A tag attacher is a tool used to attach price tags to products that are for sale. Typically, this device is used to attach a paper or cardboard price tag to a piece of clothing by forcing a plastic fastener through a hole in the price tag and through the clothing. This does not cause damage to the clothing, yet it keeps the price tag firmly in place.
To use a tag attacher, the user simply points the tip of the tool at the price tag, which is held against the clothing. It is necessary for the tip of the attacher to make contact with the price tag in order to ensure that the plastic fastener goes through both the price tag and the clothing. When the trigger is pulled, the plastic fastener is ejected to hold the tag in place.
The plastic fastener ejected by the tag attacher is typically thin and clear, though the ends are larger in order to prevent the fastener from being pulled through the garment or through the price tag. Despite the wide ends on either side of the plastic fastener, this type of tool typically does not cause damage to the garment. This is because the wide ends are rolled within the attacher and widen after it has been ejected. The small hole necessary to allow the plastic fastener to pass through is usually not detectable in the garment. High quality clothes, or clothes made with tightly woven fabrics, are usually not tagged with a tag attacher due to possible damage.
Sometimes, retailers choose to attach the price tag to the garment tag in order to avoid any possibility of damaging the clothing. This method can cause damage to the garment tag, however, because the garment tag is made of such a tightly woven fabric. On shirts, the most common location for the price tag is on the sleeve. If the shirts will be hung on a circular rack, the tag attacher is used to place price tags on the same side of each garment so that they can be hung facing the same way while the price tag is on the outside. This makes it easier for customers to check the price on the pieces of clothing.
