We started Snap Magnets at a kitchen table in Chicago with a printer, a pack of magnet sheets and no idea what we were doing. This is the guide we wish someone had handed us then. It covers what the work actually involves, what it costs, and the decisions that matter early.
Is there still a market for photo magnets?
Yes, and the reason is worth understanding, because it shapes what you should sell. Almost every photo taken now stays on a phone. People still want a few of them in the physical world, but they do not want a photo album. A magnet is the cheapest, lowest-commitment way to put a picture somewhere it gets seen every day.
That produces steady demand across weddings, new babies, pets, graduations, funerals, real estate, restaurants and small business promotion. It is not a trend with a peak. It is a small recurring need across a lot of different occasions.
The flip side: the consumer end is crowded and price-sensitive. The makers who do well are usually the ones who find a niche, such as wedding photographers, pet portrait clients or a local sports league, rather than trying to out-price a national printer on generic fridge magnets.
The two ways to make a magnet
Everything downstream depends on this choice, so make it deliberately.
Method 1: print and mount on magnetic sheet
You print your image on photo paper, mount it to a flexible magnetic sheet, and trim it to size.
Upside: the startup cost is a printer you probably already own plus paper and sheets. You can make any shape or size. You can start this weekend.
Downside: every magnet is hand-cut, so consistency depends on your hands and your patience. The paper edge is exposed, so the magnet is not water-resistant and will scuff over time. Production is slow, roughly two to four minutes per magnet once you include cutting.
This is the right start for most people. It is also a legitimate end state if you sell modest volumes of large rectangular magnets, where a press cannot help you anyway.
Method 2: a button press
A button maker machine presses your printed circle between a metal shell, a clear mylar film and a magnet back. The result is sealed, water-resistant, identical every time, and takes about ten seconds.
Upside: speed, consistency and a finish that looks manufactured rather than homemade. One machine also makes pinbacks, keychains, bottle openers, mirrors and coasters from the same printed circle, so a single press can supply several product lines.
Downside: the machine is a real purchase, from roughly $280 for a small round press up to around $2,300 for a large rectangle, and you need a matching graphic punch to cut artwork accurately. Each machine makes exactly one size.
What it costs to start
Three honest tiers. Prices change, so treat these as the shape of the decision rather than a quote.
Under $200: the test
Photo paper, a pack of magnetic sheets, a craft knife and a metal ruler. Use the printer you have. This is enough to make a hundred magnets, photograph them properly, list them, and find out whether anyone buys. Almost everyone should start here.
$500 to $900: the small press
A 2-1/4 inch round machine and matching punch as a bundle, plus a 1,000-piece pack of magnet button parts. The round 2-1/4 inch is the most common size in the trade, so parts are cheap and always available. At this level you have a real production capability and a per-unit cost measured in cents.
$2,000 to $3,000: the rectangle
A 2 x 3 inch or 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 inch rectangle press. Rectangles command higher prices because they suit photographs better than circles do, and far fewer sellers own the machine. This is the tier where a magnet business becomes a business rather than a side income, and it is not where you should start.
Choosing a machine size
The single most expensive mistake in this trade is buying a machine in a size your customers do not want, because a press makes one size and one size only. Parts and punches are not interchangeable between sizes.
- 2-1/4 inch round is the default. Cheapest parts, widest availability, works for events, promos and general retail.
- 1 inch and 1-1/4 inch round suit pins, party favours and anything sold in bulk quantities.
- 2 inch and 2-1/2 inch square read as more contemporary and photograph well on a product listing.
- Rectangles at 1-3/4 x 2-3/4, 2 x 3 and 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 inches are the ones people ask for when they want a photo magnet rather than a button. They hold a face at a natural crop.
- 3-1/2 inch round is for coasters and statement pieces.
If you can only buy one press and you intend to sell photo magnets, a rectangle is usually the better commercial choice even though a round is cheaper. If you intend to sell buttons, badges and merchandise, buy the 2-1/4 inch round.
Printing that does not look homemade
This is where most beginners lose. The magnet construction is easy. Getting colour and sharpness right is the craft.
- Paper matters more than the printer. A mid-range inkjet on good satin photo paper beats an expensive printer on cheap stock, every time.
- Turn off auto-enhance in your printer driver. It will fight your edits and shift skin tones.
- Print at 300 DPI at final size. A photo that looks fine on screen can be well under 300 DPI once it is scaled to 3 inches.
- Let ink dry for a few minutes before mounting or pressing. Wet ink lifts.
- Print a test strip before a run of fifty. Ink and paper cost less than a reprint and a disappointed customer.
- Satin over glossy for faces. Gloss shows fingerprints and blows out highlights on skin.
Pricing your work
Beginners consistently underprice, then discover the business is not worth the hours. Work it out properly once.
Add up your material cost per magnet: paper, ink, magnet or button parts. For a pressed 2-1/4 inch magnet that lands somewhere around 30 to 50 cents. Then add your time. If a magnet takes two minutes end to end including the customer email, the file prep and the packing, and you want $25 an hour, that is another 83 cents.
So your true cost is over a dollar before packaging, shipping materials, platform fees and returns. Selling at $2 is not a business. Most successful sellers land between $6 and $12 for a single custom magnet and make their margin on multi-packs, where the file prep cost is spread across the order.
Charge for rush work. Charge for design work. Do not let a customer send you eleven photos and expect you to choose.
Where the first customers come from
In rough order of how quickly they pay off:
- People you know. Unglamorous and it works. The first fifty magnets you sell will mostly go to friends, their weddings and their babies.
- Etsy. Buyers there are already looking for personalised goods, which removes the hardest part of the sale. Fees are real and competition is heavy, so it works best as a channel to start, not to stay.
- Local businesses. Restaurants, real estate agents, dentists and trades buy branded magnets in hundreds. One account like this outweighs dozens of consumer orders and repeats annually.
- Photographers and event planners. They already have the client and the images. You are adding a product to their package, not competing for attention.
- Your own store. Worth building once you know what sells. Doing it first tends to be a way of avoiding the harder work of finding customers.
Mistakes worth avoiding
- Buying a machine before you have sold anything. Prove demand with magnetic sheets first.
- Buying a press and no punch. Hand-cut circles are never quite round and it shows on every single unit.
- Buying parts for the wrong size. A 1,000-piece pack for a machine you do not own is money parked on a shelf.
- Competing on price with national printers. You will lose. Compete on personalisation, speed and being a person the customer can talk to.
- Photographing your product badly. You are selling print quality. If your listing photo is dim and crooked, nothing else you do matters.
Common questions
How much money do I need to start?
Under $200 to make and sell your first magnets using magnetic sheets and a printer you already own. Around $500 to $900 for a small press setup. Two to three thousand for a rectangle machine.
Do I need special software?
No. Free tools handle resizing and cropping perfectly well, and templates take care of the sizing maths.
How long before it makes money?
The materials pay for themselves quickly. Replacing an income takes longer and depends almost entirely on how actively you look for customers rather than on your equipment.
Can I do this from an apartment?
Yes. A press needs a sturdy table and about two feet of bench. It is quiet, produces no fumes and no waste beyond paper trim.
Do I need a business licence?
Requirements vary by state and city, and sales tax registration usually applies once you sell regularly. Check your local rules before you scale.
Where to go next
If you want the whole process laid out in order, with the materials list, the printer settings, the templates and the pricing worksheets, that is what our course is. It is built from what we learned running this business, including the parts that went badly.
If you would rather work it out yourself, start with magnetic sheets and good paper, make fifty magnets, and see who wants them. That is genuinely how we started.