Lanyard Pricing

The reason is simple; low wages and very sophisticated manufacturing that is flexible and the finish product is of a very high standard. Combine these two elements and right now no one can touch them. The North American companies act as the design element and importation coordinator for the final product. The real manufacturer wants it this way and so do you as the language issue alone would stop you dead in your tracks if you tried to deal directly with them. Add in the import issues and design issues and no you do not want to go there.

Lanyard pricing is based on the following:

Quantity
This is the main factor in the overall lanyard price. The more you order then the cheaper the lanyard price is as the lanyard setup costs can be averaged over a larger number. Many companies and organizations order 100 to 300 which make the cost per lanyard roughly around $4 to $7 each. At that price it is hard to justify giving them away.

This is where some serious work on your marketing is required. Any reasonably successful company or organization has well over 100 contacts which they can give them to and think about it, whoever is wearing your lanyard is a walking billboard for you. As long as it is designed right it will reflect on your company in a very positive way.

If you order 500 or 1000 then the price starts to be reasonable plus now the manufacturing company can afford to put some real time into the design which will create a much better product. Order a 100 and they will want to stay with single color printing, white on black and no logo please. You can’t blame them as there is nothing in it for them (see below for why).

Type of Material
You’ve seen our lanyard material page so you know that there are lots of material choices. The most in-expensive lanyard is polyester flat ribbon (which is the most popular for that reason). They’re everywhere you look now a days. Simple cord or metal bead lanyards are also inexpensive because there is little to add cost. Exotic materials and specialized woven messages can add significantly to a lanyards price, however do they look cool? You bet but you will have to have a reason to spend the extra coin. The more costly materials and especially the woven designs give a much richer look to the lanyard and they also wear much longer. You will have to decide if the cost is justified.

Imprinting
Unfortunately the design drives the printing method. Complex colors, blended colors and complex designs will force you into offset printing and other costly printing methods. Plus most manufacturers will not use this method for small runs and 1000 or less can be considered a small run. Simple heat transfer printing is the least expensive and is what is used on most flat ribbon polyester lanyards. Silk screening is the in-between printing method for a bit more colorful design or logo with offset printing used for all else as noted above. Of course fine woven lanyards will cost the most.

Shipping
As we have stated above almost all lanyards are made in the Far East and shipping is a significant cost. Only a large quantity can dilute this. Shipping is via Air Freight and typically 100 lanyards will cost $45 to get it from Hong Kong to the west coast of North America, and this is with no metal attachment. Weight is everything with Air Freight. If the lanyards were to be shipped by container via an ocean then the costs are much less however the number required to fill a container would be huge and therefore not practical. Most orders are shipped air freight using Fed Ex or UPS.

Customs and Duties
Add 15% to the lanyard price in general for the customs costs and taxes added on. If you are ordering lanyards in Canada remember that the Manufacturers overseas demand payment from the importer with American dollars so there is an additional cost for that.

Attachments
A simple cotton lanyard is only pennies a piece but the attachments can cost a lot more than the lanyard. A good metal clip is 50c to 75c ea, so doubling the cost of a typical lanyard.

Margin
Don't forget that the company doing the artwork and coordinating the sale must get something for their time and effort. Generally the lanyard price rises by at least 100% to 150% due to this. You don’t like that I can tell but the lanyard design, contract with the manufacturer and coordination of the importation of the final product plus getting it to you is time consuming to say the least. Don’t begrudge them that money. Creating the right design with usually vague input from the customer, dealing with Custom’s officials and talking to the manufacturer with cultural and language differences is quite a feat.

Remember that by demanding the cheapest lanyards out there - they will look it!