When you’re sourcing medals for your brand, event, or e-commerce platform, one question always comes first: “What’s this going to cost me?” This guide is built as a pricing reference — the hard numbers behind every factor that moves medal price up or down, so you can plan a budget with confidence instead of guessing.
Costs typically range from as low as $0.35 per piece to around $7.20, depending on what you’re ordering. That’s a wide spread, and most of it comes down to a handful of variables — quantity, material, size, finish, and personalization — each of which moves the number by a predictable amount. Here’s exactly where that range comes from, broken down factor by factor with real numbers you can plug into your own budget.
Quick Pricing Overview: What to Expect
Budget-Friendly Range ($0.35 – $1.50 per medal)
- High-volume orders (10,000–50,000+ units)
- Simple designs without enamel
- Lightweight materials or alternative options
Mid-Range Sweet Spot ($1.50 – $3.50 per medal)
- Standard orders (1,000–5,000 units)
- Quality die-cast or die-struck pieces
- Custom colors and moderate detail
Premium Territory ($3.50 – $7.20+ per medal)
- Smaller runs (100–500 units)
- Complex 3D designs with multiple features
- Individually customized award medals
Real example: a standard 2-inch die-cast medal with colorful enamel runs about $2.80 per piece at 1,000 units, dropping to just $1.20 at 10,000 units — a 57% swing driven purely by quantity.
Order Quantity: The Number Behind the Number
- 100 pieces: $5.20 per piece
- 500 pieces: $3.20 per piece
- 1,000 pieces: $2.40 per piece
- 5,000 pieces: $1.90 per piece
- 10,000 pieces: $1.35 per piece
The swing comes from setup costs — a mold (around $85) and ribbon setup (about $23) get spread across however many units you order. At 100 pieces, that adds nearly a dollar each; at 5,000, it adds less than two cents. If you’re sourcing custom medals bulk, the tier jump between 950 and 1,000 units alone can be worth more than the extra 50 pieces cost — for a full breakdown of quantity strategy, see our guide on how to cost less total.
Medal Types and What Each One Costs
The category you choose sets your baseline. Die-cast ($1.80–$4.50) uses molten zinc alloy poured into custom molds and can be shaped into almost anything, with MOQs typically starting at 100–200 pieces. Die-struck ($1.50–$4.00) uses a stamping process similar to coin minting, delivers sharper detail, and runs heavier — opt for brass over zinc alloy for a 20–30% premium and a noticeably more substantial feel. For the full side-by-side on materials, see our zinc alloy, brass, and iron medals comparison, and for a deeper look at shapes, finishes, and use cases across the category, our Medal Types guide covers it in full.
Looking for medals cheap without giving up on appeal? Acrylic ($0.50–$1.50) is lightweight and laser-cuttable; wooden ($0.75–$2.50) is the eco-friendly option, with multi-layered designs commanding a premium; PVC ($0.60–$1.80) is soft, colorful, and popular for kids’ events.
Material cost comparison at a glance (2″ die-struck medal, 1,000-unit order, base finish):
- Zinc alloy: $2.20–$2.60 per piece — the industry default, good detail retention at standard thickness
- Brass: $2.70–$3.30 per piece — 20–30% above zinc alloy, noticeably heavier
- Iron: $2.00–$2.40 per piece — slightly below zinc alloy, more prone to corrosion without extra plating
- Pewter: $3.00–$3.80 per piece — softer metal, popular for antique-style finishes
- Stainless steel: $3.50–$4.60 per piece — highest durability, common for outdoor or marine-use awards
Plating adds its own line item on top of the base metal: standard gold or silver plating runs $0.10–$0.20 per piece, while antique or dual-tone plating (two finishes on one piece) runs $0.25–$0.45.
Size, Weight, and Thickness
Perceived value tracks closely with weight — two pieces can cost similarly to produce, but the heavier one almost always feels more valuable. Standard medal sizes run 1.5–3.5 inches, with pricing climbing roughly like this:
- 2″ (50mm): base pricing
- 2.75″ (70mm): about 28–35% more
- 3″ (75mm): 40–50% premium over base
Thickness adds up too: 4mm adds about $0.06 per piece, 5mm adds about $0.20 — small increments that can support a 30–50% higher retail price point.
Color, Ribbons, and Personalization Costs
Enamel: cost depends on surface coverage, not color count — a 2-inch medal with half its surface enameled runs $0.25–0.30 more than a plain version. Soft enamel is the budget-friendly standard; hard enamel adds $0.35–0.60 for a more polished, scratch-resistant finish. Glitter or glow-in-the-dark effects add $0.15–0.25.
Ribbons: stock ribbons run about $0.50 per piece, custom-printed ribbons around $1.50 plus a $23 setup fee, and full sublimation (photo-quality) ribbons $1.50–2.00.
Personalization: personalised engraved medals cost about $0.40 per piece during production (often dropping to $0.10 at 1,000+ units), around $1.10 per tab plus an $8.40 setup fee for post-event attachable tabs, or $1.80–2.40 per piece plus two-way shipping for post-production engraving on small, special-award quantities.
Special Features and Add-Ons
For race organizers building custom finisher medals, functional extras carry their own price tags: bottle openers add $0.40–0.55, magnet backing adds $0.10–0.15, spinning elements add $0.30–0.50, and 3D sculpting adds 15–25% to the base cost. These are the details that separate a piece from every other medal on the shelf, and they price out predictably once you know the base cost.
Shipping and Setup Fees
Ocean freight takes 5–6 weeks and adds about $0.15 per piece; air freight arrives in 1–2 weeks but adds roughly $1.00 per piece. Most buyers order their main quantity by sea and top up by air closer to the event. Total timeline: 8–10 weeks via ocean, 4–5 weeks via air.
Setup fees are one-time: a mold runs about $100, ribbon design about $23, and engraving setup about $8.40 — all reusable on reorders, which is why a repeat order of the same design typically costs 15–25% less than the first.
Real-World Examples
Small Event (500 pieces): 2″ die-cast, soft enamel, custom ribbon — $2.80 each, $1,400 total.
Medium Volume (2,500 pieces): 2″ die-struck, 3 colors, stock ribbon — $2.10 each, $5,250 total.
Large Bulk Order (10,000 pieces): 2″ die-cast, full color, simple design — $1.35 each, $13,500 total.
Corporate Annual Gala (1,500 pieces): 2.75″ die-struck brass, hard enamel logo, individual engraved recipient name, sublimation ribbon — $4.10 each, $6,150 total. Best for: leadership awards, milestone anniversaries, retention programs where the medal doubles as a keepsake.
Marathon Finisher Series (7,500 pieces): 2.75″ die-cast zinc alloy, spinning center medallion, full-color enamel, stock ribbon printed with event date — $2.35 each, $17,625 total. Best for: annual races building a collectible medal series year over year.
Get the Most Accurate Quote
These numbers are a starting point — actual pricing depends on your exact spec. Most reputable medals suppliers offer a free design consultation, which is the fastest way to turn this guide’s ranges into a real number for your order. If you’re weighing quantity, size, or finish trade-offs beyond what’s covered here, our cost-reduction guide walks through strategy in more depth.
Fazit
The sweet spot for most businesses is 1,000–5,000 units in the $2.00–$3.50 range — strong quality without overstretching the budget. Whether you need an affordable option for a mass-market event or a premium, individually engraved piece for VIP recognition, the pricing above should get you within range before you ever request a quote.
Ready to see exactly what your order will cost? Reach out to our team with your specifications — we’ll provide a detailed quote and help you create medals that elevate your brand, delight recipients, and avoid some common mistakes when ordering custom medals.
Häufig gestellte Fragen
Is there a minimum order quantity?
Most manufacturers set MOQs around 100 pieces for die-cast or die-struck designs, though some factory-direct suppliers accept smaller test runs at a higher per-piece rate.
How much does a physical sample cost?
A pre-production sample typically runs $30–$60 per design and takes 5–10 days to produce; many suppliers credit this toward your final order once you approve production.
What does rush production add to the cost?
Compressing a 15–25 day production window down to 7–10 days usually adds a 15–20% rush fee on top of the base per-piece price.
Do I need to pay the full amount upfront?
Standard terms are typically a 50% deposit to start production, with the remaining 50% due before shipment.
How much cheaper is a reorder of the same design?
Because the mold, ribbon setup, and engraving equipment are already made, a reorder typically runs 15–25% less per piece than the original order.
Does color choice matter for cost, or just coverage?
Only coverage matters — a 2-inch medal with 40% of its surface in enamel costs roughly the same whether that’s one color or five. What drives the price up is how much surface area is filled, not the number of distinct colors used.
