3d Printing

[Avi]

Hi guys,

 

Has anyone tried priniting acrylic charety boxes? How is it? Does it look as nice? Thanks for your answer!

[BradMillner46]

Hi guys,

 

Has anyone tried priniting acrylic charety boxes? How is it? Does it look as nice? Thanks for your answer!

That's a good question. I tried to do that a while back by contacting someone in that field but was told that the technology was just not here yet. The cheapest way I ever found of buying acrylic boxes was through buying them straight from a local manufacturer.

 

On another note, In my experience acrylic is not the most profitable way to go. There's a lot more profit to be had with the cardboard boxes (depending on which program you're using) because

 

1. They're cheaper and cost far less money that you have to spend in overhead
2. Acrylic has the money compartment visable which poses an excellent target for thieves to take off with the box. This doesn't happen nearly as much with cardboard and I've witnessed that firsthand with my own boxes (acrylic vs cardboard)
3. Because you don't have to worry overall about thieves with cardboard, you can leave these things in a lot more places and not have to worry about them thus enabling you to gain a lot more locations.
4. I'm sure you've noticed plenty of stores going out of business, leaving vacant storefronts. What very commonly happens in these types of situations is that the people who work there are understandably upset about the whole ordeal of their failed business and do not ever think of calling you to come pick up your box. You're therefore very usually lucky in these cases to even get your box back. 

[Avi]

Thanks

 

 

That's a good question. I tried to do that a while back by contacting someone in that field but was told that the technology was just not here yet. The cheapest way I ever found of buying acrylic boxes was through buying them straight from a local manufacturer.

 

On another note, In my experience acrylic is not the most profitable way to go. There's a lot more profit to be had with the cardboard boxes (depending on which program you're using) because

 

1. They're cheaper and cost far less money that you have to spend in overhead
2. Acrylic has the money compartment visable which poses an excellent target for thieves to take off with the box. This doesn't happen nearly as much with cardboard and I've witnessed that firsthand with my own boxes (acrylic vs cardboard)
3. Because you don't have to worry overall about thieves with cardboard, you can leave these things in a lot more places and not have to worry about them thus enabling you to gain a lot more locations.
4. I'm sure you've noticed plenty of stores going out of business, leaving vacant storefronts. What very commonly happens in these types of situations is that the people who work there are understandably upset about the whole ordeal of their failed business and do not ever think of calling you to come pick up your box. You're therefore very usually lucky in these cases to even get your box back. 

 

Thanks! I was really thinking about making acrylic happen but I might just reconsider because of what you said. May you be successful.

[BradMillner46]

Thank you. Trust me on this, you're not going to be disappointed.

 

May I ask who you would go with if you're doing cardboard?

[Avi]

Thank you. Trust me on this, you're not going to be disappointed.

 

May I ask who you would go with if you're doing cardboard?

To tell you the truth I will have to make my own. I don't know exactly how I am going to do that and I would like to find some type of design for it but I will have no choice because I don't live in the US. I was thinking of getting a design and using something like this:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Konmison-Carving-Milling-Engraving-10000rpm/dp/B015CJ1OFS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454311384&sr=8-1&keywords=cnc+router+machine

 

and attaching a blade to it. It doesn't seem like the cheapest solution buy what can I do?

[BradMillner46]

To tell you the truth I will have to make my own. I don't know exactly how I am going to do that and I would like to find some type of design for it but I will have no choice because I don't live in the US. I was thinking of getting a design and using something like this:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Konmison-Carving-Milling-Engraving-10000rpm/dp/B015CJ1OFS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454311384&sr=8-1&keywords=cnc+router+machine

 

and attaching a blade to it. It doesn't seem like the cheapest solution buy what can I do?

First off, I think you need to check with the particular charity organization you are going through as to what their rules and regulations are. I don't know what the laws are in other countries but I know that in the United States, you must be registered with the non-profit organization in order to do this and the non-profit is going to have rules for you to follow. In the USA if you simply create your own boxes and put charity stickers on them without having the expressed permission of the charity organization, you will be arrested for it so please make sure everything is squared away with that first.

 

Second, in my professional opinion of doing this for years and having one of the largest charity vending routes in the United States, the material that the box is made out of is irrelevant. What really works best is cardboard because 1) It's the least expensive and 2) It holds up relatively well over time. There's a misconception that I'm seeing a lot of people having on this forum and that is that somehow cardboard is inferior. That really isn't true. What really matters is how the box is designed, how the charity vending program is portrayed to the general public and how you as the vendor also portray yourself to the general public. Some cardboard charity vending programs work much better than others and are far more profitable for the vendor to be in and I will be announcing my own charity vending program on TVF soon that I have personally designed that will be hands-down better than all the others that people on this forum (in the USA) will be able to sign up for.

[Avi]

First off, I think you need to check with the particular charity organization you are going through as to what their rules and regulations are. I don't know what the laws are in other countries but I know that in the United States, you must be registered with the non-profit organization in order to do this and the non-profit is going to have rules for you to follow. In the USA if you simply create your own boxes and put charity stickers on them without having the expressed permission of the charity organization, you will be arrested for it so please make sure everything is squared away with that first.

 

Second, in my professional opinion of doing this for years and having one of the largest charity vending routes in the United States, the material that the box is made out of is irrelevant. What really works best is cardboard because 1) It's the least expensive and 2) It holds up relatively well over time. There's a misconception that I'm seeing a lot of people having on this forum and that is that somehow cardboard is inferior. That really isn't true. What really matters is how the box is designed, how the charity vending program is portrayed to the general public and how you as the vendor also portray yourself to the general public. Some cardboard charity vending programs work much better than others and are far more profitable for the vendor to be in and I will be announcing my own charity vending program on TVF soon that I have personally designed that will be hands-down better than all the others that people on this forum (in the USA) will be able to sign up for.

That is actually one of my biggest problems if not the biggest. I don't mind giving to charity at all but I don't want it to seem like I am giving 100% to charity. For me that just doesn't pass. As a customer if I saw a sign that said charity on it I would be sure that all the money is going

to charity.

[BradMillner46]

That is actually one of my biggest problems if not the biggest. I don't mind giving to charity at all but I don't want it to seem like I am giving 100% to charity. For me that just doesn't pass. As a customer if I saw a sign that said charity on it I would be sure that all the money is going

to charity.

I like that Avi, it sounds like you have very high morals. I will say, and I say this to every person on TVF who is doing charity vending, that if you are doing all the work, buying all the overhead, putting all the wear and tear on your car and taking all the risk that comes with running a business, that you deserve to make money with this. 

 

There is an unfortunate reality though that many, many people in the general public expect you to do this as a volunteer. The reality to that is that you have bills to pay and you have to make a living for yourself. That's why in the new program that I am just about to begin, I leave all of this entirely up to the vendor to decide how much he or she wants to give to the charity organization. There is a royalty fee of one dollar per box per month but beyond that if they want to give more, it's their choice. My rule of thumb has always been that what matters is how you feel about doing this. I've personally always given more than what was expected of me, especially because of the fact that I've been making plenty of money (at $22.50 average per box with several hundred boxes) but what someone else does with this is their own business.