90-163% tariffs, Poll on New Pin Material Option (Patreon)

Hello everybody,

Since our last post / poll about tariffs, they have quadrupled. We now face 90% tariffs on small orders and 163% tariffs on larger pin orders from China.

We are making a "test batch" of Winter Quarter enamel pins with a factory outside China.

• If it works out, we will be able to keep the tariff rate to 10-47% on pins (per the admin's current whims), and we'd only have to raise prices $2 on tiers.

• If the pins fail to meet our high standards, we will then go back to our usual factory in China to produce them, and likely tier prices would go up $3-5.

We are planning to keep making pins no matter what.

Wether the pins come from China or elsewhere, we are committed to keeping this pin club going. For this month's pin, we'd like to design for an option that offers some superior pricing stability: Domestically-made wooden pins.

Honestly I've wanted to try wooden pins for a while, regardless of tariffs, but (until now) they were more expensive than enamel. This especially eco-friendly medium of pins can have 3 layers of texture, combining dark recessed areas, the light wood tone, and 1-2 layers of full bleed color UV printing on top. Color can be printed full-bleed as well, so the effect would be similar to some of the dyed metal UV printed pins we've made last year. Here's a digital mockup using a past design to give you an idea.

Unlike this full-bleed printing mockup, we might also experiment with some partially exposed wood too, to take advantage of the unique and lovely texture of the wood grain.

Would you be open to supporting a wooden pin experiment for this month's pin?