Components/Pricing

I have finished design work on a 2-6 player card game dealing with
trade, war and building in the ancient age.  It's suitable for bright
kids (like all good games) and is also enjoyable by adults; there's an
educational component but it isn't irritating (my kids still haven't
figured out that they're learning things).  Extensive playtesting
shows that the design is sound, and the game is fun and balanced.  I
hired an artist to replace my crappy clipart images and Arial-font
text on the cards with some really gorgeous full-color stuff, and they
look great.  The game consists of 180 different cards and the rules;
no markers or counters or other components.  I intend to market and
sell it myself.

I have three choices on delivering the physical components of the
game.

1) 4-color commercial printing, with aqueous coating and corner
rounding and all that good stuff, put into a nice box with a label and
everything.  My cost per unit:  $10 minimum, with a big capital outlay
up front that would make slow sales a personal disaster.

2) Color laser printing on heavy stock, possibly with coating or
laminating and corner rounding but more likely just raw output onto
(high quality) cardstock.  Delivered in a poly bag a la Cheapass
Games.  My cost per unit:  $6 or so, with minimal upfront costs; I
could afford slow sales.

3) a PDF file that buyers would download and print out and cut
themselves.  My cost per unit:  Darn near $0.  Risk:  intellectual
piracy, since of necessity I would be delivering a reproducible
product.

If I went with (1), I would have to charge around $20 per game to
cover my risk.  That just feels high to me for what is essentially a
card game.  With (2), I could charge between $10-15 (depending on what
extra features went into the production process).  With (3) I was
thinking of charging $5 or so.

I would appreciate any input, suggestions, or loud cries of "you fool,
what about solution (4)!"

Good gaming,

Bob Hayes