Project record
"Your logo is rectangle shaped."
The supplier recommended the more expensive size, for a reason that had nothing to do with money.
Massena · NY
- Quantity
- 200 pins
- Size
- 1.5"
- Pin type
- Standard pins
- Process
- Die struck soft enamel
The brief
The supplier talked them into the more expensive size, for a reason that had nothing to do with money.
How the design got made
- Beat 1
Quoted both sizes at 200 pins: 1.0 inch at $1.89, 1.5 inch at $2.09
- Beat 2
Rep looked at the logo and recommended going up, unprompted
- Beat 3
The reason was shape, not margin: a rectangular logo does not fit a small round pin
- Beat 4
Asked for a photograph of the uniform to check the colours before proofing
- Beat 5
Customer went to 1.5 inch
- Beat 6
200 pins, ordered within two days, flagged super urgent
The full account
Two sizes, twenty cents apart
Quoted at 200 pins:
- 1.0" — $1.89
- 1.5" — $2.09
Price shown is what this order was quoted at, for this quantity, size and specification, on this date. It is not a current price list.
Twenty cents a pin. On 200 pins that is a rounding error against the rest of the order, which is exactly why the recommendation that followed is worth recording.
The recommendation
"1.0" inch is kind of small because your logo is rectangle shaped. Might want to increase size to 1.5" size Min."
Nobody asked. The customer had two prices and could have taken the cheaper one.
The reason is geometry, not margin. A round pin has to contain the logo's longest dimension. A circular or shield-shaped logo uses most of a round pin's face. A wide rectangular one only touches the two sides, and everything above and below it is empty — so to make the rectangle legible you have to grow the circle around it.
At one inch, a rectangular club logo ends up perhaps half an inch wide. Whatever text is in it stops being readable and becomes texture.
They also asked to see the jersey
"Send a picture of the uniform so I can see how it looks with colors?"
Enamel colours are mixed to PMS references, not matched by eye off a screen. Asking for the uniform before proofing is how the pin ends up the same blue as the sweater rather than approximately that blue.
What went in
200 pins at 1.5 inch, die struck soft enamel, nickel plated, proof V1B. Flagged super urgent, quoted the same day it was asked for, ordered within two days.
Why this one is here
Because the cheapest option is not always the right recommendation, and a supplier who says so — unprompted, on a twenty-cent difference — is telling you something about how they'll behave on the decisions that cost more.
Specification
| Team | Icemen Hockey |
|---|---|
| Sport | Hockey |
| Quantity | 200 |
| Size | 1.5" |
| Process | die struck |
| Fill | soft enamel |
| Pin type | Standard pins |
| Banner included | No |
| City | Massena |
| State | NY |
| Inquiry | 2025-01-07 |
What this price was quoted under
- $2.09 / pin1.5" · 200 pins
- $1.89 / pin1.0" · 200 pins
Price shown is what this order was quoted at, for this quantity, size and specification, on this date. It is not a current price list.
- Quoted on
- January 7, 2025
- For quantity
- 200 pins
- At size
- 1.5"
- Build
- die struck soft enamel
- Excludes
- delivery charge, rush fee, import tariff
The banner threshold
This order sat under the threshold, so no banner was included. At the time the line fell at 1,000 pins at 2.0 inches or larger: the size step cost $0.20 more per pin — $1.07 to $1.27 — and brought a free 3ft × 6ft banner plus 100 bonus gold-metal or blackout pins with it.
Worth checking before you commit to a quantity: the bigger pin is frequently the cheaper total order.
quoted for this order onlyAbout the prices on this page
Every figure here is taken from a real quote for a real order. That is the point of it — and also the reason it will not match what you are quoted.
- Quantity moves the price more than anything else
- Size and build are priced separately
- Turnaround changes the total
- Import tariffs apply and are disclosed on the quote
- These are historical
What the customer said
“1.0" inch is kind of small because your logo is rectangle shaped. Might want to increase size to 1.5" size Min.”
Customer, Icemen Hockey · 2025-01-07 · on why the logo shape set the size
Questions this order answers
Two inches or larger is the working floor for tournament trading — smaller pins get passed over. Sizes run from 2 inches up to 6.
One little league's four orders across three years show the migration in practice: they started at 1.25 inches and moved to 2.0. Larger sizes also unlock the banner threshold, which is why the bigger pin often costs less in total.
Sourced — Sizing guidance across multiple orders; Northern Virginia little league, 2022–2026
Tell us the in-hands date first, before anything else. Rush orders are possible and we've protected tight dates by escalating directly with the factory mid-production.
It costs more, and the fastest shipping is also the tariff-exposed shipping. Three weeks out means a $40 delivery charge plus a $75 rush fee.
Sourced — Brainerd AHA rush, November–December 2025
No. Every figure in this library is what one team was quoted for one order, on the day they asked. It is published as a record, not as a price list.
Quantity and size move it most: the break runs about $0.20 per pin for every hundred pins, and the range here goes from a 1,500-pin corporate run at 1.25 inch to a 3 inch dangler with glitter. Pin type and finish are priced per pin on top of that — a spinner was $0.65 more per pin on one order, glitter is $0.10 per pin per glitter colour.
Timing is separate again. Six weeks ahead of your date carries no delivery or rush charge; four weeks adds a $40 delivery charge; three weeks adds $40 plus a $75 rush fee. The pins are manufactured in China and are subject to US import tariffs, disclosed on the quote rather than at invoice.
For a price that applies to your order, send your quantity, size and in-hands date and we will quote it.
Sourced — Quoted ladders and fee schedule across the AP Pope, Corona Avengers and Brainerd AHA threads, 2025–2026
Starting your team's pins?
This order was 200 pins at 1.5". Send us your roster size and your event date and we will come back with a price.
Request a free quote