In case another photographer is looking for a supplier of custom USB flash drives, here’s a follow-up to a previous post about the inevitable(?) switch from optical discs to USB flash drives for delivering client photos.
After looking through many sites, I went with Flashbay (flashbay.ca or flashbay.com). The account manager I dealt with was very helpful. The only hard part was deciding on a style of drive. I chose 4-GB “Kinetic” drives with medium-sized magnetic boxes. There are much fancier boxes but I’m assuming that most of my clients will throw out the box anyway.
The Kinetic drive works like a ballpoint pen: click on the end and the USB connector pops out; click again and it retracts. Pulling the drive out of a USB port automatically retracts the connector.
The medium-sized, clear plastic box, about the size of a deck of playing cards, is big enough that I can insert a business card (or maybe I can create a small thank-you card?). A smaller-sized box would make the overall presentation look too small. The little magnetic snap on the box is surprisingly effective.
Another option, although not as good from a marketing point of view, is that stores like Staples and Best Buy sell various branded and unbranded USB flash drives. Staples also sells tiny plastic boxes (meant to hold paperclips?) that can hold a USB flash drive or two.
