Board Game Crowdfunding Fulfillment & Manufacturing Support for Small Print Runs
We Can Help You Lower Manufacturing Costs, Simplify U.S. Fulfillment, and Get Your Game Into More Players' Hands
Congratulations! You successfully funded your crowdfunding campaign.
Whether you launched on Kickstarter, Gamefound, or another platform, reaching hundreds of backers is a huge accomplishment. But many independent publishers discover a frustrating reality after their campaign ends:
Your success is sometimes just not quite enough.
Many board game factories have minimum order quantities (MOQs) of 1,000–1,500 units. If your campaign reaches 300, 500, or even 800 backers, you may find yourself paying significantly higher manufacturing costs simply because your order quantity is below the factory minimum.
A smaller production run often means:
- Higher cost per game
- Less negotiating power with manufacturers
- More expensive shipping per unit
- Difficulty finding affordable fulfillment solutions
- More inventory challenges for future sales
We have created a simple solution for crowdfunding campaigns that need 300–800 units:
Increase your production quantity without increasing your risk.
The Problem: Small Print Runs Are Expensive
Imagine your crowdfunding campaign requires only 500 copies of your game and it is around $100 MSRP.
Your factory tells you:
500 units = $27 per copy
At first, this may seem reasonable. But the reality is that your game may have been designed with a retail price in mind where a $27 manufacturing cost makes it difficult to achieve a healthy margin.
The factory then explains:
"If you produce 1,000 units, we can lower the cost significantly."
But ordering another 500 copies creates new challenges:
- Where do you store the extra inventory?
- How do you pay for the additional production?
- How do you get the games to the United States?
- How do you sell the remaining copies?
- How do you handle U.S. fulfillment?
This is where we can help.
Our Small Campaign Partnership Program
Mayday Games can partner with qualifying crowdfunding campaigns to help you reach factory minimum quantities while removing many of the headaches that come with larger production runs.
Here's how it works:
Step 1: We Help Increase Your Production Quantity
If your campaign needs between 300–800 copies, we can discuss purchasing additional units directly from you to bump your campaign to the 1,000-1,500 MOQ range the factory requires and where true economies of scale kick in.
For example:
Your campaign needs:
500 copies
We purchase:
500 additional copies
Your factory produces:
1,000 total copies
This allows everyone to benefit from the lower production cost associated with a larger order.
Step 2: We Purchase the Additional Units at Your Cost
You don't need to invest additional money into inventory you don't want.
You don't need to find another distributor.
You don't need to figure out what to do with extra copies.
Mayday Games purchases the additional units directly from you at your manufacturing cost.
This gives you:
✓ Lower manufacturing cost
✓ More copies produced
✓ Less financial risk
✓ No excess inventory sitting in your warehouse
Step 3: We Handle U.S. Inventory and Fulfillment
By allowing us to purchase more copies at your cost, we will take care of your USA fulfillment at no extra cost, just pay actual shipping and labor costs! We have run more than 60 successful crowdfunding campaigns since 2011 and have fulfilled to US backers ourselves with no middleman. We know what it takes!
Our actual warehouse. Take a 2-minute tour HERE.
How do I get my game to U.S. backers?
Shipping individual games internationally can be expensive and complicated.
At Mayday Games, we already operate a U.S. warehouse and fulfillment operation.
For qualifying projects, we can:
✓ Pick up our purchased games AND your fulfillment copies directly from your factory and import them ourselves.
✓ Import to the USA with our existing shipmetns and receive your games into our warehouse
✓ Store inventory safely
✓ Fulfill your U.S. backer orders
✓ Pick and pack orders
✓ Ship directly to your customers
We do not add unnecessary markup.
Other fulfillment companies need to make a profit off of your project, but we don't!
We simply charge the actual labor and shipping costs required to fulfill your project.
Our goal is to help your project succeed — not add another expensive middleman.
A Real Example: Saving Thousands While Expanding Distribution
A recent crowdfunding campaign was facing a similar situation.
The publisher was based internationally and had successfully funded their game, but they only needed approximately:
500 copies
At that quantity, the factory quoted:
$27 per unit
The publisher faced two major problems:
- The manufacturing cost was much higher than expected.
- They had no simple U.S. fulfillment solution.
Mayday Games stepped in with our partnership solution.
We purchased an additional:
500 copies
The factory production quantity increased from:
500 units → 1,000 units
The result:
Manufacturing cost dropped from:
$27 per game
to:
under $20 per game
The publisher saved more than:
$3,500 in manufacturing costs
They also gained:
✓ 500 additional games produced
✓ More units placed into the United States
✓ A U.S. fulfillment partner
✓ A path to getting their game in the hands of more players
Everyone benefited.
The publisher reduced costs.
The factory reached a better production quantity.
More players gained access to the game.
And the game had a longer life beyond the original crowdfunding campaign.
What Happens to the Additional Games?
Many publishers ask:
"What happens to the extra copies?"
The answer depends on each project.
Mayday Games purchases these additional copies and helps give the game additional exposure through our sales channels.
Possible opportunities include:
Retail Sales
We offer the game through our online store and game conventions at normal retail pricing and offer it to distributors and retail stores at wholesale pricing.
This helps your game continue generating sales after the crowdfunding campaign ends.
Mystery Box Distribution
We also run BGMysteryBox.com and sell mystery boxes at popular conventions like GenCon and Pax Unplugged. These mystery boxes include 5-7 board games per box worth $200 or more of games, all for just $50. We sell hundreds of these per year and offer games from respected publishers, not just unsellable trash or games from our own catalog.
This introduces your game to hundred of new board gamers who may have never discovered your project during crowdfunding.
Many successful publishers use this as a way to expand awareness and build a new audience and we benefit by being able to include a brand-new release and largely unavailable game into those boxes, adding significant value to our mystery boxes. Having a mix of new games in these boxes is very worthwhile for us and our customers!
Long-Term Exposure
Crowdfunding campaigns often have one major challenge:
The campaign ends, and marketing stops.
But a great board game deserves a longer life.
By putting additional copies into distribution channels, at conventions, into stores and to our mystery boxes means your game has opportunities to:
- Reach new players
- Build word-of-mouth
- Generate future sales
- Increase brand recognition
Why Work With Mayday Games?
For more than 15 years, Mayday Games has been part of the board game industry.
We understand the challenges publishers face because we have faced them ourselves.
We are not a generic logistics company. We are board game publishers and already work with manufacturers and distributors. We already own our own warehouse and import products from China monthly, so consolidating your product in our shipments is quite easy and hassle-free for you!
We understand:
✓ Board game manufacturing
✓ Crowdfunding campaigns
✓ Factory relationships
✓ International shipping
✓ U.S. fulfillment
✓ Retail distribution
✓ Board game communities
Our goal is simple:
Help great games reach more players.
Is Your Campaign a Good Fit?
This program is ideal for publishers who:
✓ Successfully funded a Kickstarter or Gamefound campaign
✓ Need approximately 300–800 copies
✓ Are facing high manufacturing costs because of a low MOQ
✓ Need help with U.S. fulfillment
✓ Want additional distribution opportunities
✓ Have a game with long-term sales potential
Projects with fewer than 300 units or extremely specialized products may not be a fit, but we are always happy to discuss your situation.
Let's Work Together
Your crowdfunding campaign was only the beginning.
A successful campaign should not end with expensive manufacturing, complicated logistics, and boxes sitting in storage.
With the right partner, your game can:
✓ Cost less to produce
✓ Be easier to fulfill
✓ Reach more players
✓ Continue selling long after crowdfunding ends
If your project needs between 300–800 copies, we would love to explore how we can help.
Contact Emma at:
emma@maydaygames.com
Let's work together to help your game succeed.
