How To Make Enamel Pins: Everything You require To recognize

Enamel pins have exploded in the fashion globe, and entrepreneurs across many industries can receive advantage of this business chance.

These tiny metal pins are highly customizable and can characteristic any design, including offbeat illustrations, branded logos, and anything else you can aspiration up. Enamel pins act as an extension of people’s personalities and provide them the chance to customize and accessorize jean jackets, backpacks, hats, and more.

From graphic designers to apparel masterminds to major retailers like Urban Outfitters, creatives and pin makers worldwide have started building successful online businesses by transforming their distinctive designs and ideas into enamel lapel pins.

This comprehensive navigator covers how to make and sell your own enamel pins, from design to manufacturing and marketing. 

Why make enamel pins?

Souvenir pins have been around for decades. leave into any rest stop or gift store and you’ll likely discover an assortment of different lapel pins.

Today, people wear pins to express themselves and to promote the things they like. They can place pins anywhere from backpacks and hats to shirts, sweatshirts, and pants. Enamel pins have become a sort of fashion statement, with celebrities like Taylor Swift wearing them on the cover of Entertainment Weekly.

Illustrators and artists adore the enamel pin industry for a few reasons:

• Pins are a excellent complement to selling clothes and stickers.
• The returns margins on enamel pins are high.
• They are straightforward to make and ship.
• There’s no limit on innovation.

If you’re creative and have graphic design skills, there’s no limit to what you can do in the enamel pin business.

Types of enamel pins to make

• Soft enamel
• challenging enamel
• 3D mold
• Offset epoxy 
• Die struck
• Duel-plated enamel 
• Metallic enamel 

Explore the most ordinary types of enamel pins to determine which make the most sense for your business: 

Soft enamel

To make a soft enamel pin, you apply one layer of paint on the recessed areas of the pin’s surface. The slightly higher metal between these recessed areas provide the pin a rigid complete. Soft enamel is the most popular selection for beginners because it’s cheaper and faster to produce than challenging enamel and generally has more color options, with richer and more vibrant colors available. Using enamel paint, you can customize your pins to your heart’s content.

Using soft enamel also lets you get more texture specific into your design, including borders and edges you can actually feel. However, soft enamel pins are also much less durable than challenging enamel pins, and they can be scratched easily. From a pin production perspective, they can be straightforward to make but have durability drawbacks.

challenging enamel

challenging enamel is much more durable and rugged than soft enamel, but it can be more expensive and more restrictive when it comes to coloring. challenging enamel pins can appear subdued and less vivid than soft enamel pins.

That said, challenging enamel pins use a obvious coat of resin on top to make a textureless, smooth surface. challenging enamel is a excellent selection if long-term durability is significant to you and your customers. For example, if you’re targeting customers who desire to hang their enamel pin on their outdoor back back, this type of pin is a great alternative.

3D mold

3D mold pins, or die-cast pins, are a type of pin made by pouring molten metal under high pressure into a mold of your design. 3D mold pins typically have a more elegant, classic look and are made from either zinc or pewter.

You’ll desire to use die cast pins when you have an intricate design that requires cutouts or a pin that isn’t a perfect shape. ponder designs for animals, toys, planes, or symbols.

Offset epoxy 

An epoxy pin has a obvious plastic coating that is applied to soft enamel or offset-printed-style lapel pins. It adds shine and protects your designs from damage. Epoxy coating can protect silk screen paint or offset printed designs from fading or scratching over period. These types of pins are great for intricate designs with photographic specific.

Die struck

Die struck pins are made from pressing metals—like iron, gold, or copper—against a steel mold to make your pin. Striking the metal creates a recessed area where you can add color options, like cloisonné. Some makers also sandblast the recessed area to make a two-tone metal look.

Dual-plated enamel 

Dual-plated enamel pins are the fancy sports cars of the pin globe. They use two different metal platings on the same pin. This result creates a contrast that makes your design pop. 

You might use gold plating for the main elements and silver for the details, or mix it up however you desire. Just keep in mind that this extra metalwork means they expense more to produce.

Metallic enamel 

Metallic enamel contains tiny metal flakes that catch the light and make an awesome shimmer result. When someone tilts your pin in different ways, it’ll flash and gleam like a disco ball (but way classier). 

These pins are perfect for creating something that looks high-complete without going overboard. The metallic complete works especially well for designs featuring stars, celestial elements, or anything that’s supposed to have that extra bit of shine.

How to make enamel pins

1. Design your own custom enamel pins
2. Choose the correct materials
3. Decide on enamel pin size
4. Select a manufacturer or production way
5. Manage your pin production
6. Determine pricing and returns margins
7. Sell your pins on marketplaces

1. Design your own custom enamel pins

Even if you don’t have any design skills, creating enamel pins is feasible. 

For creating mockups of your lapel pins, using Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop is probably your best bet. If you don’t have access to Photoshop, here are some free alternatives you can use to make your own original designs:

• Pixlr
• Sumo Paint
• GIMP
• Paint.NET

Alternatively, you can work with a corporation like Your Stuff Made that specializes in pin design and manufacturing.The brand is artist-run and owned, so you recognize you’ll get high-standard, custom pin designs at an affordable worth. It also manufactures pins out of its own ethically sourced and certified factory in China. You’ll pay between $130 and $180 for a minimum order of 100 pins between a size range of one- to two-inch pins.

There are also great marketplaces for hiring graphic designers and purchasing design resources:

• Creative trade
• GraphicRiver
• Fiverr
• Upwork

Note: If you’re purchasing design resources, make sure they have a commercial license so you can use them for your products.

When it comes to enamel pins, there are a few guidelines your final designs will require to pursue:

• Your designs will require to only use solid colors, usually from the Pantone color matching structure, which means your enamel colors can’t include gradients or transparent colors.
• Due to the size of enamel pins, you should typically avoid using tiny text or fine details in your designs.
• Normally, your manufacturer will only require a JPG, PNG, or vector file of your design, but be sure to inquire them for details like sizing and bleed area to make sure you’re following their specific guidelines.

2. Choose the correct materials

Your materials can make or shatter your enamel pin. You desire your pins to look amazing and last forever (or at least until someone loses them off their denim jacket).

First, decide between challenging and soft enamel:

• challenging enamel pins. These have that smooth, polished complete that screams standard, but they expense more to make.
• Soft enamel pins. These have recessed areas between the metal lines and a textured feel. It’s cheaper, but can still look super tidy if done correct.

For the metal base, zinc alloy is your best partner. It’s durable, takes specific well, and won’t ruin your monetary schedule. You could leave fancy with sterling silver or gold-plated options, but commence with the basics that actually make sense for your final profit and target spectators.

The plating complete matters too. Most people leave with gold, silver, or black nickel plating. Each one gives a different vibe:

• Gold plating: Classic and luxe.
• Silver: Modern and versatile.
• Black nickel: Edgy and contemporary.

Don’t overlook the backing hardware. You’ve got two main options:

• Butterfly clutch: The standard selection, secure and reliable.
• Rubber backing: Better for delicate fabrics but can wear out faster.

3. Decide on enamel pin size

The size of your pins matters. leave too tiny, and your designs turn into blobs of metal. leave too large and suddenly your pin is competing with actual brooches. 

The sweet spot for most pins is between one and 1.5 inches in any path. It’s the most practical size, because it’s large enough to display off design details, expense effective to product, and compact enough to not drag down fabric.

ponder about where your customers will wear these pins. A massive three-inch pin might look chilly, but it’ll probably spend more period in a drawer than on someone’s jacket.

Here’s a quick size navigator:

• 0.75 inch: excellent for straightforward logos or minimalist designs.
• 1 inch: Popular, versatile, and practical.
• 1.5 inch: Perfect for detailed artwork or designs with text.
• 2+ inches: Statement pieces (expect higher production costs).

Your manufacturer will fee by size, so every quarter-inch boost affects your returns spread. settlement your artistic imagination with what makes sense for your monetary schedule and target worth point.

4. Select a manufacturer or production way

Manufacturers bring your designs to life, so you desire to choose the correct associate. You’ve got two main routes here: overseas manufacturers or local producers. 

Overseas manufacturers typically propose the best bang for your buck—especially when you’re ordering in bulk. You can discover them on platforms like Alibaba, where prices might range from $1 to $3 per pin when ordering 100 or more pieces.

Here’s a quick look at a few options:

• WizardPins
• The/Studio
• Made by Cooper
• factual Metal Works

Local manufacturers expense more (maybe $5 to $8 per pin), but you get perks like easier communication and faster turnaround times. Plus, you can actually visit their facility if you desire to view the production procedure firsthand, which is enjoyable to view as a business owner.

Some key things to look out for when picking a manufacturer:

• Their minimum order amount (MOQ)
• Sample costs and policies
• Production timelines
• Their previous work 
• Customer reviews and testimonials

💡 Pro tip: Always order samples of your materials before going all in on a large production run. There’s nothing worse than getting 500 pins delivered and realizing the gold plating looks more like mustard yellow.

5. Manage your pin production

Once you’ve selected a manufacturer, it’s essential to keep your production costs low while maintaining standard. Here are the key factors that will influence the final worth of your enamel pins:

• Design complexity. More intricate designs may require additional production steps, raising costs.
• Number of colors. The more colors used in your design, the higher the production expense.
• Pin size. Larger pins use more materials, which also increases the worth.
• Order amount. While the initial expense of creating the mold for your pin is significant, the expense per pin decreases as you boost your order size.

Most enamel lapel pin manufacturers will allow you to customize the materials you use for your pins, beyond challenging or soft enamel. You’ll be able to choose the color and texture of your enamel pins’ base before dyes are added, so make sure you inquire to view all the options available. inquire about the options available for the needle on the back of your pin, including whether the clasp for the needle is steel, rubber, or some other material.

discover out if your chosen manufacturers will let you customize the way your pins are shipped. Enamel pins usually arrive in tiny plastic bags, but some manufacturers will allow you to add a custom backing card to each pin for a distinctive, professional touch. If backing cards are available, make sure you’re given the exact design specifications for them, including color limitations and bleed area.

6. Determine pricing and returns margins

First, compute your total costs per pin. This includes:

• Manufacturing expense per pin
• Shipping from manufacturer
• Packaging materials (backing cards, plastic sleeves)
• Other supplies you require
• deal fees from remittance processors
• Marketing costs

Enamel pins usually expense between $2 and $4 to manufacture, depending on size and complexity. You can order in bigger quantities to get better prices per pin, but don’t blow your whole monetary schedule at once.

For a solid returns spread, most successful pin makers worth their products at four to five times the manufacturing expense. So if your pin costs $3 to make, you might sell it for $12 to $15. This might seem like a large gain spread, but recall you require to cover all those extra costs and make enough returns to keep your business running.

💡 Use Shopify’s returns spread Calculator to set optimal product prices and enhance returns spread. 

7. Sell your pins on marketplaces

Lots of pin sellers make an Etsy shop to sell their work, but there are also marketplaces like Amazon Handmade and eBay where you can sell pins. 

Ecommerce platforms like Shopify assist you set up shop easily and handle the technical stuff for you. Shopify can also connect all your sales channels into one dashboard so you can monitor sales in real period. 

Keep track of which marketplaces are bringing in the most sales and focus your vigor there. Sometimes it’s better to rock it on two or three platforms than spread yourself too thin trying to be everywhere at once.

How to sell enamel pins online

1. Open an online store
2. receive great product photos
3. trade your online store

Now that you recognize your trade, the pins you’ll sell, and your supply chain, it’s period to figure out how and where to sell your enamel pins:

1. Open an online store

Marketplaces are excellent places to list your pins, but you’ll desire to open an online store to have more control over your own brand. An online store acts as your digital home, where you can connect with shoppers and sell your products.

For example, PINTRILL, a leading enamel pin seller, features hundreds of pins on its ecommerce website. PINTRILL gives recent life to work by artists who have passed, like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. It also expanded its product line to include keychains, pin backs, and hats. 

Because PINTRILL doesn’t list on third-event marketplaces, it doesn’t pay fee and can keep all the profits.

2. receive great product photos

Make sure to receive excellent product photos of your pins. Shoppers will desire to view the details. Plus, you took the period to design them, so might as well display ’em off.

A few tips to enhance your photos: 

• Set up a tidy background. You can easily discover inexpensive document sweeps on Amazon, which can add a professional look to your product photos. 
• Use a lightbox. Lightboxes make even lighting and are perfect for shooting tiny products. 
• Save period for some light retouching. Even great product shots can use a little editing. Use free tools like Canva or Shopify Magic (which comes with every Shopify account) to tidy up the background, adjust the colors, and add contrast. 

3. trade your online store

When it comes to marketing your own enamel pin business, there are some recommended channels you’ll desire to try:

• Search engine optimization (SEO). SEO helps you reach people who are looking for specific enamel pins or designs. The buying intent behind these searches means you’ll get relevant traffic to your product pages, which can outcome in more sales. 
• Instagram marketing. Instagram is a highly visual platform and perfect for creators to display off their products. You can publish a mix of Stories, posts, or Reels to promote your products and connect with followers. The more they enjoy your content, the more likely they are to buy.
• Facebook advertising. declare you desire to target a specific throng with your pins. Facebook ads can assist you trade to people who fit that profile.
• Influencer marketing. associate up with micro-celebrities, YouTubers, Instagrammers, and TikTokers to promote your pins. Look for content creators with audiences similar to yours to make the most of your collaboration.

desire to really boost your sales? Bundle similar pins together, propose discounts on multiple purchases, and make limited edition runs to make some FOMO (terror of missing out). Just make sure your shipping is speedy and reliable. Nobody likes waiting forever for their pins to arrive.

Building a DIY enamel pin business

Building an enamel pin business can be both rewarding and profitable when done correct. 

commence your business as a side hustle, then slowly turn it into a packed-period assignment. You’ll figure out what pins sell and different ways to source them to boost margins and make money online.

Illustration by Pete Ryan