You cannot tell a manufacturer from a broker by looking at a website. These five questions sort it out in one phone call.
1. Where is it made?
A manufacturer names a place. A broker names a country or changes the subject.
It matters because location decides lead time. Ours are built in North Carolina, which is why three to seven days production plus two to five days shipping is possible at all.
2. What is the material, exactly?
The right answer is one word: polyurethane, PVC or nylon.
PVC is heavier for its strength, so it uses more helium, and it goes brittle in sun. Nylon is porous and depends on a coating that fails. Polyurethane is what we use and it costs more to make.
Anyone who will not name it is selling the cheap one.
3. Is that price blank or lettered?
The most common reason two quotes look different when they are not.
Ours: a 13-foot blimp is $975 blank, lettering is $537, so $1,512 lettered. If a competing number sits between those two, ask which it includes.
4. When does the lead time start?
Almost always at artwork approval, not at order, and almost nobody says so unprompted.
Ask directly: if I approve the proof on Monday, what date does it ship? A supplier who cannot answer that does not control the schedule.
5. What does the warranty exclude?
Ask about exclusions rather than coverage. It is a much more revealing question.
Ours: wears out, send it back, we replace it. Weather loss is **not** covered. No manufacturer covers weather loss, so a supplier who does not volunteer that exclusion either has not thought about it or is planning to argue later.
Ask for a quote. Call 1-800-791-1445 or email sales@arizonaballoon.com and tell us the size and whether you want it printed.
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