debbie I am not sure why you were told that, we have never been close to $2000.00 in one year and have never had any trouble ordering from there. We order probably in October, December, February so I don't think you become inactive, my husband use to own his own business and we used them for two things, never came close to 1000.00 and order twice a year so not sure what is up with what you are being told. Robbin I would go ahead and give it a try!

Im not really sure, but that is what they told me. To order from them - minimum orders are $100 and minimum $2000 for the year. Sorry..that's all I have for now. Once you posted, I called right away because I think that is a great thing you shared, but that was the first thing she told me was to be aware of the minimum amount of $2,000 for the year.

debbie.. i did not know that.. the only info they gave me was that the orders had to be a min $100. What do they do? If you don't meet the $2000K in a calendar year, what do they do, put an inactivity freeze on your account?

Great thought, but the only catch is that you need to spend $2,000 in a calendar year with them. Not bad if you are doing a carnival or something though.

in another thread, a month or so ago, poster " Pals" mentioned a company they use called Fun Express, which is the business to business wholesale division of Oriental Trading. I jumped on their website ( no prices shown).. and had to register to be able to see prices. My registration as a school was denied.

I called the 800 # to inquire why, and she said that they no longer accept schools as wholesale accounts, and that if there are schools out there that have accounts " lucky them" , as they are " grandfathered " in the system.

I hung up the phone and registered as a business owner ( not using the school info).... and got immediate access to the prices.

HOLY COW!!

They are the EXACT same products, photos, everything as Oriental Trading.

Here are some examples of the price differences:

1000 leis - Oriental Trading- $17.95,

Fun Express $17.95 for one unit of 1000, or if you buy 2 units ( 2000 leis), it's $8.85 EACH.


24 Patriot Pencils OT price $3.95 for 24 pieces which is one " unit"
Fun Express Price $3.95 for 24 ( one unit) OR
$2.15 each , for 4 units ( 96 pencils)
$1.80 each for 72 units ( 1728 pencils)


So.. here's the math spelled out. I have a school of 600 kids, I want to give each kid a Patriotic pencil for Memorial Day. I need to buy 25 units ( exactly 600 pencils)

Oriental Trading- 25 units x 3.95= $98.75
Fun Express - 25 units x $2.15 = $53.75

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the only catch is that a minimum order is $100.. so plan anhead for more than one event.. and you are good to go!

RUN don't walk to that website and get ANY parent who owns a business to sign up .
THANK YOU Pals for saving MY school $$$$$ 100's ... in the future...

Please start passing the word to use " Fun Express" not Oriental Trading!! ( even though they are the same! )

www.funexpress.com

and no, I have NO affiliation with this company.. just a PTO mom ( and former retailer) who is always searching for the best deals for my school! I hate paying retail for anything!!!