Project Update: FIRMLY GRASP IT - Project Closing - Please Read All Information on End of Project Details 🎉
Hey everyone,
This is a notification to let you know that this project is coming to an end and to provide you with the last shipping update, as well as end of project information.
All orders marked as "ready to ship" in Backerkit have been packed! There are 27 packages that will be picked up today.
If you have not received your package yet please check your email for a tracking email from Backerkit. Your package may have been shipped but has not yet made it to you. Your tracking email will have your tracking number for USPS.
If you have not received your package, please first check your tracking email, or please review the following criteria for why you may not have received a package.
🚨 Incomplete Surveys and Charges
There are backers who paid for their pledge, but did not complete their survey. As well as backers with failed shipping payments. If you’re one of these backers, you have 1 week from today (08/31/2026) to fill out your survey and pay for shipping. If you do not complete your survey within the week (by 09/07/2026), per the terms and conditions of this project, that you agreed to when you submitted and paid for your pledge, you forfeit your rewards and will not be given a refund, or your rewards.
There are currently a few backers with failed survey charges. This means that you filled out your survey and provided card details, but when we charged your card for shipping, the payment failed. If you do not complete your payment within 1 week (by 09/07/2026) per the terms and conditions of this project, that you agreed to when you submitted and paid for your pledge, you forfeit your rewards and will not be given a refund, or your rewards
Please note that the project will close on September 8th, 2026. After that date we do not check the pledge manager. While you will still be able to complete your survey after that date, your order will not be fulfilled.
The Switch from 30 Days to 1 Week
Previously, backers with an incomplete survey or failed payment had 30 days after a project was completed to resolve their pledge. Moving forward, that window will be shortened to one week.
By the time a project is ready to ship, several months have typically passed since the campaign ended. During that time, backers have multiple opportunities to complete their surveys, resolve payment issues, and update their information. We also send several reminders and project updates leading up to shipping.
As a small business, once fulfillment is complete, we need to be able to close out a project and move on to the next. Holding unclaimed rewards for extended periods means keeping inventory that could otherwise be sold online or at markets, and we simply do not have the capacity to warehouse extra merchandise indefinitely.
We believe the months between the end of a campaign and fulfillment provide a reasonable amount of time to complete your survey and payment. As creators, it is our responsibility to clearly communicate deadlines and send reminders, but backers also share responsibility for completing the necessary steps to receive their rewards.
📦 Orders that were returned to sender
If we receive an order that’s been returned to sender, we send an email to the email associated with the pledge l to let you know. That email will contain information on how to get your package sent out again. If we do not receive a response within 2 weeks of our initial email, you forfeit your rewards and will not be given a refund.
📦 Never received orders
If your order tracking email says “delivered”, but you did not receive your order, please first contact your local post office with your tracking number. Your post office is the best chance of finding the lost order. If your local post office cannot locate your package, please email us at[email protected]
If you did not receive your package because of an address change, or because you entered the wrong address, and did not notify us of an address change, we can ship your order again, but as a backer you are responsible for paying a second shipping fee, per the terms and conditions of this project. If you did notify us of an address change but have not received your order, please email us at [email protected]
For any backers who are unable to locate their package, you will have 30 days from today to September 30th, 2026 to notify us that you did not receive your package. If you contact us after September 30th, 2026 per the terms and conditions of this project, that you agreed to when you submitted and paid for your pledge, you forfeit your rewards and will not be given a refund, or your rewards.
📦 Damaged, Incorrect, or Missing Items
If your package arrives damaged, contains an incorrect item, or is missing an item from your order, please email us at [email protected] within 2 weeks of delivery.
Please include the name and email address associated with your pledge, a description of the issue, and photos of the package and/or items when applicable. This will help us locate your order and resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
Issues reported more than 2 weeks after the package was delivered may no longer be eligible for a replacement or other resolution.
We are willing to work with backers however we can to help get any missing orders into your hands. If your order is missing please contact us within the timelines stated above. We can only notify backers with so many updates, it is partial backer responsibility to ensure you've received your package, and to notify us in a timely manner if you did not.
If you want to check the status of your order, please reach out to us at [email protected] with the name and email associated with your pledge.
Please do not leave comments on this campaign page asking for information about your order. Comments are not monitored daily and we do not respond to private inquires on this page. If you need information about your order, the best course of action is to email us.
❤️ I want to thank all of you who have supported this campaign and any of my previous campaigns. You make it possible for me to run this business, and I am so happy and appreciative to have connected with and met so many people who enjoy my art.❤️
Shipping is starting soon - 📦 Last call for address changes!
📦 Last call for address changes!
If you've moved recently, now is the time to update your shipping address. Firmly Grasp It and The Secret Night Market will begin shipping next week! If you need to update your address please email me at [email protected] with the email associated with your pledge and your new address.
Almost everything has arrived—I have all of the pins except for one final box that's still in transit. Right now, I'm surrounded by an entire guest room full of boxes as I sort, count, and organize thousands of pins. It's been a huge job getting everything ready all at once, but it's finally coming together. (See the attached picture of pin chaos!)
I plan to start shipping next week and can't wait to finally get these pins/grips into your hands!
Thank you again for all your patience and understanding during these two projects!
We had originally hoped to attend in 2026, but unfortunately we already had another trip planned for the same weekend.
BookCon is currently asking readers who they'd love to see as vendors next year, and we'd be so grateful if you'd nominate The Snarky Company!
Just click the link below, type The Snarky Company into the text field, hit submit, and you're all set. It only takes a few seconds, and your support would mean the world to us. ❤️
Shipping & Manufacturing Update for All 3 Active Snarky Co Projects
Hey everyone,
Just stopping by with a quick shipping and manufacturing update for all three active projects! I'm sorry if you receive this email three times, but I'm posting this to all three project update pages, and that sends an email for each one.
Estimated Ship Start Dates
Firmly Grasp It: Mid August
Secret Night Market: Mid August
Admit One: Late August to Early September (currently well ahead of schedule.)
Photos - I've posted some photos the manufacturers have sent me. They are photos from across the three projects.
Firmly Grasp It
The remade pins and enamel pieces for this project have finally been completed by the factory, and I'm told they'll be shipping to me on Friday. Assuming everything stays on schedule, they should arrive sometime next week.
I'll be in Nashville for a convention next week, so I may or may not be home when they arrive. As soon as I get back, I'll immediately begin processing the shipment, performing quality checks, and assembling grips so they can begin shipping out.
Secret Night Market
The remaining Night Market pins are also expected to arrive on Friday alongside the remade Firmly Grasp It pieces.
Since Firmly Grasp It has just under 300 backers, I expect shipping for that project to take about 3–4 days once it begins. As soon as those orders are finished, I'll move directly into shipping Secret Night Market. That project should take approximately one week to ship.
Combined Shipping
I haven't decided yet whether I'll combine packages for backers who pledged for both projects. While combining shipments sounds simple, each project contains more than 50+ different SKUs, and organizing combined orders adds a significant amount of complexity when I'm packing every order by myself.
Unfortunately, it also doesn't really save on postage anymore.
On July 12, USPS changed its Ground Advantage pricing. Instead of charging based on ounce ranges, all packages under one pound now fall under the same price tier. Since enamel pin orders are usually well under one pound, many of those lighter packages now cost the same to ship as a full one-pound package. As a result, shipping costs have increased noticeably for many small businesses.
In 2026 alone, USPS has implemented three separate shipping price increases and policy changes, significantly increasing shipping costs for small businesses.
Admit One
This project is currently way ahead of schedule.
Right now I'm estimating shipping will begin in late August or early September, which is significantly earlier than the original estimate of late October through early November. Apparently this is what happens when your doctor actually listens to you, prescribes life-changing ADHD medication, and suddenly your productivity goes through the roof. 😅
Thank You!
And finally, I just want to reiterate how incredibly grateful I am for everyone's patience and understanding throughout all of the setbacks and timeline changes with Firmly Grasp It and The Secret Night Market.
Unexpected manufacturing issues and shipping delays can be incredibly overwhelming and stressful, especially when you're a small business owner wearing every hat and handling every part of the business yourself.
Thank you for continuing to support my small business through all of the bumps in the road. I truly can't wait to get these projects into your hands, and I'm so excited for you to finally see everything in person. ❤️
I wanted to share another production update now that I’ve finished sorting through every design and inspecting each individual piece.
Unfortunately, after going through everything, my initial estimate was correct. For nearly every design, the majority of the pieces had the same quality issue with the metal plating. The defects appear as staining, discoloration, and tarnish-like marks on the surface of the metal that occurred during the manufacturing and finishing process. These are not marks that can be cleaned or polished away, and because of that, the affected pieces need to be remade.
The manufacturer has reviewed the issues and agreed to remake all affected pieces. I have worked with this factory for many years and this is the first time I have ever experienced a quality issue on this scale. While it is incredibly frustrating, they have acknowledged the problem and assured me they will be implementing stricter quality control measures during the remake process.
Unfortunately, this does mean that fulfillment will take longer than originally planned while we wait for the replacement pieces to be produced and shipped to me.
The good news is that not every piece was affected. There were some designs where I was able to pull enough standard-grade pieces that meet my quality standards, and those products are being prepared for shipping.
My next step is to go through every order and determine what can be shipped immediately versus what needs to wait for replacement pieces. Since many orders contain a mix of products, this is going to take some time. I’ll be creating fulfillment groups based on what I currently have in stock and what I’m waiting to receive from the remake.
As mentioned, I was able to pull some standard grade pieces that are able to be shipped, but it is going to take a bit of time to organize the logistical part of the shipping. In a situation where we have all of the products we just start from the top of the order list and start shipping, but creating segments based of what's available, and parsing through orders to ensure we have everything on that order takes time.
I’ve attached photos below so you can see exactly what the quality issues look like. I always want to be transparent with you throughout this process, and while this delay is incredibly disappointing, I would rather take the extra time to make sure everyone receives the quality products they backed this project for.
The affected designs include:
The Lunar Moth - Both Gold and Silver (more of the gold had defects, the silver has a decent amount of standard grade pieces)
Dragon Skies - Both gold and black nickel
Tea Time - All Variants (some of the gold and silver pieces are standard grade, 100% of the copper is defective)
Shirebound - Both variants have some standard grade pieces
Glass Garden
Deluxe Grips - almost 100% of the deluxe designs, both the celestial, and the fated mates were defective
All of the mini book stack pins and magnets
Yuzu's Best Friend Pin
All Dust Charms except the 3d moons
While not every single piece from these designs had issues, the majority of the inventory for each of these designs was affected and will need to be remade.
Thank you all so much for your patience and understanding. I know waiting longer is frustrating, and I truly appreciate your support while I work through the remakes and continue moving fulfillment forward as quickly as possible.
Firmly Grasp It Shipping/Manufacturing Update + Photos
Hey everyone,
Everything arrived from the manufacturer a few days ago, and I wanted to share a production update. There’s good news and bad news, but I need to start with the bad news so the good news makes sense.
The bad news
While unpacking the boxes, I noticed right away that there were quality issues across most, if not all, of the designs.
I’ve worked with this factory for a few years now and they’ve always been incredibly reliable, so this was really disappointing and unexpected.
Recently, enamel and metal factories have been unusually busy, which has become a common topic among my pin maker friends. Artwork approvals are taking weeks instead of days, and production timelines have been longer than usual. This isn't something isolated to the factory that produced these designs—it's something creators have been seeing across manufacturers throughout the industry. My best guess is that the increased workload may have contributed to these issues.
The main problem I noticed was tarnishing on the metal. Unfortunately, this isn’t the kind of tarnish that can be buffed out with a jewelry cloth. It appears to be tarnishing or staining that happened during the manufacturing process, which leaves marks on the metal that can’t be removed. This type of issue is usually caused when moisture, oils, or other contaminants interfere with the plating process, preventing the finish from bonding and settling properly. Because of that, the affected pieces will need to be remade.
At first glance, I’d estimate that around 80% of the pieces I received have some kind of quality issue or defect.
The good news
The good news is that I ordered a lot (so many) of extras for each design. I ordered well beyond what was needed for backer orders so that I’d also have inventory for wholesale and the online shop after fulfillment was complete.
Because of that, I believe I may still have enough standard-grade pieces to begin fulfilling and shipping backer orders. I won’t know for certain until Sunday.
On Sunday, I’ll be sorting through hundreds of pieces, inspecting each one closely, photographing the quality issues, and counting exactly how many pieces need to be remade. It’s a time-consuming process, but once everything is sorted, I’ll be able to give the manufacturer accurate quantities for replacements and have a much clearer idea of how many orders can start shipping right away.
I know this is not the update anyone hopes for, and it’s definitely not the one I wanted to give. But I’m doing everything I can to keep fulfillment moving while also making sure no one receives a pin that doesn’t meet standard-grade quality. Waiting longer for to deliver this project is kind of worst case scenario for me right now, but I can't and would not, knowingly, give backers items with defects.
In the meantime, check out the photos below for your first look at the finished grips! (ones without defects)
This is a notification to let you know that this project is coming to an end and to provide you with the last shipping update, as well as end of project information.
All orders marked as "ready to ship" in Backerkit have been packed! There are 27 packages that will be picked up today.
If you have not received your package yet please check your email for a tracking email from Backerkit. Your package may have been shipped but has not yet made it to you. Your tracking email will have your tracking number for USPS.
If you have not received your package, please first check your tracking email, or please review the following criteria for why you may not have received a package.
🚨 Incomplete Surveys and Charges
There are backers who paid for their pledge, but did not complete their survey. As well as backers with failed shipping payments. If you’re one of these backers, you have 1 week from today (08/31/2026) to fill out your survey and pay for shipping. If you do not complete your survey within the week (by 09/07/2026), per the terms and conditions of this project, that you agreed to when you submitted and paid for your pledge, you forfeit your rewards and will not be given a refund, or your rewards.
There are currently a few backers with failed survey charges. This means that you filled out your survey and provided card details, but when we charged your card for shipping, the payment failed. If you do not complete your payment within 1 week (by 09/07/2026) per the terms and conditions of this project, that you agreed to when you submitted and paid for your pledge, you forfeit your rewards and will not be given a refund, or your rewards
Please note that the project will close on September 8th, 2026. After that date we do not check the pledge manager. While you will still be able to complete your survey after that date, your order will not be fulfilled.
The Switch from 30 Days to 1 Week
Previously, backers with an incomplete survey or failed payment had 30 days after a project was completed to resolve their pledge. Moving forward, that window will be shortened to one week.
By the time a project is ready to ship, several months have typically passed since the campaign ended. During that time, backers have multiple opportunities to complete their surveys, resolve payment issues, and update their information. We also send several reminders and project updates leading up to shipping.
As a small business, once fulfillment is complete, we need to be able to close out a project and move on to the next. Holding unclaimed rewards for extended periods means keeping inventory that could otherwise be sold online or at markets, and we simply do not have the capacity to warehouse extra merchandise indefinitely.
We believe the months between the end of a campaign and fulfillment provide a reasonable amount of time to complete your survey and payment. As creators, it is our responsibility to clearly communicate deadlines and send reminders, but backers also share responsibility for completing the necessary steps to receive their rewards.
📦 Orders that were returned to sender
If we receive an order that’s been returned to sender, we send an email to the email associated with the pledge l to let you know. That email will contain information on how to get your package sent out again. If we do not receive a response within 2 weeks of our initial email, you forfeit your rewards and will not be given a refund.
📦 Never received orders
If your order tracking email says “delivered”, but you did not receive your order, please first contact your local post office with your tracking number. Your post office is the best chance of finding the lost order. If your local post office cannot locate your package, please email us at[email protected]
If you did not receive your package because of an address change, or because you entered the wrong address, and did not notify us of an address change, we can ship your order again, but as a backer you are responsible for paying a second shipping fee, per the terms and conditions of this project. If you did notify us of an address change but have not received your order, please email us at [email protected]
For any backers who are unable to locate their package, you will have 30 days from today to September 30th, 2026 to notify us that you did not receive your package. If you contact us after September 30th, 2026 per the terms and conditions of this project, that you agreed to when you submitted and paid for your pledge, you forfeit your rewards and will not be given a refund, or your rewards.
📦 Damaged, Incorrect, or Missing Items
If your package arrives damaged, contains an incorrect item, or is missing an item from your order, please email us at [email protected] within 2 weeks of delivery.
Please include the name and email address associated with your pledge, a description of the issue, and photos of the package and/or items when applicable. This will help us locate your order and resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
Issues reported more than 2 weeks after the package was delivered may no longer be eligible for a replacement or other resolution.
We are willing to work with backers however we can to help get any missing orders into your hands. If your order is missing please contact us within the timelines stated above. We can only notify backers with so many updates, it is partial backer responsibility to ensure you've received your package, and to notify us in a timely manner if you did not.
If you want to check the status of your order, please reach out to us at [email protected] with the name and email associated with your pledge.
Please do not leave comments on this campaign page asking for information about your order. Comments are not monitored daily and we do not respond to private inquires on this page. If you need information about your order, the best course of action is to email us.
❤️ I want to thank all of you who have supported this campaign and any of my previous campaigns. You make it possible for me to run this business, and I am so happy and appreciative to have connected with and met so many people who enjoy my art.❤️
If you've moved recently, now is the time to update your shipping address. Firmly Grasp It and The Secret Night Market will begin shipping next week! If you need to update your address please email me at [email protected] with the email associated with your pledge and your new address.
Almost everything has arrived—I have all of the pins except for one final box that's still in transit. Right now, I'm surrounded by an entire guest room full of boxes as I sort, count, and organize thousands of pins. It's been a huge job getting everything ready all at once, but it's finally coming together. (See the attached picture of pin chaos!)
I plan to start shipping next week and can't wait to finally get these pins/grips into your hands!
Thank you again for all your patience and understanding during these two projects!
We had originally hoped to attend in 2026, but unfortunately we already had another trip planned for the same weekend.
BookCon is currently asking readers who they'd love to see as vendors next year, and we'd be so grateful if you'd nominate The Snarky Company!
Just click the link below, type The Snarky Company into the text field, hit submit, and you're all set. It only takes a few seconds, and your support would mean the world to us. ❤️
Just stopping by with a quick shipping and manufacturing update for all three active projects! I'm sorry if you receive this email three times, but I'm posting this to all three project update pages, and that sends an email for each one.
Estimated Ship Start Dates
Firmly Grasp It: Mid August
Secret Night Market: Mid August
Admit One: Late August to Early September (currently well ahead of schedule.)
Photos - I've posted some photos the manufacturers have sent me. They are photos from across the three projects.
Firmly Grasp It
The remade pins and enamel pieces for this project have finally been completed by the factory, and I'm told they'll be shipping to me on Friday. Assuming everything stays on schedule, they should arrive sometime next week.
I'll be in Nashville for a convention next week, so I may or may not be home when they arrive. As soon as I get back, I'll immediately begin processing the shipment, performing quality checks, and assembling grips so they can begin shipping out.
Secret Night Market
The remaining Night Market pins are also expected to arrive on Friday alongside the remade Firmly Grasp It pieces.
Since Firmly Grasp It has just under 300 backers, I expect shipping for that project to take about 3–4 days once it begins. As soon as those orders are finished, I'll move directly into shipping Secret Night Market. That project should take approximately one week to ship.
Combined Shipping
I haven't decided yet whether I'll combine packages for backers who pledged for both projects. While combining shipments sounds simple, each project contains more than 50+ different SKUs, and organizing combined orders adds a significant amount of complexity when I'm packing every order by myself.
Unfortunately, it also doesn't really save on postage anymore.
On July 12, USPS changed its Ground Advantage pricing. Instead of charging based on ounce ranges, all packages under one pound now fall under the same price tier. Since enamel pin orders are usually well under one pound, many of those lighter packages now cost the same to ship as a full one-pound package. As a result, shipping costs have increased noticeably for many small businesses.
In 2026 alone, USPS has implemented three separate shipping price increases and policy changes, significantly increasing shipping costs for small businesses.
Admit One
This project is currently way ahead of schedule.
Right now I'm estimating shipping will begin in late August or early September, which is significantly earlier than the original estimate of late October through early November. Apparently this is what happens when your doctor actually listens to you, prescribes life-changing ADHD medication, and suddenly your productivity goes through the roof. 😅
Thank You!
And finally, I just want to reiterate how incredibly grateful I am for everyone's patience and understanding throughout all of the setbacks and timeline changes with Firmly Grasp It and The Secret Night Market.
Unexpected manufacturing issues and shipping delays can be incredibly overwhelming and stressful, especially when you're a small business owner wearing every hat and handling every part of the business yourself.
Thank you for continuing to support my small business through all of the bumps in the road. I truly can't wait to get these projects into your hands, and I'm so excited for you to finally see everything in person. ❤️
I wanted to share another production update now that I’ve finished sorting through every design and inspecting each individual piece.
Unfortunately, after going through everything, my initial estimate was correct. For nearly every design, the majority of the pieces had the same quality issue with the metal plating. The defects appear as staining, discoloration, and tarnish-like marks on the surface of the metal that occurred during the manufacturing and finishing process. These are not marks that can be cleaned or polished away, and because of that, the affected pieces need to be remade.
The manufacturer has reviewed the issues and agreed to remake all affected pieces. I have worked with this factory for many years and this is the first time I have ever experienced a quality issue on this scale. While it is incredibly frustrating, they have acknowledged the problem and assured me they will be implementing stricter quality control measures during the remake process.
Unfortunately, this does mean that fulfillment will take longer than originally planned while we wait for the replacement pieces to be produced and shipped to me.
The good news is that not every piece was affected. There were some designs where I was able to pull enough standard-grade pieces that meet my quality standards, and those products are being prepared for shipping.
My next step is to go through every order and determine what can be shipped immediately versus what needs to wait for replacement pieces. Since many orders contain a mix of products, this is going to take some time. I’ll be creating fulfillment groups based on what I currently have in stock and what I’m waiting to receive from the remake.
As mentioned, I was able to pull some standard grade pieces that are able to be shipped, but it is going to take a bit of time to organize the logistical part of the shipping. In a situation where we have all of the products we just start from the top of the order list and start shipping, but creating segments based of what's available, and parsing through orders to ensure we have everything on that order takes time.
I’ve attached photos below so you can see exactly what the quality issues look like. I always want to be transparent with you throughout this process, and while this delay is incredibly disappointing, I would rather take the extra time to make sure everyone receives the quality products they backed this project for.
The affected designs include:
The Lunar Moth - Both Gold and Silver (more of the gold had defects, the silver has a decent amount of standard grade pieces)
Dragon Skies - Both gold and black nickel
Tea Time - All Variants (some of the gold and silver pieces are standard grade, 100% of the copper is defective)
Shirebound - Both variants have some standard grade pieces
Glass Garden
Deluxe Grips - almost 100% of the deluxe designs, both the celestial, and the fated mates were defective
All of the mini book stack pins and magnets
Yuzu's Best Friend Pin
All Dust Charms except the 3d moons
While not every single piece from these designs had issues, the majority of the inventory for each of these designs was affected and will need to be remade.
Thank you all so much for your patience and understanding. I know waiting longer is frustrating, and I truly appreciate your support while I work through the remakes and continue moving fulfillment forward as quickly as possible.
