Canvas tote bags make effective, affordable advertising and utility solutions for your business. Whether you're using wholesale canvas tote bags for advertising, value-added giveaways or to deliver goods, their durability ensures that your promotional messages will be around for years.

You'll need large numbers of custom imprinted canvas bags to carry out an effective marketing or give-away campaign. Once you're familiar with the pricing and costs of canvas bags you can budget for any of several pricing levels. Consider the costs and benefits of the following when pricing canvas bags:

1. Purchasing bulk canvas bags as utility products.

2. Creating custom imprinted canvas bags to distribute your company logo.

3. Buying high-end canvas bags at wholesale prices to outfit your employees and customers with the best.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find the least expensive canvas bags for sale

The most basic (and least expensive) of canvas bag buying options is to purchase plain, unprinted canvas bags in bulk. Don't let the seemingly endless variety of style and color options dissuade you from finding the most value for your business dollar.

I recommend: Canvas bag distributors like Conventiontotes.com and Custom Specialties Company offer blank canvas bags at below wholesale prices. While canvas bags can be had for less than a dollar each, you may find higher quality and durability to be worth paying up to several dollars more for per unit.

Budget for custom printing on your canvas bags

Some distributors will bundle custom printing into the cost of their canvas bags; others will add an extra charge, so always ask whether the printing service involves additional fees. To avoid wasting money on incorrectly or poorly printed bags, insist on viewing and approving a proof or sample run before having a large quantity of bags printed.

I recommend: Prices--when buying canvas bags wholesale--vary so much that there is some overlap between price ranges for blank canvas bags and custom printed canvas bags. As a general rule, high quality custom printed bags will cost up to twice as much per unit as generic bags. InkHead Promotional Products sells customized canvas bags for just a few dollars apiece and ArtPromos.com offers custom screen-printing and imprinting of canvas tote bags to help you create your company's next great promotional product. Most wholesale canvas bag vendors, like these companies, expect you to purchase bags and have them custom printed at the same time.

Save on the high-end canvas shoulder bag market

Whether you're outfitting your own employees or giving high-end gifts to clients, sometimes quality needs to be your first consideration. Shop for features, durability and style first, then compare prices to find the best bargains.

I recommend: You'll find high-end canvas bags in a variety of styles from vendors like Absorbent, Ink. and GotApparel.com. If you find bags that you like on a consumer website, contact the manufacturer and ask for wholesale or bulk pricing for a business purchase.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Don't forget that vendors need your valuable business. Whether you're buying blank canvas messenger bags or custom-printed canvas tote bags, don't hesitate to ask potential suppliers to beat a competitor's price or throw in perks like custom printing for free.

Canvas bags are reusable and less wasteful than plastic bags, but there are also other reasons for business managers to seek out these products. Canvas bags can be a tool for branding, product handling or promoting good stewardship of materials. Canvas bags are a sturdy way to transport goods, popular in an urban environment, and they can be customized for easy identification.

Business representatives use canvas bags:

1. As give-aways to customers or prizes in return for non-profit donations.
2. As gifts to staff, door prizes at company events or annual tokens of appreciation.
3. Promoting the company or product with custom decorating, for distribution or sale to clients, diversifying merchandise or as accessories for field staff.

Online vendors will help you design and purchase canvas bags for all uses with product thumbnails and material and size details, ordering forms and contact information.

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Get tote bags for gifts

You can browse types of canvas bags online, selecting styles and personalizing your canvas bags as gifts for either staffers or customers. Use detailed product descriptions to make sizing choices and be sure not to assume a certain size scale from the images on the websites.

I recommend: Parrot Canvas Classic Totes display a variety of styles in their online catalog. Users can order personalized bags at The Tote Place, whether solid-color or designed.

Get customized canvas bags for business promotion

Other online vendors will offer customized logo additions to bags so that when your carriers ride around town, your image will be in the public eye. Staff carrying bags with logo designs reinforces the business image while promoting your name.

I recommend: Promotions For You includes canvas bags as part of a wide promotional catalog. Other products include computer bags, duffel bags, backpacks, sport bags, messenger bags and more. Shoppers can use the search page at CASAD to look for specific logo words.

Find jumbo or specialized canvas tote bags for product transportation

If you are outfitting couriers or delivery staff, check out different designs like cooler bags and jumbo totes for simple solutions online. In some cases, you can use canvas for deliveries, but with food couriers, you'll need to make sure the required insulation is there to keep the food hot from point A to point B. Canvas bags may ultimately be more appealing than the traditional vinyl that delivery people tend to use exclusively, so consider a switch based on what you can find for delivery online.

I recommend: USA Apparel has jumbo canvas tote bags for sale. Also try the selection at Convention Bags for blank canvas messenger bags that can become custom imprinted canvas bags at wholesale prices.

Offer canvas shopping bags

Canvas grocery bags are eco-friendly and appeal to everyone as the retail business begins its shift from plastic to reusable bags. You can buy canvas bags wholesale from a number of online vendors.

I recommend: Buy canvas bags in bulk from Eco-Bags, Reusablebags.com and ConventionTotes. Buy bulk canvas bags from InkHead Promotional Products, which also offers custom imprinted canvas bags.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Try a sample order. If you're worried about either the design or the durability, consider buying a small order and ramping up later when you're satisfied. Some vendors will accommodate you with a sample bag or design mock-ups.

Canvas bags aren't just a durable, economical alternative to plastic grocery bags; they're also a means of advancing your business priorities. Whether you want to be eco-friendly, attract more customers or get your logo in front of as many people as possible, canvas bags give you a way of achieving those goals through an effective promotional medium.

Making the most of canvas bags means finding ways of branding them with a distinctive trademark, distributing them to your customers and getting them into the public eye. Durability is one distinctive advantage of canvas bags. Once distributed, they're likely to stay in use; even if put aside for a short time they'll still be waiting to remind your customers about your business and be put to use again. Consider the following strategies for distributing your canvas bags:

1. Include canvas shopping bags with product or membership purchases.

2. Use canvas bags to turn your employees into walking billboards.

3. Get customers involved by helping them make their own canvas bag creations.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Distribute your logo on custom printed canvas bags

Canvas bags are versatile, useful and popular in urban environments. They're the perfect perk that everyone can use, given universal appeal and value added when included as part of a membership or product purchase package.

I recommend: Buy canvas bags in bulk from companies like InkHead Promotional Products, which also offers custom imprinting on their bulk canvas bags. Wholesale pricing on canvas bags is also available through InGreetings.com, which offers short order custom imprinting on orders of 25 units or more.

Deliver your company's goods in canvas tote bags

If you run a messenger or delivery service, promote your business by delivering out of custom imprinted canvas bags that feature your logo. If you're in the business of repairing or distributing goods, delivering refurbished or brand new products in reusable canvas bags gives value added and instant brand name recognition.

I recommend: Deliver company goods in a company shoulder bag from Eco-Bags Products, or outfit your employees with canvas messenger bags purchased wholesale from distributors like CKB Products. Make sure the bags you use have your company logo on them or, at least, a business card slipped inside.

Use canvas grocery bags to get customers involved in contests and drawings

Whether you give a free contest entry with each canvas bag purchased and decorated, or invite local children in for a color-your-own-canvas-bag party and let their families take the bags home, these versatile products are a universal lure.

I recommend: Purchase blank wholesale canvas tote bags from suppliers like Custom Specialties Company, then invite customers and members of the public to customize their own bag and take it home. You can also find blank canvas bags for sale--below wholesale prices--at Convention Totes.com.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you're using canvas bags to promote your business's eco-friendly attitude, make sure your behavior is congruent. Demonstrate executive leadership and community involvement by carrying your company's canvas tote bags, just like you ask your employees and customers to do.

Canvas bags are used by professionals, children, stay-at-home moms and just about everyone else. They are good for transporting books, food, beach items, computers and more. If you are a business owner wanting to market canvas bags to your key customers, you need to know what type of bags are desirable and what styles are marketable. Understanding canvas bags key terms can put you a step ahead of the competition when stocking your shelves with canvas bags.

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Tote bags

Tote bags are the most common type of canvas bags on the market. They are usually rectangular or square in shape and have two handles. Most canvas tote bags are open at the top, however, some have a snap or zipper closure.

I recommend: TheTotePlace.com has photos and descriptions of canvas tote bags in different colors.

Duffel bags

Duffel bags are usually larger than tote bags and have a zipper closure. They are used for traveling and, when made of canvas, are durable and made to last.

I recommend: Design Within Reach has an example and description of a canvas duffle bag made in the U.S.A.

Lightweight, mediumweight and heavyweight

When it comes to canvas bags, one size does not fit all. Neither does one weight. Lightweight bags are meant to carry light loads, mediumweight bags are capable of carrying slightly heavier loads and heavyweight canvas can handle larger or heavier loads and can withstand the elements better.

I recommend: ConventionTotes.com has a selection of canvas tote bags in lightweight, mediumweight and heavyweight styles.

Imprinted canvas bags

Canvas bags are capable of doing more than just carrying books or groceries. They can advertise your business or carry a slogan or picture that is near and dear to your heart. bags can be screenprinted or embroidered.

I recommend: ArtPromos.com has samples of a variety of different imprinted canvas bags that have been screenprinted with pictures and logos.

Backpacks

Canvas backpacks are known for their durability and ability to handle heavy loads. Students can re-use canvas backpacks year after year, and the military has used them for decades.

I recommend: Fatigues Army Navy & Surplus Gear has canvas backpacks in several different designs with photos of each.

Fanny packs

Canvas fanny packs are durable and dependable, and are used by hikers, campers and many other people on the go as a way to tote their belongings on their hips or fanny in a hands-free way.

I recommend: Camping Survival shows a canvas fanny pack offered in two different colors.