Printers for production

The only issue I have with DIRECT dealing with Chinese Factories is that they can "cut" down on quality to try to save money. So you really need to know "your stuff" in every aspect of the printing. From double gummed paper to cardstock quality (Blue core, Black core, etc.) to chipboard sizes for tokens, game mats and boxes, etc. And even things like varnishing (do you want your box to be shiny or matte)?!?! What about your rulebook, what kind of paper thickness (in gsm), is it glossy, semi-glossy or matte?! Are the cover pages thicker than the rest (and therefore another quality of paper)?

The second issue I have is handling all the SHIPPING issues. Getting freight forwarders to deliver the palette from the dock to your home - is well something questionable. As I don't have experience in this, I have no idea about the COST of such an operation. I also don't know how to handle FOB transactions...

Why I would deal with CPC or AdMagic, would be simply because they will give me a FULL QUOTE, including the shipping to my doorstep (or fulfillment warehouse).

Those are my concerns when having to deal with DIRECT Chinese relations.

Update: I too have gotten some quotes from Chinese Manufacturers. And let me tell you, the break down ALL the components and charge for each one. And sometimes they play tricks like 4/0 for cards and quote that price... Of course if you want 4/4 the prices will be more expensive...

Things like that. Those kind of deals of breaking everything down makes for a more costly product. I even think DIRECT Chinese quotes were MORE expensive than CPC or AdMagic.

Also CPC allows you to order 500 units. That too is something to consider. The Chinese factories want 1,000 to 1,500 units (depending). One quote I got was for 2,500 units FOB. What does that mean? Less is probably MORE EXPENSIVE. And I asked for a quote of 1,000 units, they sent one for 2,500 units... Things like that.

Update #2: I have read that DIRECT Chinese products are sometimes of lesser quality than those made through a broker. Some Chinese factories have been known for producing lesser quality end-products. So buyer BE-WARE. Check out James Mathe website at:

http://www.jamesmathe.com/hitchhikers-guide-to-game-manufacturers/

Notice Wingo: "Card quality isn't great." and "Makes a decent product when you're very specific." Like I said you really need to KNOW your stuff.

Update #3: If you "haggle" with them... Then my concern would be they might "cut" some aspect of your product. Like my 4/0 example. If I would say I want 4/4 for the same price - IDK they may make a cheaper game box to balance out the deal... Believe me there are a LOT of details that you can just skip over. An example was "varnishing" the box cover? And what about the box bottom, do you also want it "varnished"???

Update #4: I got a quote from Ningbo Lijia. Here you can DOWNLOAD it and take a look at what I mean.

http://www.questccg.com/shared_info/Quotation_NingboLijia.xlsx

Update #5: Doing my own research, I should be able to get the game made for $4.00 USD. Now if I compute this spreadsheet to $9.26 USD... More than DOUBLE the amount AND that with the errors 4/0, need to be corrected. Also note that this is for 2,500 Game Sets!!! See what I mean?

A quick list of manufacturers I have been in contact with for reference;

AdMagic (expensive, US company)
Panda (slow because they're so busy, high quality, high price, high MOQ)
QPC Games (fast communication, high priced)
Whatz Games (Fast communication, decent price)
WinGo (decent communication, decent price)
Kammings Trade Co
Longpack
MPC (somewhat high priced, don't have the range of products I needed but may for your project).

I've also been in contact with the manufacturer that Mayday Games, AEG, Cryptozoic and GameWright use but I don't have an actual manufacturer name though, just the person who does the quotes for me (their prices are decent though).

I would check out print Ninja. They gave me really good quotes. Also they will send you demo copies of games they have done before.

They do 500 unit print runs. Andrew Harmon is working with them for his "Historical" Events game. You can PM him, his username is "harmon89". To find a User, use the Search input box and type what you are looking for (Ex: harmon) and then click on the "Users" from the result list.

Best of luck(?!) with your game...

Ok, thanks. I'll do that. Their website says 1500 so I didn't press them on it.

Looking back in the thread, that Lijia quote is odd. The card price is much too high. Wondering if you’re paying for a full sheet for each tiny deck. I have a recent quote from them for 20 tarot cards for $0.46 per set @1000 units, 4/0.

Just to continue the thread necro'ing..

I found a QA firm that goes to the factory and does a general inspection of the facility if you want, and then when the game is done, does a random inspection some of the final product to confirm quality.

My feeling is that the mere knowledge that a QA firm is involved will keep down the corner-cutting a lot.

I've been working with Mike over at Board Game Design and Manufacturing. He's doing the Graphic Design for Holiday Fever right now. I've received quotes from him for 500, 1000, and 2000 units for my game. He beat out Panda by about 3k. If you are interested PM me and I'll send you both quotes.
They manufacture in China but take all the risk in getting it to where ever you want it in the USA. He also does fulfillment for around 3 dollars a game....not firm on that yet. He's been doing this since the 80's apparently and I have had no problems with him so far. I have often wondered why more people don't talk about him here?????? I've yet to manufacture my game, but I plan to use Him when that time comes. If anyone else has any knowledge about Mike please let me know. If not I suggest you get a quote from him.

http://boardgamedesign.com/

Evan