Re: Components/Pricing

"Bob Hayes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

> 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
...

> 2) Color laser printing on heavy stock, possibly with coating or
...

> 3) a PDF file that buyers would download and print out and cut
...

> 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)!"

Before you do anything else consider the distribution channels you intend to
use and the risk you are willing to take on.  You will find that costs go
down significantly as quantity exceeds 1,000 and become much more reasonable
as you pass 2,000.  The problem is that you would likely need to be picked
up by an established distributor to sell that many, which has it's own cost.

Find out what the capabilities of the printing technology are (print plate
size) and consider whether you can tailor the deck size to match.  You may
have already done this, as I believe 60 is a common deck size, but consider
that you are essentially selling three decks of cards in the game.  Be sure
to factor in breakage and sales that you don't make into your risk model.
If you print 1,000 decks and 100 of them end up damaged in shipment from the
printer to you, or from you to the store, what does it do to your financial
model?  A distributor may have a minimum print run you must have created to
even pick you up.

Sorry there is no direct advice, it really depends on your personal
circumstances.  If you can find a way to pack enough quality into an
affordable package then you'll be rewarded with the opportunity to do it
again.

Brian