS charges, freight charges, and overruns. All products are shipped F.O.B. factory. Freight will be prepaid and added to your invoice.

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Will I be Charged Tax on an Order?
In order to comply with the majority of state and local sales tax law requirements, it is necessary that we have in our files a properly executed exemption certificate from all of our customers who claim sales tax exemption. If we do not have this certificate, we are obligated to collect the tax for the state in which the property is delivered. If you are entitled to sales tax exemption, please send us your tax-exempt certificate when placing your order.

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Where will you ship to?
We ship to the United States and Canada

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Are There Additional Charges if I Print in More Than One Color or One Location?
Yes, please call for additional charges for two or more color imprint color, additional locations, or for PMS color matches.

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What are Your Payment Options?
We accept VISA, Master Card, American Express, Discover, cash or a company check. First orders must be prepaid in full. Our terms are Net 30 for approved accounts. Note: the invoice date is the date that the order ships. A late charge will apply to invoices that are paid late. We do not ship orders COD.

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What if I Do Not See An Item that I am Looking For?
We have many resources to help you find what you're looking for. Please call our office and we will help locate the item for you. There are over 500,000 items to choose from!

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MISC
What are Overruns/Underruns?
Overruns are created because most suppliers in our industry print a small percentage over the requested quantity (they do this in case they find some poorly printed pieces in the order when the product is checked by their QC depts.) Some suppliers ship +/-5%, others +/-10%, and other suppliers ship the exact quantity. The bottom line is you will only be billed for the exact number of items that you receive. We reserve the right to ship and bill you up to 10% over or under the quantity ordered (plastic bags are up to 25%). If the order is placed with a credit card your card will automatically be charged after the order ships for any overruns or additional freight costs.

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What is Your Sample Policy?
While we at Set In Stone Advertising Specialties & Promotional Items make every attempt to make your buying experience efficient and comprehensive, we understand the need to sample products. To streamline and standardize the process, we outline our policy below:

Random Samples
A random sample is a product sample that is pre-existing and sits in our warehouse either un-imprinted or branded with an imprint from an order we produced for a previous client.

Due to the demand and internal costs associated with product samples, we are forced to charge for samples on an End Qty Pricing + Freight basis. What this means, is that we will charge the smallest unit price listed and add our cost for freight (we will ship samples per your requested method) to obtain your sample total.

We will offer a full credit for the cost of that sample against an order placed with Set In Stone Advertising Specialties & Promotional Items within 30 days from receipt. If multiple samples are ordered, we will only credit against the actual items that are ordered - not all samples. Our samples are sent directly from our nationwide network of manufacturing facilities.

Pre-Production Samples
A pre-production sample differs from a random sample in that the item is emblazoned with your specific logo and/or copy. A pre-production proof or sample, is a process where we actually set-up one item on an appropriate print press and customize accordingly. We then ship the sample to you for your approval.

There are costs and timetables associated with this process. Since all of the screens, films, plates, set-ups, color separations, digitizing, etc., needs to be completed prior to running a sample, we will charge the listed price that corresponds to the item, print process and colors of imprint. Costs will vary from $30 - $1500 depending on the item, process and work that need to be performed.

The process itself can take anywhere from 5 to 15 business days depending on the item and work that needs to be performed. Full production will be scheduled after proof approval.

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Why are there Price Breaks?
The more you buy – the more you save! Prices are per piece, based on the quantity you order. Most prices include a one color, one location imprint, except where otherwise noted. Important note: pricing is subject to change without prior notification. Call our office for price verification. For your information, some products can be ordered in "less than minimum" quantities. Please call for additional charges.

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What if I Plan to Resell These Items?
We would need to get your Resale Number and a Copy of your Resale Certificate that we will keep on file.

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Why Does the Final Product Color Vary From What I Saw On-line (or in a Catalog)?
Product colors vary due to variations in monitors and photography. The product color you end up with might vary a little from what you see. Please order a sample if the final product color is important to you.

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ARTWORK
Can you Help Me Prepare My Artwork?
If you don't have camera-ready artwork, just fax or mail us your business card or letterhead with your logo. The Kaeser & Blair, Inc. Art Department can prepare it for you! Art charges will apply.

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How much are Art charges?
One color artwork--$30.00* per logo Two color Artwork--$45.00* Three Color Artwork $90.00* Four color or Complex Artwork--Must be quoted (Complex art is any drawing. It could be a building, church, car, shield, tree, basically anything with a lot of detail) Simple Revisions--$10.00 Reprints & Resizing of logo on file--$0.00 Saving art to disk--$15.00 Typesetting--$15.00 (Typesetting includes up to five lines of copy in a standard font. All others must be quoted.)
*This is for basic artwork, such as simple logos. Fonts, etc. All complex art will be quoted.

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What is camera-ready art?
Camera-ready art is high quality black and white artwork that is created in vector format, in an art program such as Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw. Vector art simply means that it has been drawn or created in an art program. The final version should be printed from a laser printer. We can scan art that is not camera ready and redraw it. However, just scanning art does NOT make it camera ready. It still has to be recreated in an art software program. Another helpful tip is to send in the best art possible, even if K&B is going to do the art. The reason is if you send in poor quality art, you might not get exactly what you expect. We do the best we can with a lot of different pieces of art, but we can only work with what we are provided. Complex artwork can be quoted upon request.

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Where Should I send my Camera Ready Art?
Please e-mail your camera-ready artwork in a zipped or compressed file to info@setinstone.biz. We are PC-based but have capability of accepting files from both Macintosh and Windows-based computers. Call us at 866-556-0127 before sending art, to receive specific guidelines for e-mailing your artwork.
Logos shown are for display purposes only. Companies shown do not necessarily endorse these products.

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What is Color Separated Art?
Color separated art is required for imprints with multiple colors. Each imprint color must have it's own piece of B&W camera ready art. It must also have properly aligned registration marks. When the art is prepared, registration marks are necessary to align the colors for accurate printing of multicolor designs. The reason each imprint color needs separate artwork is because each color is printed, screened, hotstamped separately. This keeps the colors from running together.

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What files do you accept through e-mail?
The Art Department at Kaeser & Blair uses Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. All PC based. No Macintosh files. We accept artwork in a variety of different formats. If you are sending art to us for us to make camera ready, we accept the following files types: .ai .eps .psd .bmp .tiff .jpeg .gif .pct Keep in mind that just because the art is e-mailed does not mean it is camera ready. The majority of the above extensions are NOT camera ready. A good rule of thumb to remember is that if the image is pixilated, it is not camera ready. Please convert all fonts to outlines/curves.

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What artwork and/or graphics programs do you use?
Kaeser & Blair's art department currently uses the following programs in a PC-Based environment:
Adobe Illustrator
CorelDraw
Adobe Photoshop

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Can we use a business card or photo copy for artwork?
No, not usually. If there is a logo, then camera ready artwork would need to be created. Most factories cannot work with just a business card, letterhead or a photocopy. The only exception to this would be imprints using the 4-color process. Each factory will have different requirements for submitted art.

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How do I convert fonts to outlines or curves?
Converting fonts to outlines enables your art file to be read exactly as it is sent. The biggest problem when fonts are not converted to outlines or curves is compatibility. This means that if the fonts aren't converted to outlines, and the computer opening your file doesn't have that specific font, that computer will put another font in its place. The person opening the file may not even know this has happened. This is also why sending a hard copy of any art emailed or on disk is very important. Below are directions on how to convert fonts to outlines or curves:

Hit the ctrl button and the A button and that will select all your art and then hit the ctrl button, shift and O buttons and that will convert to outline. These are the keyboard shortcuts. You can find these features under the type menu called create to outline. When you use the menus you must first select the type you want created to outline and then go to type menu and hit create to outline. This is how you create to outline in Adobe Illustrator. In Corel you do basically the same thing. You must first highlight what you want converted to curves (that's what they call in that program) and then go to the arrange menu and find convert to curves. The keyboard shortcut is ctrl Q.

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What about Trademarks/Copyright material?
Set In Stone Advertising Specialties & Promotional Items requires that customers carry authorization to use trademarks in reproduction of such items. We assume NO liability in trademark/copyright disputes.

IMPORTATIONS OF SUCH ITEMS ARE MONITORED.
When trade copy is used, the customer must provide a letter of approval to Set In Stone Advertising Specialties & Promotional Items prior to order completion.

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ABOUT MY ORDER
How Can I Check the Status of My Order?
E-mail us at sales@setinstone.biz or call 866-556-0127.

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What if I Have a Problem with My Order?
We strive for 100% customer satisfaction. If, for any reason, you are unhappy with your order please e-mail Kathleen Chamberlain at kathy@setinstone.biz.
Important Note: claims for defects, damages, and shortages MUST be reported in writing within 30 days of delivery. Set In Stone Advertising Specialties and Promotional Items will not take responsibility for claims after that period.

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