One of the biggest problems for any aspiring enamel pin maker is finding a reliable and fairly priced custom enamel pin factory with great customer service and quick turnaround times.
We’ve all been there...you’ve come up with an awesome enamel pin design and you’re ready to get it made, now what? How and where do you search for an enamel pin factory? What is a fair price to pay? How long will it take to receive your pins? How does payment work? What do you do if something goes wrong or you get a faulty product? How do I know who is reliable and who is not?
Unless you have experience working with a manufacturer abroad (which most of us don’t), these are all totally normal questions to have, but don’t worry, it’s a pretty simple process once you have the right information.
So, where do you begin?
At the bottom of this article I’ve included a list of the enamel pin factories I’ve worked with directly and feel comfortable recommending, but first, it’s important that we go through the essentials of custom enamel pin manufacturing.
(Btw, if you don't want to read, you can find the Youtube version of this article here.)
The Essentials.
Currently, there are no enamel pin factories in North America or the U.K., which means that most custom pins are manufactured in Asia or the Middle East (95% of factories are in China) and you’ll have to work with a factory directly.
These factories use big machinery and have to incur in the cost of creating a one-of-a-kind mold in order to produce a pin. This means that the minimum order most manufacturers will require from you is 100 units per pin design, sometimes 50, if you're lucky but the price per pin will be high in that case since they incur the same costs as they would to produce 100.
The pros of working with directly with a factory is that you’ll usually get the lowest prices in the market, compared to middlemen.
The cons are that you won’t always have the best customer service in terms of clear and fast communication given the time difference and sometimes a language barrier. There are no customer service phone numbers to call so it’s important that you know how to work with them in order to have the best experience and results possible.
Okay, now that you know the basics, here some guidelines that will help you work with a factory effectively:
What is a fair price to pay?
From experience, most custom enamel pin factories will usually charge you anywhere between $175 to $250 for 100 units of a simple, 1-2 inch hard or soft enamel pin. Keep in mind, these prices will change depending to the specifics of the design (the more intricate your design is, the more expensive it'll be), and I’m sure they’ll also vary with time, but overall, these are a decent estimation of standard prices in the current market.
How long will it take to receive your pin?
Turnaround time for a pin (how long it’ll take for you to receive them) starts from the moment you approve the production proof (the production-ready artwork a factory will send for approval before they begin production). The standard turnaround time in the industry is around 10 days rushed and 15-20 days for non-rushed. This includes production and shipping time.
How does payment work?
There is no standard way to pay, but I recommend setting up a Paypal account and using their Goods + Services payment. It is safer than a bank transfer or wire and you’ll only need the factory’s PayPal email to make a payment.
Also, make sure that the factory agrees to payment terms of 50% upfront and 50% once final production is approved. This means that they’ll only receive your full payment and ship your order once you have seen a photo of your final produced pin and approve it.
What do you do if something goes wrong or you get a faulty product?
Most problems with factories arise when you’ve already made a full payment for your order without seeing how your pins turned out and realize that they are faulty once you receive your order in the mail. That’s why agreeing to a 50% payment upfront and 50% once final production is approved with your factory is so important.
It’ll help you be able to ask your factory to correct any mistakes that might have happened during production before you’ve made the full payment. This way, you’ll know exactly what your pins are going to look like before they are shipped.
Another useful tip that will help you avoid problems is always asking for your tracking number once your pins are shipped. This will allow you to keep an eye on your package during shipping so it doesn’t get lost in the mail (which can happen sometimes).
In the worse case scenario where your pins arrive faulty even after approving the production photos and the factory doesn’t want to replace them or just stops responding, you can always start a claim on Paypal. I’d recommend being mindful in these situations. If you don’t have clear proof of the misdoing or if you played a role in the error, it’s always best to accept the mistake, eat the costs, learn and make corrections for the next pin you produce.
How and where do you search for an enamel pin factory?
A quick “enamel pin factory” search on Alibaba will bring up A BUNCH of options for manufacturers in Asia. That being said, it’s really hard to tell which factories are reliable and do great work just from their online profiles since most of them have similar information and similar visuals.
To help out with that, I’ve included a list below of the best factories I’ve worked with directly and feel comfortable recommending, but in case you want to venture on your own and search for more options, here’s how you can go about it:
From your Google or Alibaba search, pick 2-4 factories that appear to fit your needs and email a low-res jpg of your artwork (not the final PDF, which will help avoid them “borrowing” your design), your production specifications (which I expand upon here) and ask them following questions:
- How much will it cost me to produce 100 units of this enamel pin?
- How fast is your turnaround time once the production artwork proof is approved?
- Do you accept payment 50% upfront and 50% once you send me a photo of the produced pin and I approve it?
Here’s an example of an email I’ve sent to factories in the past:
The factory that gives you the best terms for these 3 questions is the one you should work with.
Once you decide on the right factory, the production and communication process will usually go something like this:
Step 1: You send them the artwork file along with all of your requirements for production.
Step 2: They give you a cost and turnaround time estimate as well as final production artwork proof for your approval.
Step 3: Once artwork proof and costs are approved by you, you pay them 50% of the total costs to start production.
Step 4: The factory produces the pin.
Step 5: Once the pins are produced, they’ll send you a photo of the final product for your approval.
Step 6: If you’re happy with the quality of the final product in the photo, you approve it for shipment and you pay them the final 50% of the total costs.
Step 7: They’ll give you a tracking number for your shipment and you’ll receive your pin.
Boom. You’ve made a custom enamel pin!
My list of recommended factories:
There are A LOT of enamel pin factories out there and finding the right one usually requires a lot of trial and error. In my case, I’ve worked with a bunch of them through my years as a pin makers and the ones that I’ve personally have had the best experience with in terms of pricing, customer service, communication, and reliability are the following:
(These factory recommendations and current and all updated for 2023)
Erich Gift:
Location: China 
Pricing: $175 - $200 for 100 enamel pins 
Turnaround: 10 days rushed and 2-3 weeks for non-rushed orders 
Payment terms: accepts 50% deposit pre-production & 50% after photo proof
About the manufacturer: Made up of 20 Artists, 10 Logistics employees, 10 QC, 400 skilled workers. We would definitely recommend working with them if you're looking for lowest prices and a high quality production! Read More
Yourstuffmade.com:
Location: USA, AU, UK, CN, PH 
Pricing: $175 - $290 for 100 enamel pins
Ethically Certified: Yes 
Turnaround: approximately 2-3 weeks, delivered globally
Payment terms: accepts 50% deposit pre-production & 50% after photo proof
About the manufacturer: A very high quality artist-owned ethical manufacturer with 24 hour customer service and focus on sustainability. Your Stuff Made offers a wide range of custom products including metal accessories, apparel, gift packages, pet products, and more. If you need to create a lot more products dealing with this factory makes a lot of sense to save costs and talk to the same person Read More
GS-JJ.com:
Location: China
Pricing: $185-$250 for 100 enamel pins
Turnaround: 10 days rushed and 2-3 weeks for non-rushed orders
Payment terms: accepts 50% deposit pre-production & 50% after photo proof
About the manufacturer: GS-JJ has over 20 years of experience in producing pins. GS-JJ also creates customized and promotional gifts such as ribbons, coins, stickers, and lanyards. They generally have faster turnarounds and customer service which makes them a strong manufacturer Read More
Sabrina at Jiayue pins:
Location: China
Pricing: $180-$290 for 100 enamel pins
Turnaround: 10 days rushed and 2-3 weeks for non-rushed orders
Payment terms: accepts 50% deposit pre-production & 50% after photo proof
Custom products: enamel pins, medals, coins, dog tags, keychains, lanyards, bottle openers, patches 
About the Manufacturer: Nothing but great things to say about working with Sabrina at Jiayue Pins. A factory that has been manufacturing high-quality custom enamel pins, medals, coins, keychains and other metal product for more than 10 years. Great service and able to help with production requirements. Read More
❤️ View all of PINLORD's BEST manufacturers
If you're interested in getting quotes from these companies, email them with the word "PINLORD" in your email title and they'll give you the friends custom service :)
My recommendation to you is to email all of them and go with the one that you feel is best suited for you.
Please note that of course there are many other options out there, but these are the factories I’ve personally worked with consistently and feel comfortable advocating for them to other pin makers who are looking for the best enamel factories out there (I’ve also worked with a bunch of other factories that produced
Oh, and one last tip before you begin...BE NICE with your factory contact! See the pin creation process as a partnership with your factory! Be empathetic, ask for their feedback and help in terms of the best production processes and treat them as you’d like to be treated. They can be your biggest ally when it comes to getting a final product you’re proud of!
Now, you have all the information you need to make your own custom enamel pins. Get out there, create and share your pins with the world!
Thanks so much for reading this article. If you found it helpful, please share it with your friends! It'll help more people see it.
Also, if you're interested in building a better enamel pin business, you can check out these articles as well :)
- The best enamel pin factories.
- How to package and ship your pin sales.
- How to design and mock up enamel pins.
- Copyright infringement and enamel pins.
That should give you a good place to start, but if you need more help, always feel free to DM me on Instagram @pinlord. I'm testing out new pin factories all the time and I'm happy to share them :)
46 comments
Hello, thank you for the great detailed information and for suggesting businesses you have worked with. Is the “pinlord” still usable?
Lots of enamel pin factories in north america bud my guy is in vancouver
Wow, thanks for the great article and contact information. It’s very generous of you to share so much terrific info.
Excellent article thanks for sharing! Do the recommended companies also offer card backs? Or is this a separate production fee and service that I need to find elsewhere? Thanks for the help :)
awesome!!! v helpful ty