Making money on Amazon?

Both are good avenues IF you game did well on Kickstarter. It also depends on the type of game: small-ish games might do better on Amazon with an attractive retail price ($20-40), whereas large games ($60+) would do better by selling thru a distributor...

Amazon is mostly "impulse" buying and price buying. Things that are LESS expensive do better. Like a book (<$20) or a DVD (<$15), etc.

I'm going to answer this - but it's an obvious answer: hire a translator.

Figure out what language you want, go to www.upwork.com and search for translators that have the proper language.

Note: There are other website for hiring writers and translators too.

And with a username like "boardgameguru"... you would think that you have all the answers and "we" the questions!!! lol

I don't know if you know how loaded your question is, but let me try and break it down...

Selling on Amazon means several things:
-That you have a product that's worth selling
-That you have a deal with Amazon TO sell your product

Both of these require a significant amount of effort to achieve. You would basically have to have your own company, which is in itself is a full time job, which means you will not be able to spend time creatively.

Now..."vast" amounts of money is something of a complicated issue. Can you continually provide the product to keep up with this "vast" demand? How do you know that your product will even get positive reviews (since that is a big factor for a lot of people). Just being on Amazon doesn't mean it will be sold...there's TONS of items that are on Amazon, which means you have to got to advertise or run some conventions...both of which require time and money.

If you're attached to an established publishing company, getting on Amazon shouldn't be that difficult...IF they are already selling on Amazon.

Now about "getting into stores" that is something you'll have to define. Are you referring to specialty game stores or are you thinking of big chains like Target? Witch a chain store, you'll need a game that's not only popular and has had positive reviews, but you'll need a production company that will keep up with demand...which requires FAR more resources and time and money. If you're looking at specialty game stores, your best bet would be to hook up with a company like Alliance that already has established connections with game stores all over the country...but like I said, you'll need to keep up with product for their warehouses.

Of course all this depends on HOW you'll get a quality product out. The first and primary question would be: Do you have a good game? Have people reviewed it positively? In addition, you'll need to be aware of cost...how much will it take to manufacture? Where are you going to get this game manufactured? China? US? Are you running a Kickstarter?

As you can tell, there's a TON of logistics involved in getting a game to "make vast amounts of money". It appears as though you're planning on doing everything (mostly) yourself, which means you're going to be a VERY busy person.

If I were you, I'd focus on making a good game, then go through the process of pitching to a publisher, getting good reviews, and developing a positive reputation in the board game industry. While many designers here would rather not go through a publisher, it says a lot about your game if you can get a first-time design though the publisher's protocols AND produce a game that's favorably reviewed.

But even then, having positive reviews doesn't mean it will be a hit. There's thousands of games released every year and even great games get drowned out by the masses.

And about translation? That's a whole other ball of wax.

To be honest, I think you're asking questions that are at step 54 when you need to focus on developing a good game and asking questions about step 1.

Good Luck.

I think going through sites like WingoGames and AdMagic...even TheGameCrafter are great places, but I would try and find more cheaper avenues of distribution if you want to go big. If you're a first time designer, use those companies to create near-finished prototypes (like they've been tested over and over and over beforehand), but I wouldn't suggest using them for a primary distribution channel.

I'm not exactly sure about companies and Amazon. I do know that my publisher has a deal with them and it's complicated. I wouldn't even suggest thinking of Amazon at all if all you have is an idea or even a prototype.

Again, I believe the most important thing is the game itself, not the distribution at this point of the game. People are going to judge your reputation by your quality, not quantity. Better to have a great game and low distribution than a crappy game with thousands of copies you can't push.

If there's much complexity to your game, a pro translator who is not a gamer is likely to screw it up. You might actually be better off with a gamer who's an amateur translator.