4 Ways To Save Money On Custom Medals

Sticking to your budget is easy when you know a few tips and tricks...

Medals have been the number one symbol of accomplishment for over a thousand years. Yet the cost of obtaining them can stack up, especially when your event's attendance list is as long as your arm. 

Staying within budget can feel frustrating and even disheartening because you might feel that the only solution is to compromise on your medal’s significance or quality. But we’re here to tell you that it’s not! 

Our team at Badges And Medals have helped thousands of event organisers like you save money on their medals and you deserve to know how you can too. 

So whether you're planning a sporting event, or a school function, or want to recognize an outstanding achievement, this article will teach you five different ways you can save money without lowering the quality of your medals.

1. Order medals in advance

In the world of event planning, timing is often everything. The world of medal manufacturing is no different. Take a look at the timeline below to see how the simple aspect of when you place your order can bag you a bargain.

• Ordering 5 weeks before your due date:
  There's about a six-week period between when you receive your order quote and when your order is shipped from your medal manufacturer. Anything needed on shorter notice than that is a rush job, which is usually more expensive because it disrupts their production schedule and forces them to reassign resources.
  
  
• Ordering 5 weeks to 2 months before your due date:
  This is the "sweet spot". You have enough time to thoroughly investigate your manufacturer’s broad range of designs, materials, and options to find the best bang for your buck (like buying in bulk!). Meanwhile, the manufacturer has time to hone their production schedule, saving them money on resources and labour down the track.
  
  They also have time to check whether their production factories can send your order out with other orders due at the same time, reducing their shipping costs. They then pass these savings on to you.
  
  
• Ordering 2+ months before your due date:
  When you order well in advance of your event, your manufacturer is able to send your medals from their production factories to their nearest distribution centre using a boat, rather than a plane. Shipping medals is cheaper than flying them because boats burn less fuel and carry more cargo, saving you up to 16% per medal. For example, you could save about 55 cents a medal (USD) if you ordered 2000 70mm metal medals in June instead of August - that’s US$1100! 

2. Buy medals in bulk

It may seem obvious but there's a reason buying in bulk is a tried and tested way to save your organisation money. When you order all your medals at once, it allows manufacturers to optimise our medal-making process, use their resources better, and reduce overhead costs such as rent and salaries, because they spend less time stopping and starting machines. 

Companies, in turn, pass these savings on to you. This means that you pay less per medal for a bulk order than you do for several smaller ones. 

Just take a look at how buying in bulk changes the price of a metal medal with a custom ribbon from Badges And Medals:

• 500 medals = around US$3.20 per medal
• 5000 medals = around US$1.90 per medal
• 50,000 medals = around US$1.20 per medal

As a bonus, buying in bulk allows manufacturers to slash your delivery fees. This is because freight companies offer them a special postage discount when they place a large order (like they do for you). As a result, their bulk medal orders often have the lowest shipping cost per item.

Need more proof? It cost one of Badges And Medals’ customers about US$190 to have their bulk order of 5000 medals delivered to their door earlier this year. Meanwhile, another customer in the same town has spent US$125 on delivering 1700 medals in waves since the start of this year. The first customer spent US$0.04 on shipping per medal, while the second spent an average of US$0.075. That’s almost half the price!

3. Reuse your unused medals

Have you ever ordered medals for an event, only to be left with leftovers? You're not the only one. We’ve had countless event organisers reach out about unused medals, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused event postponements, cancellations and low turn-outs to become a fact of life. We told them all the same thing: reuse them!

By simply changing one custom ribbon for another, you can give your old medals a fresh look and make them relevant to your upcoming event. This works especially well if the old medals don't have anything on them that dates them, such as the previous event's year or sponsors. Just order new ribbons from your favourite craft store or medal manufacturer. 

And, if you haven’t got the time to put the new ribbons on, ask your medal manufacturer if you can send your old medals to them. They might be able to remove the old ribbons, if that hasn’t been done already, and replace them with new, custom ones at a fraction of the price. 

All that you'll pay for is posting the old medals to the manufacturer, the new ribbons (around US$0.50 to US$1.10 per ribbon), plus the labour costs of attaching them to your old medals (around US$0.60 to US$0.90 per medal). You'll also be charged for any old ribbons that have to be removed by your manufacturer, but you can dodge this if you remove them ahead of time.

4. Purchase insert medals

The "insert", or sticker, is placed in the centre of the medal's wreath.

An insert medal is a medal with a sticker (a.k.a. insert) stuck on one of its faces. But don't be frightened by the word 'sticker'! Insert medals are as hardy as their metal and wooden medal cousins: their stickers are printed on high-quality vinyl - a substance more durable and water resistant than paper - and coated with a resin dome to protect them from general wear and tear. 

One of the big benefits of insert medals is that their stickers are easily customisable. The other is that insert medals are cheaper than metal medals, generally up until the 150-medal mark. The average 50mm insert medal costs US$3.50 in Australia, while the average 70mm medal costs US$5.80.

From the 150-medal point on, metal medals are easier and quicker to make, reducing a manufacturer’s labour and overhead costs. But up until then, you can pocket the money you save or funnel it into luxuries you might not have been able to look at, such as custom-made ribbons or engravings on the back of each medal.

Turn these tips into a reality!

Our team at Badges And Medals have helped thousands of event organisers like you create top-notch medals to perfectly suit their budget, using these simple tips and tricks. Armed with our knowledge, you’ll never have to compromise on your medal’s importance or quality again. 

Your events will shine and so will you, thanks to the peace of mind of knowing that your budget is intact. If you still have questions, or want to turn one of the cost-saving options above into a reality, then reach out to us here. We’re dedicated to helping you create memorable medals.