Every advertising balloon looks the same in a product photo. These are the six things that separate a good online purchase from an expensive lesson.
1. Is the price blank or lettered?
This is where most online quotes diverge. A headline price is often the **blank** balloon, with lettering added later.
Ours is stated both ways: a 13-foot blimp is $975 blank, and lettering for that size is $537, so $1,512 lettered. If a competing site shows one number and no lettering line, ask which it is before comparing.
2. What is it made of?
PVC stiffens, keeps folding creases and goes brittle in sun. Polyurethane stays flexible and handles ultraviolet far better, and being lighter it needs less helium.
If a listing does not name the material, assume the cheaper one. Ours is polyurethane, always.
3. When does the clock actually start?
Lead times quoted online usually start at **artwork approval**, not at order. Ours is three to seven days production from proof approval, then two to five business days shipping.
If a site promises a printed custom balloon delivered in three days, ask where it is made. Domestic manufacturing is what makes two weeks possible at all.
4. Read the warranty wording carefully
An open-ended, enthusiastic warranty is a warning sign, not a benefit.
No manufacturer covers a balloon lost to weather. Anyone implying otherwise will argue when it happens. Ours is deliberately narrow: wears out, send it back, we replace it. Weather loss is not covered and we say so on the way in.
5. Does the listing mention helium honestly?
You buy helium locally, not from the seller. Around $300 for a 200 cubic foot cylinder, roughly $1.50 per cubic foot.
The useful number is how much your balloon needs. A 5.5-foot sphere takes 113 cubic feet. A 13-foot blimp takes 170. A 30-foot blimp takes 1,510. A listing that never mentions fill volume is hiding the running cost.
6. Can you reach a person who made it?
Ask a technical question before ordering: seam construction, lift at altitude, how it behaves in your climate.
If the answer comes back vague or slow, you are buying from a reseller and support later will be the same. We manufacture in Glendale, Arizona and have since 1979, so the person answering built the thing.
Ask for a quote. Call 1-800-791-1445 or email sales@arizonaballoon.com and tell us the size and whether you want it printed.
More at balloonrentals.com.