How to make enamel pins to sell

How to make enamel pins, step by step

Almost every small pin brand works the same way: you design, a factory makes the pins, and you package and sell them. Very few makers cast and enamel pins at home, because the die-striking and plating need industrial equipment.

1. Draw the design

   Make the artwork as vector line art in Illustrator, Affinity Designer or Inkscape. Every colour needs its own closed area with a metal line around it, because the metal lines hold the enamel in place.

2. Pick hard or soft enamel

   Soft enamel leaves the metal lines raised and costs less. Hard enamel is polished flat and smooth and costs more. The next section compares them.

3. Choose size, metal and backs

   Decide the pin's size in millimetres or inches, the plating colour (gold, silver, black nickel, rose gold or dyed metal) and the back. Rubber clutches are cheap; locking backs hold better on bags and jackets.

4. Request quotes from manufacturers

   Send the same artwork and specification to several enamel pin manufacturers. Ask each one for the minimum order, the mould fee, the unit price at two or three quantities, the production time and the shipping cost.

5. Approve the proof

   The factory sends a digital proof with Pantone colour codes and measurements. Check every colour, the line thickness and the backstamp before you approve it, because changes after the mould is cut cost money.

6. Order samples or the full run

   Some factories send a photo or a physical sample before the full run. Count and inspect the pins when they arrive, and set aside any with chips, dust or colour bleeding as seconds.

7. Package and sell

   Put each pin on a printed backing card, list it online and take it to markets. Keep your factory's material and test information on file in case a buyer or marketplace asks for it.

Soft enamel vs hard enamel

Both types start the same way. The factory strikes the design into a metal blank, usually iron or a zinc alloy, then fills the recessed areas with coloured enamel. The difference is how far the enamel is filled and how the surface is finished.

Soft enamel is filled below the metal lines and baked once, so you can feel the raised lines with a fingertip. It shows bright colours, takes extras such as glitter and screen printing well, and is usually the cheaper option per pin. Hard enamel is filled level with the metal lines, baked, then polished flat. The surface feels smooth and looks more like jewellery, and it resists scratches better.

If you cannot decide, order your first design in soft enamel. It costs less, and you can remake a design that sells well in hard enamel later.

How to design enamel pins that factories can make

A pin is a small object, so a design that works on paper often fails at pin size. Simplify the drawing before you send it. Thin details disappear, small text fills in, and gradients cannot be made in enamel without a printed overlay.

Draw the outer shape first, then the metal lines, then the colour areas. Keep each colour in a separate, closed shape. Pick colours from the Pantone solid coated guide, since factories mix enamel to Pantone codes. Also design the back: a backstamp with your name or logo makes the pin look finished and helps people find you again.

• Keep metal lines thick enough to see, and leave space between small colour areas.
• Use as few colours as the design allows. Each colour is filled by hand.
• Convert text to outlines and make it large enough to read at full pin size.
• Print the design at actual size and look at it from arm's length before you order.
• Plan one or two posts on larger pins so they do not spin on fabric.

Enamel pin manufacturers: minimums, mould fees and lead times

Enamel pin manufacturers range from overseas factories, often reached through an agent who handles the artwork and customer service, to smaller makers who strike and fill pins closer to home. Get quotes from both kinds before you decide.

Every quote has the same parts. There is a minimum order quantity per design. There is a one-time mould or die fee, which is often waived or reduced above a certain quantity, and which you may pay again if you change the design. Then there is a unit price that falls as the quantity rises, extra charges for options such as glitter or custom backs, and shipping. Factory quotes vary widely, so compare the total cost of the order divided by the number of pins rather than the headline unit price.

Ask each manufacturer what metal and enamel it uses, whether it can supply lead and cadmium test reports, how long production takes after you approve the proof, and what it does about defects. Write the agreed specification into the order so there is no argument about colours or backs later.

Backing cards and packaging

A backing card turns a loose pin into a product. It is a small printed card with holes or a slit for the posts, and it carries the pin's name, your brand and your shop address. Many sellers also put each carded pin in a clear resealable bag, which keeps it clean at markets and in the post.

Print backing cards on thick card stock so the pin does not bend it. Choose a card size that fits standard bags and a padded envelope. The card is also where any required information goes: an age statement, a Proposition 65 warning if you need one, and a country of origin that matches how the pin was actually made.

Lead and cadmium rules if pins are for children

Most enamel pins are sold to teenagers and adults as general use products. The rules change if you design or market a pin for children. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) treats as a children's product a consumer product designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger. One factor it looks at is whether the product is represented in its packaging, display, promotion, or advertising as appropriate for use by children 12 years of age or younger. A pin is likely a general use product if a consumer older than 12 years of age is as likely, or more likely, to interact with a product.

If your pins count as children's products, the federal rules in the table apply. These come from the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) and the CPSC's own regulations.

The simplest way to stay out of these rules is to design and sell pins for adults and older teens, and not to market them with toy-like themes, child models or children's sizing. If you do want to sell pins for children, ask the factory for test reports from a CPSC-accepted laboratory before you order, and budget for testing each design. State rules can add to the federal ones. Rules vary by state, and this page is general information, not legal advice.

Proposition 65 for metal pins sold into California

California's Proposition 65 requires businesses to give warnings to Californians about significant exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. The state's list has approximately 900 chemicals. Lead and lead compounds are on it, which matters for any metal alloy or coating that contains lead. For many listed chemicals, OEHHA sets a safe harbor level: a level of exposure to a listed chemical that does not require a Proposition 65 warning. Penalties for failing to warn can reach $2,500 per violation per day.

A business with fewer than 10 employees is exempt from the warning requirement. That exemption covers many one-person pin shops, but a small business may still have contractual obligations and/or indemnification agreements related to Proposition 65 warnings, so read any wholesale or marketplace agreement. If you need a warning for online sales, the safe harbor method is to display the warning on the product display page or include a clearly marked hyperlink before the buyer completes the purchase. The cleanest route is to ask the factory for lead and cadmium test results on the metal and enamel.

Country of origin and Made in USA claims

If a factory overseas makes your pins, do not call them handmade or made in the USA. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says that a product sold as Made in USA without qualification must be “all or virtually all” made in the U.S.. That means the final assembly or processing of the product occurs in the United States, all significant processing that goes into the product occurs in the United States, and all or virtually all ingredients or components of the product are made and sourced in the United States. Designing a pin in the US and carding it at home does not meet that standard.

Sellers who use an unqualified Made in USA label that does not meet the standard face civil penalties. Say what is true instead: designed in your city, made by a partner factory, packed by you.

Selling enamel pins at markets and online

Pins sell well in person because buyers want to see the shine and the size. Craft fairs, comic and anime conventions, zine fests and local makers' markets are common first places to sell. Display pins on a corkboard or a felt banner so people can see the whole range, and price them in round numbers that are easy to pay in cash or by card.

Online, many pin sellers start on Etsy. A US seller pays $0.20 per listing, and a listing expires after 4 months. When a pin sells, Etsy takes a 6.5% transaction fee on the item price plus shipping, and a US seller paid through Etsy Payments pays 3% + $0.25 per order for processing. Your own store avoids those marketplace fees but needs you to bring the traffic, usually from Instagram, TikTok or a mailing list. Pins are light and flat, so they ship well in padded envelopes.

• Launch new designs in small batches and remake the ones that sell out.
• Sell imperfect pins as clearly labelled seconds at a lower price.
• Offer sets or a pin with a matching sticker to raise the order value.
• Wholesale to shops once you have a few proven designs and enough stock.

Where Nation fits

Questions about making and selling enamel pins