When should you order custom medals for your event?
A week-by-week countdown for 3D and 2D die-cast medals: when to send the brief, approve the design and pay, and how spring events and Chinese New Year change the date.
- Author
- Medalior
- Published
- Sep 29, 2026
- Reading time
- 3 min
Order custom die-cast medals about 10 weeks before your event with express delivery, or about 14 weeks before with normal delivery. That window covers the 3D design and your approval, the mould and sample, 12–15 days of production, a quality check, delivery and a two-week safety buffer. For events between March and May, add three weeks: Chinese New Year closes factories in late January or February.
Contents
Where the 10 weeks go
A 3D or 2D die-cast medal is made to order from a mould cut for your design, so the calendar is fixed by steps that cannot overlap. Production cannot start before you approve the design, and the medals cannot ship before the quality check. The table shows each step for express and normal delivery.
| Step | Express delivery | Normal delivery |
|---|---|---|
| 3D design and your approval | about 1 week | about 1 week |
| Mould and sample | about 1.5 weeks | about 1.5 weeks |
| Production (3D or 2D die-cast) | 12–15 days | 12–15 days |
| Quality check | about 4 days | about 4 days |
| Delivery to your address | about 2.5 weeks | about 7 weeks |
| Safety buffer | about 2 weeks | about 2 weeks |
| Total | about 10 weeks | about 14 weeks |
The countdown, week by week
This is the express plan for a race on Saturday 5 June 2027. The latest comfortable order date is Tuesday 30 March 2027; with normal delivery it moves to Saturday 27 February.
| Weeks before the event | What happens | Your part |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Brief in, price range back within 36 hours, first 3D design within 72 hours | Send logo, event date and rough quantity |
| 9 | Design revisions until it is right | Approve the design, pay the 50% deposit |
| 8–7 | Mould cut, sample made and photographed | Approve the sample photos or video |
| 7–5 | Production and quality check | Confirm the final quantity if runners are still signing up |
| 5–2 | Delivery to your address | Pay the balance before dispatch |
| 2–0 | Safety buffer: the medals are already with you | Count the boxes, pack the finish-line crates |
Spring events need an earlier start
Most partner factories close for Chinese New Year, usually for two to four weeks in late January or February, and restart slowly. In 2027 the holiday falls on 6 February. A race on Saturday 17 April 2027 would normally order by 9 February — right in the middle of the closure.
For any event between March and May, add three weeks and send the brief before the holiday. For that April race, that means ordering by mid-January. Spring is also the busiest season for race medals, so the earlier date protects your slot as well as your delivery.
Why some suppliers quote 6 to 8 weeks
Shorter quotes usually count production and air freight only. They leave no room for a second design round, a sample correction or a parcel held at customs, and the first delay lands on your event week. Our 10 weeks include the design, the sample and a two-week buffer, so a late surprise uses up the buffer instead of your race day.
If you already have an approved design from last year, the design week largely disappears. A die-cast mould is stored free for two years, so a repeat edition can often go straight to production.
What to decide before you send the brief
You do not need a finished design or an exact count. To start the clock, three things are enough: your logo, the event date and a rough quantity. Everything else — shape, size, 3D or 2D, ribbon — is settled during the design week.
Two decisions do save time later. Pick express or normal delivery at the quoting stage, because switching to normal later usually means the window has closed. And if registrations are still open, agree on a date to confirm the final quantity before production starts.
If you have less than 10 weeks
Send the event date first, before anything else. We check the calendar with production and confirm in writing whether the date works before you pay the deposit. A simpler design with fewer colours shortens the design and sample steps; a changing quantity or late artwork does not.