How to Start An Enamel Pin Shop?

This is the final step to getting your lovely products to your customers!   Trying to find shipping options and materials may be stressful but here are some resources I've come across that may help! Contents: Platform Supplies To pack and Send Your Package Out 1. Platform If your selling platform already has a shipping integration linked to it, you can go ahead and use that. If you are using Bigcartel, you won't have one. In this case, you can choose to ship with: Shipstation.com   $9 - $159 /month Sign up for an account Follow the direction the page gives you Link your shop and import your orders Manage Orders Create Labels with USPS, UPS, DHL, FedEx Send tracking emails Pros Convenient and Organized Lowest shipping prices Prints label with ease Different shipping carriers  International shipping input is straightforward Cons Subscription fee First level subscription only has 50 shipments per month Inner system a bit complicated to manage Cannot connect with Paypal to pay for

This is a topic that many of you are the most curious about. You know it is a bit rude to ask other designers about their own manu, but you are also nervous about what manufacturer to choose to make your pins. It is understandable!  Though I will not be revealing my own manu, here I will try to guide you with tips I have for choosing one that may work well for you.  Contents: Where to find a manufacturer Once you are on Alibaba What to look for in a manu Process Breakdown 1. Where to find a manufacturer In this case, Google is your best friend! You can literally search custom enamel pins and a bunch of manufacturers will pop up. Though many peers and I go to a particular website to find our manus: Alibaba.com Features: Thousands of Verified Global Suppliers  Communicate with Manufacturer Get Quot ations for your products  Trade Assurance -  Facilitates possible disputes with manufacturer Wholesale products Manufacturers for  Apparel & Textile Pins & Charms Jewelry And really an

  You have your designs and audience on your social media account, now you can consider putting your design in production.  But where will the funding come from?  Contents: Funding Self-Fund Preorders Pros and Cons of Different Selling Platforms Bigcartel Etsy Shopify 1. Custom making pins is not a cheap process, some choose to self-fund their items and some would open preorders instead. Self-funding is self-explanatory but, you might ask: what are  preorders ? Preorders  the process of allowing customers to purchase the item because it goes into production. It is held in hopes that the design can be funded with that amount of money. If it doesn't get funded enough for a long amount of time, you can always refund those who did preorder. We give a few incentives in our preorders so that people would consider ordering before the actual product gets produced: Preorder prices are usually discounted/little lower than the actual price of the item  Include freebies ex. stickers, photo car

Now that you have your initial design(s), it's time to make a social media account or two! This part of one of the most important parts of the shop building process. In this section, I will be mentioning some tips and etiquette for managing your shop account! Contents: Instagram Business account Pros and Cons of Instagram and Twitter Posting Format Be Re spectful Have fun and get to know other makers in the same community! 1. Instagram Business Account The Instagram Business Account is an option you can change your personal account into on Instagram. The benefits include: Monitoring insights from your account Insight Highlights Accounts Reached Content Interactions Followers Active Times (Prime posting hours) ___ 2. Instagram & Twitter These are the two main platforms I use and some of the Pros and Cons below are based on my own experience or from what I heard. Instagram Pros Most common way for your ideas to get to the audience Many users = many potential customers Lots of oth

Finding something to be inspired by may come easy to some but that may not be the case for many too. Here are some things in my mind when I first started designing for my shop. I still like to think about them when coming up with designs  Contents: Focus and Concepts What do you enjoy? Who is your Target Audience? Drawing Applications 1. Ask yourself. What theme or ideas do you want to focus on?  Like I mentioned in my Introduction, my shop is mainly BTS-focused. I was personally inspired after going to their LOVE YOURSELF World Tour in 2018 . That is also my first time coming in contact with others who sold enamel pins. This is how I got interested to give designing enamel pins a try! You can find inspiration for a design by considering what you like and what concepts you want to go for. Your shop doesn't have to be restricted to one theme or concept too! Here are some concepts you can consider for your first or next design: Symbolic/Realistic Simple/Complex Cute/Serious  Day/Nig