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ByLeo Victor

The 10 Best Promotional Products Giveaways Under a Dollar

Effective (not cheap) branded merchandise for events and trade shows to generate buzz on a budget.

When you’re trying to acquire new customers and gauge interest in your brand, handing out promotional items is always a good idea. But if you’re on a budget or you’re thinking of handing out a lot, you might not be so keen on paying a high price. If that’s the case, should you still hand them out?

The answer to that question is most definitely. While you don’t have to pay a high price if you’re not ready to, it’s still a good idea to hand out these products. Keep reading to discover 10 of the best cheap promotional products that are low in price yet highly effective, that you can score for under a dollar.

1. 7” Custom Flyer   

Flying discs are one of those fun cheap promotional products a wide variety of audiences can enjoy. You can target many with flying discs — everyone’s bound to love them. It’s easy enough to take a disc and head outside with your friends to enjoy the game and spend time together. And it’s cheap affordable enough that you won’t need to worry about price!

This 7” Custom Flyer is available in six bright colors that will ensure high visibility. You can get a large imprint across the front, so you can show off your brand name and logo out in the open fields. The material is made out of polypropylene and is safe for kids to use. The price ranges from $0.82 when you order 2,500 or over, with a minimum order quantity of 200 items. Production time takes approximately five working days.


2. 16-Oz. Sports Bottle

With the increasing health and wellness movement, consumers are becoming more conscious of their health and their overall well-being. And an important part of staying healthy is staying hydrated, and drinking as much water as you can — whether you’re physically active and into sports or not.

This 16-Oz. Sports Bottle is the perfect low-price promotional item to hand out to consumers. It’s BPA-free and is perfectly safe for consumers to drink out of. You can buy these products for $0.89 when you purchase an order quantity of 2,500 or more, with a minimum order quantity of 250 bottles. The product is available in seven different colors and there is a screen print imprint on the bottle.


3. Plastic Hand Fan

Whether you’re at a sporting event or it just feels like a billion degrees outside, it can be nice to have a plastic hand fan to carry around with you. They’re light and highly portable, and can very easily fit into a bag. This isn’t the type of item that consumers are very likely to buy for themselves, so they’re likely to keep them when they’re handed out for free.

This Plastic Hand Fan is light, portable, and comes with a large imprint area on the front to showcase your brand’s name and logo. You’re bound to get a lot of exposure when consumers use these at sporting events or even just walking around outside. The handle comes in four different colors, while the fan part is white. They sell for a unit price of $0.85 when you buy 5,000 or more, while the minimum order quantity is only 250 units.


4. Ingenious Smartphone Wallet

A lot of consumers are becoming more minimalist with their belongings, which means the fewer the items they have to carry around and look after, the better. Custom phone wallets are trendy items because they make it easy to carry cards and money around in place of a wallet, attached to the back of their phones.

Everyone’s always carrying their phones around anyways, so why not make a two-in-one product that works in many ways? For promotional marketers, that makes smartphone wallets great for cheap swag ideas.

This Ingenious Smartphone Wallet comes in 11 bright colors, so you or your consumers will have a wide variety of colors to choose from. The wallet is made of soft silicon material and holds 2-3 cards. This is one of those highly useful cheap promotional products that consumers will stick onto their phones and keep for a long time. The unit price ranges from $0.84 to $0.98 depending on how many units you buy, with a minimum order quantity of 250 units.


5. Achieva Super Glide Pen

While handing out pens as cheap giveaways for events isn’t exactly a unique idea, it’s a good one — lots of consumers are bound to keep them. According to the Advertising Specialty Institute, as many as 89% of consumers in the United States own promotional writing instruments. They’re kept for an average of nine months and generate approximately 3,000 impressions throughout their lifetimes.

The Achieva Super Glide Pen will provide consumers with a smooth, effortless writing experience, as the pen uses the latest ballpoint technology. It has a soft rubber grip that allows for comfortable writing and comes in five bright colors to choose from. There’s a visible screen print on the side of the pen. The price ranges from just $0.49 to $0.70 depending on the order quantity, with a minimum quantity of 300 units.


6. .5-Oz. Gel Hand Sanitizer

Hand sanitizers are a good way of killing germs when you’re not at home or don’t have access to a sink to wash your hands. And the good news for promotional marketers is that there are also effective cheap promotional products, as they’re typically used outside of the home and in public, where they’ll generate a lot of exposure for your brand name and logo.

This .5-Oz. Gel Hand Sanitizer is a small yet highly useful promotional item. Considering utility is one of the main reasons why people keep promotional items, that means it’s a highly effective product with strong staying power. This bottle has a label that’s waterproof and scratch resistant, and is customizable with a four-color process imprint. The unit price starts at $0.85 when you order 2,500 units or more, with a minimum order quantity of just 100 units.


7. Non-Woven Economy Tote Bag

Tote bags are becoming increasingly popular products consumers are buying. They can be used for a number of reasons and in different settings — taking your clothes to the gym, carrying your groceries home, or taking your items to the beach.

According to ASI, as many as 73% of consumers own promotional bags and keep them for an average of 11 months. They generate an average of 3,300 impressions over their lifetime and generate a lot of exposure among consumers in a variety of different settings.

This Non-Woven Economy Tote Bag is made of coated water-resistant polypropylene material, has 22 inch handles for comfortable carrying, and can spot clean/air dry. There’s a large screen print imprint area on the front that will generate a lot of exposure for your brand. The product comes in nine beautiful colors, including forest green, royal blue, and lime green. You can get a unit price of $0.99 when you order 2,500 units or more, or order as few as 150 units.


8. 12 oz Cup with Lid & Straw

As many as 88% of consumers in the United States own promotional drinkware products. That proves that consumers love receiving drinkware as cheap promotional items with a high utility factor — consumers are able to help save plastic by using reusable materials instead.

This 12 oz Cup with Lid & Straw product comes in as many as 14 colors to choose from. It’s FDA Compliant and is safe for food contact. The material is made of Polypropylene and is BPA-free. It costs $0.96 when you order 2,500 units or more, although the minimum order quantity is 250 units. The price includes a large screen print imprint on one side of the cup, while there is the option to get an additional location.


9. Push Privacy Camera Blocker

Technological advancement has soared over the past few years and has brought many benefits to our society. However, it’s unfortunate to say that not everything comes without drawbacks. People have become increasingly concerned about their privacy and security as it’s becoming easier for hackers to access people’s devices and even turn on their webcams.

This Push Privacy Camera Blocker is a great product for consumers who are worried about their privacy. It’s extremely useful as it provides users with a sense of safety and security that can be hard to get in the digital age.

Therefore, people are likely to stick it onto their devices and keep it on for a long time. The product comes in 10 colors and a screen print on the front. The product ranges from $0.59 to $0.96 per unit, with a minimum order quantity of 250 units.


10. BIC® 3″ x 3″ Adhesive Die Cut Notepad

While technology is getting more advanced and people are always on their phones, notepads are still highly useful products that nearly everyone needs. Whether you’re a student, a teacher, working in an office, or work in the food sector, you’re likely to need at least once in a while, if not on a regular basis. You’ll need to remember information, write it down, visualize thoughts and ideas, or make lists. 

This BIC® 3″ x 3″ Adhesive Die Cut Notepad is one of those cheap promotional items for tradeshows and events that consumers are bound to love. It contains 25 sheets and has a four-color imprint process. The price ranges from $0.57 to $0.91, with a minimum order quantity of 500 units. Standard production time takes approximately five five working days. 
Creating a promotional product marketing strategy doesn’t have to mean breaking the bank.

With so many products out there that are affordable enough to be purchased under just one dollar, you can find lots of cheap giveaways for events, trade shows, and wherever you plan on handing them out. There are lots of options available, so don’t limit yourself before you do your research!