We built StarPinCrafts around the orders everybody else turned down.
We're the small-batch team inside Hying Industry Co., Ltd — a manufacturer in Yiwu, Zhejiang, China with more than ten years of production behind it. This page is the part most suppliers leave out.
It always started the same way
For years we ran the kind of orders a factory is built to run. Ten thousand pins. Twenty thousand bags. Minimum quantities decided by what the machines need in order to stay busy.
Then a different kind of email started arriving.
A jewellery designer who needed 40 pins for her first collection. A software team of five who wanted caps for a conference. A charity that needed 25 lanyards for a sponsored walk. An artist who wanted three samples to photograph before she committed to anything.
Every one of them got the same reply from every supplier:
"Sorry, our MOQ is 500."
We read those emails twice — because a number never tells you what an order is worth. That 40-pin order came back the next season, and the one after that, with a bigger quantity every time.
So we made a change our accountant wasn't thrilled about: we rebuilt our production around small runs. Not as a slogan — as an expensive, physical change to the way the workshop is set up.
What "built for small runs" actually means
Three things had to change before we could honestly say yes to a 5-piece order.
We own the tooling
A custom metal pin needs a mould — and the mould is the real reason factories demand 500 pieces. We keep 60+ stock moulds on the shelf and cut new ones in-house, so your small order doesn't have to carry the cost of an entire die.
Small runs go every day
Small orders are scheduled alongside large ones instead of being pushed to the back of the queue. That's why a normal order leaves the workshop in 7–15 days, and not "some time next month".
One person owns your order
The person who answers your first email is the person who checks your goods before they're packed. Nothing gets handed over to a stranger halfway through. You always know who you're talking to.
"We will never be the cheapest supplier for 100,000 pieces. We can be the only one who will happily make your first 30."
StarPinCrafts · Hying Industry Co., LtdThe mistake we made in our first year
We promised a client a ten-day delivery. The plating came back one shade off. We found the problem late, we missed the date — and we had the entire run redone at our own cost, making nothing on the order.
It changed the way we quote, permanently:
- Every lead time now includes a buffer for exactly that kind of problem.
- Before a run is finished, you get a photo of the real piece — not a render.
- If something goes wrong, you hear it from us first, with a solution already attached.
You should never be the first person to discover a problem with your own goods.
So we send you the awkward photo too. If a colour sits half a shade off, or a stitch line drifted, you'll see it on our screen before it ever reaches a courier — while there's still time to fix it for free.
Small orders are not "small" to us
When a tooling shop charges you for a full die, a 50-piece order becomes mathematically impossible. That single cost is why so many suppliers simply say no. We removed it from the equation.
The same idea runs through the whole workshop. Fabric is cut in smaller lots. Screens are burned for shorter print runs. Packaging is assembled by hand when a machine setup would cost more than the order is worth.
It is a slower way to manufacture. It is also the only way to make a 5-piece order make sense — for you and for us.
Who we usually work with
Most of our customers have never placed a manufacturing order before. That's fine — it's the whole reason we exist.
What we're honestly not the best at
Every supplier page claims they can do everything. Here's where we'd rather be straight with you.
- Bulk price wars.If you need 200,000 units at the lowest price on the market, there are larger factories than ours — and we'll tell you so instead of wasting your time.
- Impossible deadlines.If your date can't be met, we'll say no up front rather than take the order and hope it works out.
- Some finishes need volume.Certain plating and packaging options only make sense above a certain quantity. You'll hear that before you pay, not after.
Quick facts
The details a buyer usually has to ask for.
Tell us what you're trying to make.
Five pins or five thousand — send us the idea. You'll get a free mockup and a door-to-door quote within 24 hours. And if we're not the right supplier for the job, we'll tell you that too.