Trading Pin Buyers Guide
First time ordering trading pins? This guide can help take the guess work out of the process.
Whether you’re a seasoned vet or a rookie tasked with purchasing pins for your team, we understand it can be a confusing and stressful experience. Countless options, tight deadlines, and the pressure of satisfying everyone on the team. Don’t fret though, we are here to help.
Below are some useful tips that can help make your trading pin experience a little easier this season. And as always, please contact us with any questions and our team of pin experts will guide you through the process.
Start Early
If there is one bit of advice we could pass along, it is to start as soon as possible. The most common issue teams run into is time restraints.
Pins on average take 2-3 weeks to produce depending on the type and additional features. Factor in shipping time, and it might be a month before the trading pins you order are in your hands. And this doesn’t account for the time spent gathering quotes, working with our artists, and discussing options amongst your team.
The optimal time to start planning is two months before your pins are needed. This will open up all the different options we have available while providing some extra time for unexpected shipping delays.
You will have time to work directly with one of our talented artists and make revisions until the design is just right. The added time will also allow you to have the team vote on potential pin designs.
Pick a Type
While there are a lot of different ways to create a pin, almost all sports trading pins fall into one of these types. Your timeframe, design, and budget will dictate which is most suited for you.
Soft Enamel Pins
These are the de facto choice for sports teams around the country. Soft enamel pins use an iron or zinc base along with a mold to create ridges in the design. The inside of the ridges are then partially filled with liquid enamel paint and dried. They have a textured look and feel that are attractive to collectors.
Soft enamel is slightly more expensive than offset printed pins and can take around a week longer to manufacture. They use a thicker metal base that provides more durability (a nice feature for youth teams) and offers far more customization options. Teams can add blinkers, danglers, glitter, glow-in-the-dark paint, puzzle pieces, and sliders to a soft enamel pin. If you can dream it, we can likely make it.
Offset Printed Pins
These pins start with a flat metal base and print the design directly to it. An epoxy resin is then placed over it to protect the paint from external damage. Offset printed pins are cheaper than soft enamel and take less time to manufacture. They lack the texture of a soft enamel pin and use a thinner metal base.
One of the key advantages of offset printed pins is they capture detail much better. This benefits teams that want to print names or small details on the pin.
Hybrid Pins
Due to recent printing technology, we now have the ability to print nearly anything on a Soft Enamel Pin. For that reason, we recommend that you always choose soft enamel pins, if your time frame allows.
Provide Lots of Information
We are blessed to have a talented team of artists based in the United States who have years of experience designing pins. But to create something special that truly represents your team, the more information you can provide, the better. Some things that will help are:
Team Name
Logo – The higher the resolution the better. We always appreciate vector artwork too.
Colors
Mascot
Location
Age Division
Tournament
Design notes – We left a ton of space in our quote form for you to tell us everything you want out of your pin. Want it shaped like your state? Have an area you want to see glitter used? Let your creative juices flow.
Social Media – Providing our artists with some links to a Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter page for your team is a helpful tool if you don’t quite have an idea in mind.
Other Pins – Did you find a pin you loved online or from a previous tournament? Send us a photo and we can design one just like it but for your team.
At All-Star Trading Pins, we offer unlimited revisions to your artwork. So if you don’t like what you see initially, let us know.
Size
Sports trading pins are meant to be big and bold. Our most common size is 1.5”, but have designed pins that are much larger.
Sometimes size is dictated by your design. If you want player names and numbers, for instance, a larger pin (perhaps 2”) is necessary to make it legible. Our art team will be transparent with you on the size and let you know which works best for your design.
TIP
While smaller pins are cheaper, they aren’t always cost-effective. Larger pins are more desirable at tournaments and can bring in a larger return. You may have to trade 2-3 smaller pins to get 1 larger pin. It’s why if you’re on a budget, we recommend going for a lower quantity of large pins as opposed to a higher quantity of small pins.
Quantity
A quick rule of thumb is that you want at least one pin per player for every team participating in the tournament you are attending. We do recommend adding extras for family and friends to hold on to as keepsakes.
TIP
To save money in the long run, think about leaving off the year and tournament. This will allow you to order a larger quantity upfront and pay less per pin. Your pins can be used for each tournament you play in and even the following year. You can even sell your leftover pins to next year’s team if you’d like.
Upgrades
Having a unique pin is always beneficial when trading. And there is no better way to add something special than using one of our upgrade options.
Glitter – Our most popular upgrade can be used anywhere on the pins you’d like. It’s both cheap and a great way to have your pin stand out from the crowd.
Glow-in-the-Dark – This works best for teams with some green in their design, but can be used for a number of other colors. It’s a cheap add-on that creates a cool effect that is very popular with kids.
Spinners – This popular add-on acts as a sort of second pin that is attached to your main pin and spins. A fun, interactive addition that kids love.
Slider – For the creative types, a slider can bring any pin design to life. A ball flying through the air, a player sliding across the pin, or anything you can dream up where a moving piece increases the appeal.
Danglers – A cost-effective way to add a little something extra to your pin. A place where you can show the age level, year, state flag, or prior championships. If you are ordering pins for multiple age brackets, this is a great way to make them unique while keeping costs down since the main part of the pin will remain the same.
Let Our Experts Help
We understand that for many, creating a pin is not an easy task. But at All-Star Trading Pins, we are staffed with experts who can help through every step of the process. Our support team is ready to talk via e-mail, text, or phone call. We have extensive knowledge of the trading pin industry. Not just from the business side of things, but as parents of players and former players themselves.
And our world-class design team can’t be touched in the industry. Based in the United States, our artists can work alongside you to come up with ideas or turn your vision into reality. And if you’re not sure how to make that pin special? One of our creative artists will help.