5 – How do you determine the price of a board game?

The common formula for pricing is:
MSRP = Landed Cost x 5

The “MSRP” stands for the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price—that’s the price you typically see in stores. “Landed Cost” refers to the cost of production, including transport to your warehouse and customs fees.

An example:
Let’s assume the pure manufacturing cost is €12 (this usually depends heavily on the size of the production run). On top of that, you need to add the cost of transporting the game from the factory to you or your warehouse. Typically, the board game arrives shrink-wrapped and on pallets. Depending on where production takes place, this can be cheaper or more expensive. Customs duties may also apply. For this example, let’s assume transport and customs add up to about €4 per game.

(I'm planning a separate blog post specifically about shipping and logistics.)

That gives us a Landed Cost of €16.
Using the formula, the MSRP would then be €80.

That sounds like a healthy profit margin—but it's not that simple.

If you sell the game directly yourself, the profit margin really is good; you’d only need to pay VAT (which depends on your country).
However, ideally, you want your board game to be available in stores—and that’s where distributors and retailers come into play.

Retailers might pay you 50–55% of the MSRP, while distributors typically pay only 40–45%.
So from a €80 MSRP, you’d get only €32–36 from a distributor (who are usually your biggest customers), or €40–44 from a retailer.
Taxes still need to be paid from that, so your profit margin shrinks fast.

Also keep in mind: the Landed Cost only includes the printing and manufacturing costs.
Expenses for illustrations, marketing, additional services, and of course your own labor as a designer aren't included here.
So, in order to fund a second print run, you first need to sell quite a few copies from the first one.

If you have any questions, feel free to message me or leave a comment.
And if you have specific experience in this area, I’d love to hear about it!

What has changed since the first Kickstarter?
After talking with publishers, a new question came up:
What print run should I base my MSRP calculation on?

It makes a big difference whether you’re producing 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000 units.
The Landed Cost—and therefore the MSRP—can vary significantly.
It’s probably best to base your calculation on the smallest feasible print run.

This approach reduces risk for a Kickstarter and still allows publishers to offer better pricing for larger volume orders.
It’s all about careful planning—if your MSRP ends up too high, the game becomes less attractive to buyers.

Shipping quantities also matter.
Only a few pallets were sent to the US, and shipping cost me about €6 per game.
To Europe, I shipped a full container, which brought the cost down to about €3.50 per game.

Game size plays a huge role too.
A pallet might hold 1,200 small card games but only about 150 copies of Magical Friends.
That needs to be factored into your calculations.

Shipping speed is another consideration.
Shipping by sea from China is the cheapest, followed by rail, while air freight is very expensive.
Speed comes at a high price.

1 - From the board game idea to the crowdfunding project

I'm delighted that you've found your way here! What can you expect on my blog? I designed my board game “Magical Friends and How To Summon Them” myself and self-published it via crowdfunding. I would like to share these experiences with you here.

From time to time, I will write entries about my experiences with board game design, but above all about my experiences on the way to self-publishing the game. Why is there only a small section on design? Because self-publishing is just one of many tasks that need to be mastered. More on this topic in the next article.

There is a lot of excellent information on the Internet about designing and publishing board games, a majority of it is in English. Probably the most important piece of information is Jamey Stegmaier's blog on Stonemaier Games. Jamey enriches the scene not only with great board games, but also with this great blog. You can also find an incredibly helpful and friendly community in the Facebook group Board Game Design Lab Community.

I hope I can also support the German-speaking and european scene with this blog. The experience is also quite different depening on certain circumstances. It makes a big difference whether you read such experiences from someone who are selfpublishing in the USA or in Europe. Whether it's experience from the first, second or perhaps through several crowdfunding campaigns. Whether you are working alone or in a group. How big the game is and whether you're working with a publisher, and probably not all entries will appear in the best possible order.

I started the blog quite early on and a lot of time has passed since then. Depending on when you start thinking about a topic, you've already had a lot of experience with it. Some information would have been great early on, some topics are only relevant in specific times. I will come back to older blog entries and add the views of a later point in time. I may also be able to bring in guest comments from other designers from time to time.

The blog is originally written in German language and automatically translated. If you would like a better translation quality or an additional language, please write to me. Maybe I can think something up.
Did a post help you? What would you like to know? What was your experience with a topic? Feel free to write a comment so that others can benefit from your questions or experiences.

An early prototype, year 2020