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PROJECT UPDATE

The Snarky Company

CREATOR

2 days ago

Project Update: 🎟️ Last Chance to Pre-Order Admit One - Pin Photos!

The Admit One pins are here, and you can check out photos of the finished pins here!

If you missed the original campaign, this is also your last chance to order from the pre-order store!

The pre-order store is open to anyone who didn’t back the campaign but still wants to grab pins from the collection. Pre-orders close next Wednesday, September 16th, so make sure to get your order in before the store closes!

📦 Pre-order shipping: These orders are expected to begin shipping at the end of September/early October.

Thanks so much for all the love for Admit One! I’m so excited to finally have these pins out in the world. 🎟️📚

Pre-order here!

Includes Backer-Exclusive Content

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PROJECT UPDATE

The Snarky Company

CREATOR

11 days ago

Project Update: 🎟️ Admit One Production Update: I Need Your Input!

Hi everyone!

I have a bit of a production dilemma, and after going back and forth about it for the last several days, I decided the best thing to do was explain the situation and ask all of you what you would prefer.

First, the good news: I currently have every Admit One pin design in hand, and they look great! The factory did a fantastic job producing these pins, including the UV-printed details, which were one of my biggest concerns with this collection.

However, I don't yet have the full quantities needed to fulfill the campaign.

I’m still waiting on a few stickers from the printer, but aside from that, I have almost everything I need to begin shipping some orders.

Why I ordered the pins before surveys were completed

When I originally placed the production order, surveys hadn't gone out yet, so I didn't know the final quantity needed for each design. I ordered approximately 50–100 of each design and personally fronted the cost to begin production early.

There were two reasons I did this:

This collection uses some fairly complex UV printing in a very small space, and I had never produced designs quite like these before. I wanted to see the finished pins and make sure the printing looked good before ordering hundreds more.
I have an event at the end of September and was hoping to have some of the collection available for that event.

The first batch arrived in August, and thankfully, the Admit One pins themselves turned out beautifully. I'm very happy with them.

Once surveys were completed and I had everyone's final selections, I was able to calculate the actual quantities needed. For roughly half of the designs, I now need to place an additional production order. And that's where I've run into a dilemma.

The Factory Situation

I've worked with this particular factory for several years, and historically I've had a very good relationship with them. Most of what they've produced for me has been great. Occasionally there might be an issue with one design, as can happen with manufacturing, and they would remake it.

Unfortunately, I recently had a very different experience with another order.

Several months ago, the factory produced a large batch of pins for me that had widespread plating defects throughout the entire order. To give you an idea of the scale, the order contained 3,955 pins, so this represented a significant quantity of merchandise. The quality was substantially below the standard I normally receive from them, so I documented and photographed the issues and asked for the order to be remade.

They agreed and produced a replacement batch, which arrived at the very end of July.

The replacement batch was better, but unfortunately it still had widespread quality issues, including uneven enamel, tarnishing, fingerprints in the plating, missing plating, and other defects.

Thankfully, I was able to grade enough usable pins from the replacement batch to fulfill the customer orders associated with that collection. However, a large portion of the remaining inventory that was intended for my website and future markets can now only be sold as B or C grade merchandise.

I photographed and documented the defects and sent everything to the factory. They asked what I wanted as compensation, and I requested a partial refund for the portion of the merchandise that wasn't produced to the quality standard we had agreed upon.

I specifically did not want them to make the order a third time. At that point, I already had thousands of defective pins taking up space, and producing even more merchandise that might have the same problems didn't feel like a reasonable solution.

The factory declined to provide any refund.

Their position is essentially that they already absorbed the cost of producing the order twice and that they also lost money to PayPal processing fees. My position is that I paid for merchandise produced to an agreed-upon quality standard, and producing the order twice doesn't really resolve the problem if both batches contain widespread defects. I also don't understand why they believe they shouldn't be responsible for the PayPal seller fees, since their own terms and conditions state that sellers are responsible for those fees. Those fees are part of the cost of doing business through PayPal, and they were something the factory agreed to when they accepted payment through the platform. I don't believe those fees should be used as a reason to deny compensation for merchandise that was not produced to the agreed-upon quality standard.

What's further strange is that I didn't even ask for a full refund. I only requested a partial refund, so I'm not sure what the seller fees even have to do with anything.

So unfortunately, we've reached a disagreement that we haven't been able to resolve.

Why This Affects Admit One

Normally, I would simply place the remaining Admit One order with the same factory.

And to be completely clear: the Admit One pins they already produced are NOT defective. They look great, and I am very happy with the quality of this particular collection.

The problem is that this larger situation has made me question whether I want to continue working with this factory.

There have also been some recent issues with their production timelines. An order I was originally told would take approximately 20 days ultimately took about two and a half months. When I recently asked for an updated production estimate before placing another order, I was told that they had just received a $600,000 order and were extremely busy, but I wasn't given an actual estimated production timeline.

So I currently have two options.

Option 1: Keep Admit One With the Original Factory

I can essentially eat the financial loss from the defective merchandise from the other collection and place the remaining Admit One quantities with the factory that produced the first batch.

The biggest advantage is consistency.

They already have the molds, enamel colors, pearl effects, measurements, and production specifications for these designs. Since the first Admit One batch looks great, the additional pins should theoretically match the pins I already have.

The downside is that I would be continuing to give business to a factory I'm currently having a significant unresolved issue with, and I don't have a concrete production timeline from them.

Option 2: Move the Remaining Production to a New Factory

The other option is to take the designs to another factory.

This would mean paying for new molds and essentially starting production over for the remaining quantities, but it would allow me to begin transitioning away from the current manufacturer.

The concern is consistency between the two batches.

Enamel pins aren't manufactured from standardized files in quite the same way something digitally printed might be. Different factories create their own molds, mix their own enamel colors, and may use slightly different materials or production processes.

That means the second batch could look slightly different from the Admit One pins I already have.

For example, two ticket pins that are intended to be the same dimensions could potentially have a small size difference if they're produced by two different factories. Colors could vary slightly. The pearl effect used on some designs might look a little different. I may also need to adjust a few colors during proofing to get the new batch as close as possible to my original artwork and the first production batch.

If your order contains two pins that are supposed to coordinate or be the same size, it's therefore possible you could receive pins with slight differences between them.

They would still be the same designs and I would still quality-check the new production, but I can't guarantee that pins manufactured by two completely different factories will be visually identical.

So...I'm Asking You!

I've been going back and forth about this for several days because there isn't an obvious perfect answer.

On one hand, I really value consistency, and I know the current factory is capable of producing these particular designs beautifully because I already have the first batch sitting in front of me.

On the other hand, I'm extremely disappointed with how they've handled the defective order and I'm not sure I feel comfortable continuing to give them my business, particularly without a reliable production timeline.

Since these are ultimately your rewards, I thought it made sense to ask what matters more to you.

Would you prefer that I keep the remaining Admit One production with the original factory so that the pins are as consistent as possible with the first batch, even if that means potentially waiting longer for production?

Or would you be comfortable with me moving the remaining production to a new factory, knowing that there could be some slight differences in size, color, pearl effects, or other details between the first and second batches?

I'll leave the poll open for a few days and take your feedback into consideration before I make the final production decision.

I know this is probably much more behind-the-scenes manufacturing information than most people ever hear about enamel pins, but I wanted to be transparent about what's happening rather than quietly make the decision for everyone and potentially have people wondering why two pins look slightly different.

Thank you so much for your patience and for weighing in. I really appreciate it. ❤️

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PROJECT UPDATE

The Snarky Company

CREATOR

about 2 months ago

Project Update: Shipping & Manufacturing Update for All 3 Active Snarky Co Projects

Hey everyone,

Just stopping by with a quick shipping and manufacturing update for all three active projects! I'm sorry if you receive this email three times, but I'm posting this to all three project update pages, and that sends an email for each one.

Estimated Ship Start Dates

Firmly Grasp It: Mid August
Secret Night Market: Mid August
Admit One: Late August to Early September (currently well ahead of schedule.)

Photos - I've posted some photos the manufacturers have sent me. They are photos from across the three projects.

Firmly Grasp It

The remade pins and enamel pieces for this project have finally been completed by the factory, and I'm told they'll be shipping to me on Friday. Assuming everything stays on schedule, they should arrive sometime next week.

I'll be in Nashville for a convention next week, so I may or may not be home when they arrive. As soon as I get back, I'll immediately begin processing the shipment, performing quality checks, and assembling grips so they can begin shipping out.

Secret Night Market

The remaining Night Market pins are also expected to arrive on Friday alongside the remade Firmly Grasp It pieces.

Since Firmly Grasp It has just under 300 backers, I expect shipping for that project to take about 3–4 days once it begins. As soon as those orders are finished, I'll move directly into shipping Secret Night Market. That project should take approximately one week to ship.

Combined Shipping

I haven't decided yet whether I'll combine packages for backers who pledged for both projects. While combining shipments sounds simple, each project contains more than 50+ different SKUs, and organizing combined orders adds a significant amount of complexity when I'm packing every order by myself.

Unfortunately, it also doesn't really save on postage anymore.

On July 12, USPS changed its Ground Advantage pricing. Instead of charging based on ounce ranges, all packages under one pound now fall under the same price tier. Since enamel pin orders are usually well under one pound, many of those lighter packages now cost the same to ship as a full one-pound package. As a result, shipping costs have increased noticeably for many small businesses.

In 2026 alone, USPS has implemented three separate shipping price increases and policy changes, significantly increasing shipping costs for small businesses.

Admit One

This project is currently way ahead of schedule.

Right now I'm estimating shipping will begin in late August or early September, which is significantly earlier than the original estimate of late October through early November. Apparently this is what happens when your doctor actually listens to you, prescribes life-changing ADHD medication, and suddenly your productivity goes through the roof. 😅

Thank You!

And finally, I just want to reiterate how incredibly grateful I am for everyone's patience and understanding throughout all of the setbacks and timeline changes with Firmly Grasp It and The Secret Night Market.

Unexpected manufacturing issues and shipping delays can be incredibly overwhelming and stressful, especially when you're a small business owner wearing every hat and handling every part of the business yourself.

Thank you for continuing to support my small business through all of the bumps in the road. I truly can't wait to get these projects into your hands, and I'm so excited for you to finally see everything in person. ❤️

Cheers,
Liz

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PROJECT UPDATE

The Snarky Company

CREATOR

2 months ago

Project Update: Surveys have been sent! Survey info here 📣

Hey everyone,

Surveys have been sent!

Please check your email for your BackerKit survey.

A Few Maintenance Updates:

Ghosting You Trinket – It was brought to my attention this morning that the word "for" accidentally appeared twice in the design. The duplicate word has now been removed, and the corrected version has been updated both in the add-ons section and with the manufacturer.

Paired Partner Collaboration Sticker – I have manually added the paired partner Millennial Club Sticker to eligible pledges. You should now see it listed on your confirmation page under your pledge items.

Survey Lockdown & Charges

Survey lockdown: July 10th, 2026
Shipping fees and any add-ons are charged on the lockdown date.

If you’re not ready by the 10th, no problem—just don’t complete the final confirmation step. You can return to your survey later.

Design choice guarantee deadline: July 15th
After this date, you can still submit your survey, but we can’t guarantee all design selections. If we run out of one of your chosen designs while packing orders, we will reach out to you to choose a new design. It's very rare that this happens as we usually order more than extra of each pin.

Failed Pledge Charges

If your original pledge charge failed, you’ll still receive a survey on July 5th!

Add-Ons

Add-ons are optional and ship with your pledge (not separately).

Shipping Address Changes

You can update your address in the survey until lockdown.
After lockdown, email [email protected] as soon as possible for address changes.
Returned packages due to incorrect addresses will require a new shipping payment.

We’ll post a final address reminder before shipping begins.

Pre-Order Store

A pre-order store is available for non-backers. Please note:

The pre-order store is separate from your survey.
All survey items already appear in your add-ons—be careful not to place a duplicate order.
pre-order store here!

If you have any questions, reach out to [email protected].

Cheers,
Liz

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PROJECT UPDATE

The Snarky Company

CREATOR

2 months ago

Project Update: Inventory Clear Out Sale + New Pin Pre-Order Sale on Etsy + Survey Info 📣

Hi everyone!

Please take a few minutes to read through this entire update, as it contains important information regarding surveys, production timelines, and opportunities to purchase some of the survey add-on items at a discount.

Survey and manufacturing info for Admit One can be found in the Backer Only content section.

Inventory Clear Out Sale + New Pin Pre-Order Sale on Etsy

I currently have over 50 new and returning pin designs being manufactured and making their way to me over the coming months. In order to make room for all of these new arrivals, it's time for a much-needed inventory clean out!

Because of that, there are currently two sales happening in my Etsy shop.

Inventory Clean Out Sale

Most pins and other items throughout the shop are currently 40% off. No coupon code is necessary; all eligible items have already been marked down.

New Designs Pre-Order Sale

For this campaign, I've created several new pin designs that are not part of the Admit One campaign. These designs will still be available in the survey add-ons section at their regular retail price.

However, if you're interested in these specific designs, you can purchase them through Etsy during this special pre-order event for 20% off retail pricing. There is one caveat: only a limited quantity of each design is available at this discounted price. Once those quantities sell out, they are gone.

Photos of the designs are below! - Etsy Shop Click Here!

The reason I'm offering these designs through Etsy at a discounted pre-order price is to help begin manufacturing sooner. Since these designs were not part of a crowdfunding campaign, I don't already have the funds on hand to immediately begin production. Additionally, survey funds are not collected right away, which would delay manufacturing even further.

By offering these designs through Etsy now, I'm hoping to begin production this week, which means you'll receive them sooner as well.

Both sales begin today and will run for approximately two weeks. No coupon code is necessary; all discounts have already been applied.

Please note that the new design pre-orders are limited in quantity, so they may sell out before the two-week sale period ends.