FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
We know that many of our clients have never done this sort of thing before and it is our full intention to make this investment as painless, cost-effective and easy as possible. For those clients who are too proud to ask us directly we have developed this page to aid you in asking some of the same questions that many have asked before you. Most of these questions come directly from the pages of Emails we have received from 1000's of interested people. We hope you are enlightened. Thank you!
What are lapel pins?
Lapel Pins are effective forms of recognition or promotion. As you may have noticed, LPM is licensed by several international organizations. These consist of many, many individuals, groups, clubs, teams, fraternities/sororities and countless others.
What are lapel pins used for?
As we mentioned before mainly recognition. Many individuals use pins as a form of recognition by which they proudly display what they belong to or what they strongly believe in.
How do I go about designing a lapel pins or other piece of custom emblematics?
We strongly request that you submit to us the design you want to have replicated. This avoids an endless volley of Emails, Faxes and phone calls before you, your committee or even we are satisfied.
What if I don't have any means to do artwork?
Then we can do it for you for a fee.
How much do you charge to do artwork?
Our normal charges are only $25. This is completely 100% applicable to your order. It usually takes us about 3-4 weeks to completely develop artwork, but if you have a logo or rough art for modifications, this can be done in a matter of hours or days depending on how busy we are.
If it is 100% applicable to the order, why do you even charge at all?
We charge because we feel that as much as we want to help you, it is necessary to think that you will want to do business with us instead of taking what work we have done and go to someone else.
What is your minimum?
We publish our minimum at 100 pieces! We know that there are many other companies that require you to do 500 or 1000 pieces minimum, but we feel that we would rather make $20-30 on a small deal and hope you either tell someone who will order more, or that you will come back again and again.
I have received quotes that are 2 to 3 X's more than yours, what am I missing?
You're not alone! We are a direct importer and supplier to many companies around the world. Possibly including one you got a quote from. We publish our prices because we have nothing to hide. We will sell to you at the same rate as we sell to our government aggregators, trophy shops, wholesalers and other bona fide resellers.
Do you "skimp" on the materials to stay so cheap?
Absolutely not! There are more cost effective ways of making a promotional product, but we never utilize them unless it is what you want and you clearly understand any possible quality consequences. Some of our competitors lure you with LOW pricing only to find out taht you have been compromised. Please be careful no matter whom you do business with!
How long does an order take?
Normal production and domestic USA delivery are at 4-6 weeks. We offer expedited service for a percentage fee and those costs are clearly indicated on our pricing page. Again, proof that we do not hide anything intentionally.
How fast can you really, I mean really do an order?
IF, and we mean IF all necessary parameters are met, we can do an order of up to 1000 pieces in as few as 10 days to your USA door! Naturally we need to protect ourselves by requiring a waiver of delivery by 3 days. Circumstances beyond our control include, import customs and local delivery service of our carriers in some rural areas.
My boss requires a sample. Can we get one before we approve the order?
Sure, we can make a sample of your design for you, but we need to secure our position by requesting a deposit equal to the cost of the die tooling charge plus a handling fee of $20 to cover what is often less than our costs of receiving the sample and forwarding it off to you. If you approve the sample and as long as there are no major changes, the die tooling charge is 100% applicable to the order!
How can I send you artwork?
We prefer to receive artwork by Email and in jpg format. JPG is best because of it's automatic compression feature for easy downloading and uploading. We have most of the major (expensive) software like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, Corel, etc. Naturally, we can easily open bmp, tif, pcx and other common PC formats.
Can you accept artwork by FAX?
You bet we can, but most people only have black and white Faxes. We have a color FAX machine. When sending artwork in B&W, we need to know the color requirements so we may inform the factory where to insert the colors.
How many colors can I put on a pin?
We can do pins in offset printing allowing us to utilize as many as 16.7 million colors, just like as if it were a photograph! IMPORTANT!: In a pin stamped out of a sheet of metal colors can ONLY be inserted where the material is inverted or concave. Our pricing normally includes up to five vibrant colors!
