Contracts

[Impressions Embroidered Apparel]

Hi,

A few schools we have gone to have said they already have a contract with another embroidery company so they can not look at our offerings.

I was just wondering if this is standard practice and do most embroidery companies make clients such as schools sign an exclusive contract for 1-2 years or so?

Thanks,
Steve

[Mike Garber]

One of our school districts requires companies to bid on embroidery, screenprinting and uniforms each year. The company that wins the bid does all the work for the year. The board makes their decision based on price only. The bid was won this year by a large company out of town. Not only are local bucks being sent out of town, the coaches and teachers are complaining of low quality, long turn around and difficult communication. Its not always about price....service is worth something.

[Aaron]

I do work for 6 or 7 Highschools and 10-12 Elementary and Middle Schools and non of them are on contract. I don't do everything for all of these schools but I get at least my fair share from them. If it was under a contract basis I wouldn't bother because that is usually solely based on price and not on quality and service which in my opinion is every bit as important as price is.

[signman]

Some towns and citys, and school boards, may have a $$ cap on orders that can be placed without going to 'bid', and that entails a contract. Unfortunately, some sales people have convinced coaches and teachers that there IS a contract in place when there really isn't...all you have to do is call the Superintendant's office (or for town/city/fire dept., the city manager) and ask what the procedure is. You may have to get a 'vendor' number for the district or municipality...and ask if there is a 'bid' sheet for supplying contract goods. If you find out there is, get on the list for the next year's orders. If you find out there ISN"T...then you are up against a sneaky salesman, OR 'the good ole boy network'...where the same company has been doing it since Moses parted the sea...and no one wants to change ....yet if they double checked prices (and quality, and service) they would throw him out on his keester in a second! Don't get an ulcer fighting it unless you like the challenge...I've been working against it in our local school district for 15 years...and get nothing. Just can't get them to change over or even ask for a bid to doublecheck pricing.
And sometimes, like the local community center-the bid is 'rigged'-specific brand names and colors and sizes for kids winter sports leagues...1 week notice for the bid and delivery in 2 weeks...quantity to bid on..." from 200 to 700 and you must guarantee pricing no matter what quantity'...etc.
Unless you happen to have the exact shirts in stock (12-15 colors, kids to adults) there is no way to produce the order-so you KNOW it is a rigged bid-the other guy is all set to run them the day the bid is 'awarded'...even if you come in cheaper! I know, I underbid 50¢ just to see what would happen.

[Wishes]

In regards to the bid process, in Arizona, the state auditors came into the district and if it was over the stated amount in the state statutes the districts are required to bid the items like shirts. The purchasing department is usually responsible for setting up the bid and let me tell you they are not for it but it's the law. I have been on both sides. I worked in the district and the coaches, bookstore people and the district personnel wanted nothing to do with it. They finally asked the people who purchased shirts what they used the most and then set up a bid that included a variety of garments used most often. This district gave a month for the bid to be sent in and also scheduled a meeting including all of the resgistered vendors. Anyone could ask questions and they were answered as throughly as possible. The bids are sealed and dated when they arrived at the district office. I would hand deliver. Included in the bid was the cost you would charge for specific shirts, cost per 1000 stitches, cost per screen, prinitng cost per certain amounts. Three companies were choosen and they had the bid for three years. Another thing that happens is that the district can extend the bid for an additional year as long as they have had no complaints from the customers. All of this should be written in the original bid. The opened bid is public record and you can get a copy of it from the district purchasing department. If you are an embroider you will probably need a screen printer to be a partner or contract that out. It can be a lot of business. The district I have worked in has 35-40 schools and they only picked three companies. It is frustrating because the school customers have people they like working with and then have to change. That also means that they have to repurchase the screens again since many people don't keep the physical screens. Same thing with artwork or digitizing. Hope this helps anyone who is planning on bidding for a school district.

[Steve]

I can tell you that as a small business it isn't worth your time bidding on these large projects. Large companies that have places in China at 50 cents per hour labor costs will embroider the logo for a fraction of what we would charge. My parents bid on a city government project about 8 years ago for 144 baseball caps. Thier bid was $8 each at 6000 stitches per cap. The winning bid was $2.70 per cap and that is the cap, embroidery, and shipping to government combined. Shipping alone had to be around $25 UPS ground. I have no idea how these companies make money doing it but they bid and win. Even if I had a 12 head, I wouldn't bid that low.

My parents only bid on 3 contracts then found out it was a waste of time after being outbid by more than half each time.

[signman]

An alternative to dealing with the schools is to contact the 'friends of' groups-we have 'friends of music', friends of football', friends of soccer, etc.'. Every sport and club has a 'parent' group with no official 'ties' to the school or district. About 9-10 years ago the 'school board' got upset with conflicting fund raisers for every school class and group-dozens of them...and tried to set up one 'umbrella' group called the Booster Club-every and any club or group associated with a school group was supposed to register with them, prevent overlapping or duplicate fund raisers, until the SOCCER parents took over control and started funding nothing but soccer stuff-and said the bylaws meant ANY group 'under' the boosters had to pay them 10% of funds raised. Guess what...parents found out the school had no legal standing and restarted all their 'own' outside groups. So now I don't have to deal with bids and contracts-any group that wants to can order shirts, sweats, whatever. The school group still has control and has to bid on 'IN' school stuff-but anything technically 'off school property' they can't prevent. So check out your 'fringe' groups and supporters and give them the best service and quality you can-it may filter 'up' to the person in charge of ordering for the school.