Paper Crafting, Rubber Stamping, Scrapbooking, and more
Starting your own Stamp company
I keep reading about all the new stamp companys and I would LOVE to start my own. I was just wanting to find out how you go about it. Where do you get the stamps made? How much do you need up front to start it? If anyone know or has any info. I would so love it if you would share it with me. You could always email me personally if you want. TIA!!!
Gail :-)
Gail :-)
Views: 13
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Hasenfratz on -
Gail, I just found a new manufacturer for my stamps (www.carolynsstampstore.com) that I'm pretty happy with, Stamp N Plus Scrap N - http://www.stampaffair.com/
This is roughly the order in which I did things, or the order that I wish I had done things!
1. Design the stamps
2. Find a manufacturer and order stamps
3. Get retail license
4. Get PO Box for checks and mail (since my store is online and I operate from home)
5. Design logo
6. Decide how to do shipping and what kinds of payment to accept
7. Get web site with shopping cart, build site and enter in inventory
8. Make business cards and get packaging materials for sending out orders
9. Work on search engine rankings
10. Work on samples for Gallery page
11. Write tutorials for Project Ideas
12. Gradually add more items to inventory
13. Do shows
14. Send out email newsletter to subscribers (collected online and at shows)
The last several steps are ongoing tasks. I may have left out some things, but hopefully that will help get you started.
Carolyn
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Permalink Reply by Lynn in St. Louis on -
Great topic Gail. I look forward to seeing the responses you get.
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Permalink Reply by scrappintlc (Robin) on -
I too look forward to responses.
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Permalink Reply by Kim Burmeister on -
This is a great topic, Gail! I see so many new stamp companies and designers and I was wondering how they get their art turned into stamps.
Carolyn, this is a great list you provided. I would have never thought of all of that. I am going to check out your site. I stopped by the manufacturer that you use. How would Gail go about getting her ideas made into stamps? Does she just contact them? Do you know of any other manufacturers?
I love this discussion, because I always wondered about this!
Kim
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Permalink Reply by Barbara on -
Great question!
It's amazing that you asked this....I was just wondering about this! Wow!
I'm curious to know how acrylic stamps are made ..........and what a wonderful "invention" they are.
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Hasenfratz on
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Kim,
When I first started looking for a manufacturer, I looked for a company that was manufacturing stamps that I liked, and contacted them to see if they would be interested in making mine. They said yes. Later that company was bought by another company, and they did them for awhile, then that company was bought by a third company that didn't want to do custom orders any more, so I was forced to find a new one. When I made my first inquiries, I asked them how they wanted the artwork, what size, what kind of file, etc.
I have mine made in red rubber pressed in metal matrix boards, and the mounted ones are on wood mounts. When I was looking for a new manufacturer, I had to find one that made them the same way, because I already had plates which were expensive to have made, and I wanted to continue to use them. The old manufacturer sent me my plates back and I sent those on to the new manufacturer.
I first started looking locally (St. Louis) but was unable to find a company that used the same manufacturing process that was willing to do custom work. I did find one that does laser cut dies. Here is some info about them if anyone is interested in having stamps made that way:
"I have the prices for the 8.5" x 11" lasered rubber dies. The rubber is the same that we use for our Rubber Stamps. All I need is a file with what you want in a PDF form if you have it. Your price in lots of 10 would be $95.37 per sheet. Since we have not done business with you before, I would like to have a few references in the industry if you have it.
Jack Kerls
314-872-7840
American Stamp & Marking Products, Inc.
sales@americanstamp.com"
Next I joined a Yahoo group for rubber stamp manufacturers and companies and asked for recommendations, or for manufacturers to call me if they were interested. Stamp N Plus Scrap N was one of two companies that called me.
Here are some other recommendations from other group members (If it's in quotes it's someone else's words):
"Here are a couple recommendations for manufacturers who are on the list, not in any order:
1) Stampingssensations.com - owner Vicki Davis
http://tinyurl.com/5jdx8k
2) Zimprints.com
Carolyn Crowder and Nannette Rebori (I think they still press other people's designs)
http://www.Zimprints.com
3) My Heart stamps for you - Julie Pialet
julie@myheartstamps4u.com
http://www.myheartstamps4u.com/vulcanizing.html
Also you may want to look at this list for professional women web designers:
http://www.womendesignersgroup.com/community/join.html
The list has been a big help to me over the years, they are a great group of professional women"
"I would also recommend Stamping Sensations in Illinois. Vicky does a
great job."
Julie Pialet also emailed me, here is her contact info:
Julie Pialet
My Heart Stamps For You
YES! We are an Angel Company
http://www.myheartstamps4u.com
5224 Balsam St. Suite G
Colorado Springs, CO 80923
ph. 719-550-0983 fax 719-574-4105
Visa/MC/Discover/AMEX/checks/MO
The Yahoo group is a good one to be on, but they only accept established companies. Mine I guess has been around long enough to be considered established even though it is very small. If anyone is interested in this group, here is where you go to join: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/rsmakers/
I hope that helps!
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Permalink Reply by Kim Burmeister on
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Wow, Carolyn! Thanks for all the great information. You are so sweet to gather it here for us. I know this helps me regarding stamp making and I hope it helps others.
Thanks again!
Kim
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Permalink Reply by Katie Cotton - PaperMakeup on -
ooo, my friend directed me to this thread. I've been wanting to start my own stamp company as well and have had some ups and downs in the process. Maybe with the help from gals on this thread i might actually be able to start it up!
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Permalink Reply by alma de la rosa on -
First let me say that producing stamps is not a cheap thing to do. That being said, when I got laid off from my last job I took my last paycheck and invested it in my rubber stamp business. That was 6 years ago. The company paid for itself after 2 years. I pretty much did what Carolyn did, but created my own website.
After you design your stamps you must get a magnesium plate made of your artwork. That runs from $60-$135 depending on the size of the plate and depth of your etching and who does your plate. This is your master plate. The plate that determines what your rubber will look like and the quality of your stamp. Spend the money here. Matrix boards run between $10 and $20 each.
The matrix board is the workhorse and what the rubber sheet gets made from. I was also lucky because I lived in an area where there are lots of rubber stamp companies that manufacture rubber for other people.
Judikins, Sunday International, Circus Stamps, American Art Stamp all press rubber for other people. And because they manufacture their own stamp lines, you can judge the quality of their rubber by purchasing one of their own stamps. Rubber, besides stamping sharper and being more versatile is less expensive per sheet. Here is a general price list.
Clear stamps have cheaper start up costs, but a higher per unit cost. There are few companies in the US that produce clear stamps, but you can find them by doing a simple search on Google. These are made of high quality photopolymer and stamp very well. Not as well as rubber, but pretty good.
Acrylic or Silicone stamps are usually made offshore and are cheaper per unit to manufacture, but require a larger number of units to start the order and tend to be harder to get good images from.
I hope this helps.
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Hasenfratz on
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I did my own web site too, that helps a lot with the cost. I used osCommerce open source software for the site and shopping cart, and PayPal for the payment gateway. I've put a lot of time into building the site, but the software is free.
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Permalink Reply by alma de la rosa on
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The shopping cart was the most confusing thing. I had never been in retail and had no clue what a payment gateway was, let alone a merchant account.
I started with 2 Checkout, and then Mal's e-commerce for the shopping cart and then bounced around a bit. Now I'm with Paypal because they make it easy when it comes to shipping.
I use Dreamweaver to produce the website.
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Permalink Reply by Kim Burmeister on
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Thanks for the information. I love this community. I am not interested in starting my own stamp line, but I always wondered how people did it. You guys have been so helpful.
Kim
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