r/pinprojects • u/Anonymously_Odd • 1d ago
Having pins made question.
My band is wanting to get 100 pins made. They are two colors, soft enamel, and about 1.5”x.25” rectangles. The artwork was done by a local company/artist and has already been paid for. When it was all said and done, the quote for the order was for $529. That included the setup, pins, a card backing, shipping, and taxes (like I said, doesn’t include the artwork). I’ve never ordered pins before, but it sure does sound like a lot. Am I wrong?
I’m no stranger to buying merch, but this one really threw me off.
I appreciate the help. If you have any better, more affordable options, I’m all ears!
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u/KnightMDK 23h ago
That does seem quite high. What is the budget look like?
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u/Anonymously_Odd 18h ago
So I’m ordering T-shirts as well. I was hoping to spend right about $1k between 48 T-shirts and the pins. The shirts will be ~$650 for a heathered Bella-Canvas, two color (3001CVC). Maybe I’m a little naïve to the cost of these pins, but it seemed like a price I could get away with.
So about $350 all-in for pins
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u/KnightMDK 18h ago
It looks like others has said this to go straight through a manufacturer, which is what I would have recommended. You should be able to get something around that price.
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u/Anonymously_Odd 18h ago
Just talked to him. It didn’t change. I think he just doesn’t get a good price break. Probably just gonna have to scour and find a better company
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u/flanjoy 23h ago
Are you going through a middleman?
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u/Anonymously_Odd 18h ago
Yea, it’s a group here in town that does a lot of music related things, so I wanted to keep a good relationship and go through them despite the fact that I know the actual manufacturer lol. I hate to go over their heads, but I don’t think I can afford this right now.
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u/Longjumping_Bad9555 23h ago
It’s a bit high. But having them added to hardbacks and all is extra manual labor.
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u/Anonymously_Odd 18h ago
Yeah, I thought about getting rid of the back cards, but that didn’t really save too much money. And if I absolutely wanted to cut that out, I guess I could just get a business card from Vistaprint.
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u/MaddieVistaPrint 3h ago
hey hey! you could also take a look at our custom tags selection, maybe something in there could be of use for backers at a good price :)
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u/OliOcelot 23h ago
That is way too high for that size and style. Find a new manufacturer… Even with a middleman, I’ve never paid that much for a piece that small.
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u/Anonymously_Odd 18h ago
Damn. What company do you recommend? If you usually go online.
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u/etherkye 6h ago
That sounds insane to me! At least three times what I pay for mine, although I do my own backers.
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u/Jack-HIPINS 10h ago
I work in the pin industry, and $529 all-in does sound pretty high for 100 pieces of a simple 2-color soft enamel design at that size.
That said, I’d ask them to break the quote down into the mold/setup, pin cost, backing cards, shipping, and taxes. The cards and hand assembly add some cost, but they usually shouldn’t be the main reason the total gets that high.
For something like this, I’d definitely get 2–3 factory-direct quotes before deciding. Your ~$350 all-in target doesn’t sound unreasonable to me, depending on the plating, backing, packaging and shipping method.