Most promotional products are evaluated on unit cost, which is the wrong number. The right number is cost per impression: what you paid divided by how many times a human being actually looks at the thing.
Run the math
A branded pen costs about $1.20 and survives roughly two weeks in someone's bag before it is lost or dead. Call it 20 impressions. That is 6 cents per impression, and most of those impressions are of a pen, not of you.
A photo magnet costs $3.35 at 200 units. It goes on a refrigerator, which the average household opens 15 to 20 times a day. Even assuming it registers consciously once a day and survives only two years, that is over 700 impressions — well under half a cent each.
Ten times better than the pen, and the impression is a photograph rather than a logo on a barrel.
Why the photo matters more than the logo
The reason magnets outlast other swag is not the format. It is that a photograph earns its place on a fridge and a logo does not.
Nobody puts your company's wordmark on their refrigerator. They will put up a photo of their kid's team that you sponsored, a photo from the job site you worked on together, or a photo of the house you sold them.
Where this works best
Real estate closing gifts. A photo of the house on the day they got the keys, with your contact details on the back. Agents consistently tell us this outperforms every other closing gift for referrals, because it lives in the kitchen of a person who talks to other people buying houses.
Trade shows. Booth giveaways get thrown out at the airport. A magnet printed with a photo from the show floor, handed over after a real conversation, does not.
Client holiday gifts. A photo from the project you delivered together, sent in December instead of another gift basket.
Employee recognition. Team photos from a launch, a milestone, or an offsite. Cheaper than plaques and considerably more likely to be kept.
Volume and lead times
| Quantity | Each | Lead time after proof |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | $3.75 | 5–7 business days |
| 200 | $3.35 | 7–10 business days |
| 500 | $2.99 | 10–14 business days |
| 1,000 | $2.15 | 15–20 business days |
Multiple designs inside one order cost nothing extra, so a 500-unit run can be five departments or five clients. Purchase orders accepted, net terms after two completed orders.
If you have a trade show or a holiday deadline, tell us the date before you order rather than after. We will tell you honestly whether we can make it.