Where can I get custom puzzles made? Difficulty: Small minimum orders

March 18, 2021 10:02 AM

I'm trying to offer a custom puzzle for sale in my store, which is a tiny gift shop inside of a state park. However, most places that I look have MOQs that start around 1,000 units. I have room for ideally 50, at most (MOST) a hundred puzzles, tops, in my storage. Are there any companies that can help me get this done and still offer a puzzle for sale at around $35 a unit (so 17.50 wholesale or less)?

Bonus: Made in the USA or at least not in unethical working conditions abroad.

posted by BuddhaInABucket to Grab Bag (8 answers total)

You might check with Schwerno. They're a local company to me (Davis, CA). Their When Turkeys Attack puzzle wouldn't have many buyers outside of Davis, so I can't imagine their MOQ is high. Quality is good. I have the puzzle, a t-shirt, and a deck of cards.

I recently bought a puzzle from a local brewery that was made by Collage. It's a perfectly serviceable puzzle, but the pieces don't fit together super well (lots of wiggle room). So, they're an option, but not a particularly good one in my experience (n=1).
posted by sacrifix at 10:13 AM on March 18, 2021

I get custom puzzles made at CVS, Walgreens, and Shutterfly from my own photos, depending on which is offering them for free. CAVEAT: I've never made an order of more than 10 of the same. But I'm assume they can do more.
posted by The_Vegetables at 10:44 AM on March 18, 2021

Also not sure about the commercial relationship, since mine are generally holiday gifts and not for sale.
posted by The_Vegetables at 10:45 AM on March 18, 2021

People that own small laser engraving businesses can probably do this with very small order quantities; I mean, I have done it for myself (using my own laser) on a few occasions and it's not hard (the hardest part IME was getting nice color prints adhered, because I was using a wooden substrate, and the difficulty there was mainly that I do not personally own a nice color printer).

There's plenty of these businesses around; one list of Epilog-owning companies is here (expand by country to get a listing by state/province). Epilog is only one laser manufacturer; another is Trotec, and there are others as well (including many unnamed Chinese sellers) so if the Epilog list doesn't work out maybe search around in your area for engraving services.
posted by aramaic at 11:17 AM on March 18, 2021

Im working on a custom puzzle for an incentive program that’s virtual. We are producing a 200 piece puzzle in a can for about $18 (quantity 100). I don’t know where this factory is located, but happy to share more details via memail if you’d like.
posted by icaicaer at 12:41 PM on March 18, 2021

Etsy has a variety of sellers who offer 'picture' puzzles. I'm sure you can strike a deal with one for a custom quantity.
posted by hydra77 at 3:26 PM on March 18, 2021

My wife cuts puzzles by hand, and sells them. She'd like more information before committing - whether this can be done economically depends on materials and complexity. Do you have a grid in mind, or is this a standard squares-with-bumps thing? I assume you want a picture laminated onto plywood, and Baltic birch is best. You can also use thin slices of hardwood. Cost increases with the complexity of the grid, number of pieces, etc. ... Maybe I'm going into too much detail.
MeMail me if you'd like to talk to her.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 4:43 PM on March 18, 2021

Liberty Puzzles are amazing.
posted by artdrectr at 11:02 PM on March 18, 2021