This has been my personal experience so please understand I share this advice constructively. I have only ordered stock from Toplace and dyed to match but can say as far as custom color matching is concerned, I have had to return units back from just about every supplier I have ordered from due to color mismatching issues. In some situations, even two or three times for the same unit. This has been with VERY selective ordering from highly reputable suppliers.

I consider Toplace to be an excellent company and would go so far as to say one of the best companies I have had the pleasure of dealing with in this industry. As far as I can tell, it is managed by some really genuinely good people, yourself included John, but honestly, there is a lot of subjectivity when it comes to color matching and I can say with absolute certainly there has not been one factory that has done as consistently as good of a job as I have done by myself with a color ring in hand nor would I expect them to due to the very high production requirements that are undoubtedly placed on these factories not to mention the varying levels skill and experience among factory workers. Sometimes they get it right, other times they don’t but without a color ring your customers have no control over the process and many of us do not have the luxury of sending the pieces back and waiting weeks for the factory to get it right a second or even a third time. Based on some of the past comments I have read, there are many others that share these same concerns. Probably the most recent example was Mr. Burns who recently commented that he sometimes has to return his pieces to get the color right and he is probably one of the most enthusiastic supporters of Toplace you can find.

As far as using the color ring in the correct lighting, let’s not let the factory sell the whole Toplace community short, this forum has by far some of the brightest, most experienced individuals in DIY hair that I have ever encountered and I think it would be really short sighted for the factory to assume we couldn't match our own hair color from a ring in proper lighting when we routinely attach, maintain, adjust and sometimes even repair our own systems in just about every facet of hair wearing imaginable.

Please keep in mind I share these thoughts with everyone’s best interest in mind and think it would make a great deal of sense to consider at least offering the color rings to your customers as an option for a set price or based on a return deposit. I honestly can’t think of one supplier who does not offer this service except for Toplace. Toplace excels in just about every aspect if not for this one key area. Case in point, since ordering a ring from another supplier and discovering my correct color number with them, I have not had one unit I have had to send back for color mismatching. I would not hesitate to send Toplace some of my custom orders if I had the benefit of ordering from the ring or at least knowing your factory uses the same color scale.

All the best John, and thank you in advance for keeping an open mind to our suggestions.

ToplaceUSA Wrote:That's true, the factory doesn't like to send out color rings because people don't use them properly. Many times they're not in the right sunlight (natural sunlight) and they get the color wrong. The factory prefers a hair sample. If you've sent one in over the last year your fine--you don't need to send it again. However, if it's been over a year it's a good idea to send it a new sample.
Regards,
John