KS — How to best handle shipping

No no no .. you set the reward level at $39 and THEN you add a shipping cost on top of that based on backer location (for example, if your shipping is $10 to the US, they select the $39 reward and it then adds an additional $10 shipping so their pledge comes out to $49).

You don't have to have the shipping cost included directly in the pledge level itself, but having it added to the pledge via Kickstarter makes it a one-time transaction that is far more desirable to backers (they know exactly what the game will cost and won't have a 2nd, potentially surprising, transaction for shipping later on down the road that they will have to budget for).

You're going to be paying the fees no matter what, either through Kickstarter or through a pledge manager. Its unavoidable. See my comment above regarding the pricing.. it's perfectly honest and transparent when set up properly.

That it should not be part of your funding goal (or count towards the funding goal) has been forwarded to Kickstarter many many times. If you charge shipping via KS (either directly in the pledge or added on to the pledge based on location) it counts towards your goal. If you charge it after in a pledge manager it's a second transaction and will cause a segment of backers to choose not to back your project because of that.

The goal itself is not a huge factor for most backers. A goal that makes reasonable sense combined with whether or not you've hit your funding goal quickly is the bigger draw or detractor. You could set your goal at $500 and hit it in 2 minutes. People KNOW you need more than $500. You could set it at $50,000 and hit it on day 30 .. maybe, because people KNOW you don't need $50k.

$17,500 to $25,000? Not that big a difference in the grand scheme of things; raising the full amount needed to produce, freight and fulfill your project .. THAT'S the most important thing. How you go about doing so is your choice and there are several viable options for it.

Right now, you're discussing shipping charges specifically and I'm not sure you understand how Kickstarter projects are set up regarding shipping based on what you're saying. Yes, it adds to your funding raised towards your goal, but it is set up so that people know what they are paying (specifically; $X for the game + $Y for shipping based on location, where $Y is added AFTER selecting a reward level).

Your numbers are also off regarding cost of shipping etc. I'll try to explain as best I can;

Let's use your example of a $35 price tag for your base pledge level.

This would, realistically, mean that your game cost you $7 to manufacture and freight to warehouse/fulfillment/your home. Let's say $10.

To manufacture 500 copies @ $10 = $5,000

To bring in $5,000 you would need 143 backers @ $35.

This means you would need to ship +/- 150 copies of the game.

Assuming shipping is $10 (round number), that's $1500 in shipping.

This means you need $5000 + 1500 = $6500 (plus factor in another 20% for fees and incidentals, so say $8000)

Let's go hog wild and say your game, at 500 copies, is $25 landed cost + $10 shipping to backers. First of all, you'd be underselling it at $35 but that aside;

$25 * 500 = $12,500 manufacturing and freight
358 backers @ $35 to reach that expense
360 * $10 shipping = $3600

$12,500 + 3600 = $16,100 you'd need to raise (plus factor in another 20% for fees and incidentals, so say $19,500)

In either of these cases, you're left with a bunch of leftover copies of your game OR, happy days, you over funded and got more backers, selling off those extra copies at a larger profit margin per copy (since they're already 100% paid for once you hit your goal) or decreasing your costs by increasing your manufacturing quantity!

To say you need to add $6000 to your goal to ship those 500 copies @ $12 .. sure, but ONLY if you had 500 backers, which you do not, ever, need to reach your minimum viable goal and so you won't need to add $6000 to your minimum viable goal.

There are some great calculators out there that will give you a rough estimate of how much you need to raise to create your game from the ground up all the way to final consumer. I would look into them!

But with no real profit margin, you're requiring that you get all 500 backers. Like.. I built 1000 units, but only needed about 280 backers or whatever it was.

As a result, the amount of money I would've needed was:

Landed cost of 1000 units + (call it $15000)
Shipping costs of 280 units (call it $3500)

$18,500 (no profit, art expenses not covered)

I didn't need to factor in the shipping costs of the other 720 units, because I didn't need to ship those as part of my minimum qualifying total.

Actually I meant you need more profit.

Are you using print on demand for your manufacturing? If not, I can't imagine why your cost is so high. That seems to be a large part of the battle right there.

Combine that with the requirement to have 3 copies + a board, etc reaching $155 to play the game means you're in extremely pricey, dangerous territory for funding, especially since you need 500+ to, essentially, break even (you always have to account for unexpected expenses by adding +/- 10% to what you think you need).