When the first plastic self-inkers were introduced, stamp manufacturers embraced them as a way to increase the profit on each stamp sale. Why sell a regular rubber stamp for $12 when you could put the same die on this new product and get $16.95? The customer benefited because he no longer needed a separate stamp pad, and this sales effort became a staple in the industry. This enthusiasm to up-sell a better, more convenient product was great. Because pre-inked stamps were difficult to make and the expense incurred to get into previous technology was high, many stamp companies started to discourage pre-inked sales in favor of the self-inker.

Even when the customer specifically asked for a pre-inked stamp, the stamp man would try to steer them into the self-inker. Many stamp companies were proud of the fact that they were able to do this. What they actually did was take the money out of their own products. That $29.95 sale now was $16.95 with far less profit than they ever would realize from selling the pre-ink. Imagine being happy about losing money.

It was the technology to produce pre-inks that forced this decision. It was not the stamp man’s fault. He knew he could produce a self-inker quicker, with very good quality, and for a handsome profit. Sure, he wasn’t making as much as he should have, but it gave him the control. Flash technology has changed all this. Technology has afforded the stamp maker the opportunity to rekindle the past—the enthusiasm to up-sell a better, more convenient product. Flash technology will afford you the opportunity to take that $16.95 sale up to a $29.95 sale with a nice profit margin. If you converted 100 self-inker orders to pre-inked stamp orders, it is safe to say your profit would rise by more than $1,000.