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Guide to Buying CSUSB Products

Step 1: Select Product from Licensed Vendor

Our licensed vendors have websites and catalogs from which you can order CSUSB-authorized products available for events, promotions and other occasions. 

Step 2: Research Pricing

Pricing is highly dependent on quantity; depending on the item, you may pay far less per item when buying 1,000, rather than 250. Take these steps to ensure you get the best price:

  • Call at least three different licensed vendors to ask for pricing.
  • Be sure to ask about shipping charges, set-up fees, rush charges, low-minimum fees and charges for additional imprint colors. (An item’s price typically includes printing with one color, with each additional color incurring an extra fee.)
  • Keep in mind the variables affecting a product’s price. With apparel, for instance, the cost of embroidering is calculated by stitch count, not by the number of colors, and black T-shirts cost more, as do XXL shirts.

Step 3: Choose Vendor

When choosing a vendor, check our list of licensed vendors to ensure the company is authorized to sell products with the CSUSB name. You should be comfortable not only with the company’s pricing, but also with the level of customer service and ability to deliver the product on time.

Step 4: Ask for a Sample

Be sure to ask for a sample of the product you intend to buy—you want to make sure you get what you’re expecting; vendors will typically provide a sample upon request. It is especially important to request samples of T-shirts and golf shirts, because of the many variables affecting the price, such as whether a shirt is 100 percent cotton or 50 percent cotton/50 percent polyester.

Step 5: Select Design

You will have a variety of options for the design of your product: 

  • Inform your vendor which logo you want to use. (Reference the Learfield Licensing Partners CSUSB logo sheet to identify the logo number to give your vendor. Please keep in mind that not all departments are authorized to use the athletics logos or university seal.) 
  • Other extension logos and sub-identity logos not on the Learfield Licensing Partners CSUSB logo sheet will need to be provided to your vendor. You can request logos online on our Download Logo page, but please note that the TM will need to be added into the final artwork before it is approved.
  • If your design consists of a logo and contact information, some vendors will typeset the artwork for you at no additional cost. Ask the vendor to follow our visual identity guidelines calling out the required clear space around the logo and to use our university support font, Myriad Pro for any additional copy. 
  • Provide your own artwork that is vector based and meets visual identity guidelines.

The Office of Strategic Communication is also available to consult on designs and to answer questions about the use of CSUSB name and logos. Please contact us via email.

Step 6: Obtain Design Approval from Strategic Communication

It is the policy of the university that the purchasing department will not issue payment to a vendor unless this approval is received in advance of production. Approvals are good for 365 days from the initial date that it is approved and for all exact reorders placed within the same time frame. 

Approval Steps

  • Send a design proof produced by the vendor through the appropriate logo approval form for review.
  • Office of Strategic Communication reviews logo usage and will respond with any needed changes.
  • If changes are needed, send a revised proof through that same logo approval form and check the "create new version" box. This will link your new proof to the previous proofo in our system. 
  • If no further changes are needed, the Office of Strategic Communication will send you a logo approval email. 
  • Forward the logo approval to purchasing, along with the final approved artwork, to help expedite the processing of your requisition/PO or your procurement card purchase. 

Step 7: Approve Your Order with Vendor

While the Office of Strategic Communication must provide logo approval for your order to be paid by purchasing, we do not provide the vendor with final approval to proceed with the order and printing of the logo. Note that after this step, your vendor is also required to submit the design to Learfield for approval, but you are not involved in this step. This should happen after you have approval from the Office of Strategic Communication.