Some Notes on Airmailing Costs & Production Costs & MSRP Pricing for Votes for Women

Today, 672 copies of Votes for Women were airmailed to my in-laws house in Annapolis, MD and another 60 copies were airmailed to a friend in Quebec, Canada. 30 are going to VFI Asia for our Asia-Pacific customers and the rest of the 3600 print run will be heading to the US via ocean shipment. For our European Kickstarter backers, we will be shipping from the US via Amazon so we cover the VAT. I thought I would take this moment to reflect on a few aspects of the shipping and production for Votes for Women.

This is the almost final invoice from Panda. It is missing the cost for the ocean shipment, which we are coordinating through them as well. Here is the per unit pricing:

Total production cost for 3600 games was $61,435 - $17.07 per game.

Airmailing 60 games to Canada at $1250 - $20.83 per game.

Airmailing 672 games to US at $10,200 - $15.18 per game.

Why Did We Airmail 732 Games to North America?

We launching the Kickstarter on August 26, 2020 - the 100th Anniversary of U.S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certifying the 19th Amendment. The initial design submitted by Tory Brown was excellent, but had not gone through our rather extensive development process. We rather confidently predicted a 2021 delivery date. We obviously missed that date for a variety of reasons, so it became imperative to me that our Kickstarter backers receive their games in 2022. As I see it, the credibility of the firm is on the line.

The initial guidance I received was that it would cost in the $24 to $30 per game range to airmail that quantity of games. As you can imagine, I am thrilled at the lower costs. Additionally, once the games arrive, I will be saving on average $7 per game by shipping myself instead of using our third-party fulfillment company.

How Has Inflation Affected the Production Costs and Print Run Size?

We initially planned on a 5000 print run. When we received our quote (see above) from Panda in 2020, our per game was $9.48. That’s quite different from the $17.07 we ended up with - how did this happen? There were two factors. First, we significantly increased the number of components in the game - the number of cards, the amount of wood, the number of historical supplements (Tory and I wanted to add a sash in the game, but the price on that was just too expensive). Second, the costs for both wood and paper have skyrocketed. I don’t have a precise breakdown of how much of the increase was due to component inflation and how much was due to economic inflation and I almost don’t care. I am so happy with the final product and I think we can see a reasonable AGPPU - but that is a topic for another essay.

The smaller print run - 3600 vs. 5000 - is my prudence. I think that Votes for Women is going to be a hit and sell several times what The Shores of Tripoli has sold. It has a broader potential audience and it is, arguably, a more interesting game. But we will have to take advantage of those additional sales with a second and third print run.

How Did We Determine $75 for MSRP?

The rule of thumb is that your MSRP (manufacturer suggested retail price) should be 5x or 6x your landed cost - landed cost being production + freight + customs. The reason for this is the three-tier distribution system. A distributor (or wholesaler) buys games at 35% or 40% of the MSRP from the publisher. A retailer buys games at 50% of the MSRP from the distributor or direct from the publisher.

1960: The Making of the President, designed by our good friends Jason Matthews and Christian Leonhard, has similar components to Votes for Women - both maps are mounted, although the 1960 map is bigger; both have a ton of cubes, although V4W has more specialized wood pieces; both have over 100 cards and quality rule books. I am a little biased, but I think the overall package with V4W is just a bit more impressive because of the historical supplements. But I am sure GMT Games’ landed cost is something like $16-$18 and that explains the $90 MSRP. A distributor would pay $31.50 or $36 and a retailer would pay $45. If we were to follow the same rules, we would be forced into that MSRP.

We are not going to follow the rules, at least not for the first print run. We will sell games direct to customers (via Amazon and our own website) and we will sell direct to retailers at 60% of MSRP (we cover shipping) - so that same $45 to retailers. The reason we are not going to follow the rules is that I think $90 is just too high of a price for a historical board game of this size and weight.

I am looking over at my shelf and see Pax Pamir: Second Edition (MSRP: $85) and John Company: Second Edition (MSRP: $125) and can see the argument for prices being a bit higher. But Pax Pamir has beautiful components that are truly unique and $85 is still under that $90 price that makes me cringe. John Company is a much heavier game - I haven’t played it yet and maybe it is worth $125, maybe it isn’t - we’ll see. But for where Fort Circle is at right now - especially considering our desire to engage people who are interested in history but do not consider themselves gamers - the MSRP is $75. For now.

BTW, I should have a handful of extra games from this airmail shipment. I am going to close out the shipping list tomorrow, so if you want to get one before the holidays, order at http://www.votesforwomen.com today.