Stress balls (also known as stress relievers or stress toys) are one of the most popular promotional products today. There are many excellent reasons why custom stress balls make a great imprinted promotional gift and here are just a few:
• Relatively cheap and therefore “budget-friendly”;
• Small and light so they can be used in mailings or transported in bulk to events without a lot of expense and hassle;
• Come in many hundreds of shapes and styles so most anyone can find the perfect stress ball to represent their company;
• Fun, colorful and considered useful in squeezing out the stress that builds up during the course of the day!
As stress is agreeably one of the biggest health problems amongst Americans, interest in stress balls is on the rise. Many people work jobs that are mentally and physically taxing. Anyone who works in customer service, in a cubicle, stands on their feet all day, etc…certainly can experience stress during the day. Squeezing custom stress balls can relieve mental anxiety, carpal tunnel syndrome or the urge to throw your stapler at a co-worker!
The balls are malleable shapes that are made from polyurethane foam rubber and fit in the palm of your hand. This type of stress ball is made by injecting the liquid components of the foam into a mold. The resulting chemical reaction creates carbon dioxide bubbles as a byproduct, which in turn creates the foam. Nowadays you can find ones made from gel or a sand-like product (think bean bag) with either a rubber skin or cloth skin, as well as vibrating, glitter, yo-yo stress balls and much more. Due to the never-ending demand for custom stress balls more new shapes and figures are being launched every year. The industry tries to keep up with current affairs and trends to ensure there is an ideal stress figure or shape for everyone!
Many people use the word “custom” incorrectly when searching for an existing shape to put a company logo on. However, if you have the time and money you can indeed have a custom shape created just for you! Custom shapes will require you to pay a pretty hefty processing fee to design a unique and new shape for you. In most cases you will need to pay an additional fee to have exclusive rights to the shape. If not, the factory reserves the right to use the new shape as it sees fit. Custom shapes generally take 12-18 weeks to produce overseas and the minimum quantity order required is greater than for existing shapes. Stock custom stress balls refer to existing products with inventory that is ready to ship domestically in as little as a few days. The “custom” part is you – the customer – placing your logo or unique imprint on the stock shape. You are customizing the stress reliever ball with your information.
Stress balls are easy to find on the web. You need not search further than the keyword “stress balls” to get pages of results. Most online businesses sell them in bulk (generally the minimum quantity you can order is 100 or 150 units for example) and can normally be purchased with or without an imprint. Ordering stress balls without an imprint is called “blank goods” or “blanks”. If you are looking for only a few stress relief balls or perhaps are an avid collector, you may have a more difficult time purchasing them online from companies that specialize in promotional products. You can however find low quantities on websites that sell retail. On retail websites you probably cannot order custom stress balls with your logo or unique imprint. Further, stress balls are not categorized as “toys” even though they are commonly called “stress toys” because they do look like toys. Stress balls are an advertising item meant for adult use and should never be given to children under age twelve. The Consumer Product Safety Information Act (CPSIA) specifically identifies stress balls and stress relievers as promotional products and not intended for children under 12 years of age. CPSIA testing is conducted on all of our stress relief ball products we sell on our website. Even though we discourage giving these balls out to children, those who decide to do so will be subject to a CPSIA tracking label imprint on each of your custom stress balls.