No matter where you go – Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Patreon, GoFundMe, or somewhere else – one thing is clear. Crowdfunding is growing by leaps and bounds.

In North America alone, $17.2 billion was generated through crowdfunding campaigns in the year 2020. That’s up 33.7% from the year prior. Also in 2020 – the middle of a pandemic – almost 6.5 million crowdfunding campaigns were launched.

For many startups, the question is no longer “should we launch a crowdfunding campaign” but rather “where should we launch our crowdfunding campaign?”

And that’s a good question. One that’s often answered by defaulting to Kickstarter, because it is the most popular crowdfunding platform.

But what about Indiegogo?

The plain fact is that some products do really well on Kickstarter, and others do really well on Indiegogo. Each website has a dedicated community of people willing to back crowdfunding projects. Each website is capable of helping crowdfunders succeed.

But some products are just a better match for one platform over the other. Here’s how you can make your choice between Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

What is crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is a way to raise money from a large group of people, usually online. Instead of relying on one investor, you get small amounts from many. It’s popular for launching new products, creative projects, and businesses. Kickstarter is the most popular crowdfunding platform, with Indiegogo being in the top 5.

Anyone with an idea can set up a campaign and ask for support. People who believe in the idea contribute. In return, they often get rewards like early access to the product.

Crowdfunding has changed how people fund projects. It makes it easier to bring ideas to life without needing a big loan or investment. All you need is a good pitch and an audience willing to back you.

What is Kickstarter?

Kickstarter is one of the oldest crowdfunding platforms, having started back in 2009. It’s known for creative projects like art, games, tech, and – of course – board games.

You can’t just launch any project you want, though. Kickstarter has strict rules on what is and isn’t eligible to fund on their platform.

Plus, Kickstarter is based on an all-or-nothing model. If you don’t hit your goal, no one’s card is charged, and you get nothing.

What is Indiegogo?

Indiegogo is another popular platform. It’s less popular than Kickstarter but has a more flexible platform. Tech and gadgets seem to do particularly well on Indiegogo.

Indiegogo allows a broader range of projects and has fewer rules. That means some projects, like those related to personal causes or charitable campaigns, can be funded through Indiegogo, even when Kickstarter says no.

Indiegogo also allows creators to choose between all-or-nothing or keep-what-you-raise funding options. That means if you reach, say, 70% of your goal, you can keep the funds you raise, whereas on Kickstarter you would get nothing.

What other crowdfunding platforms are there?

There are tons of crowdfunding platforms online. Many, like Patreon or GoFundMe, don’t necessarily immediately come to mind when you say “crowdfunding”, but still count because they are based on raising small donations from a lot of different people.

Bearing that in mind, there are plenty of crowdfunding platforms besides Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Some are better for personal causes, while others focus on helping startups raise capital. Here’s a quick look at some of the most popular alternatives:

• GoFundMe: Best for personal causes and emergencies.
• Patreon: Focuses on ongoing support for creators through monthly subscriptions.
• StartEngine: A platform for equity crowdfunding, aimed at startups seeking investors.
• Gamefound: A crowdfunding platform exclusively for board games.
• Crowdfunder: Focuses on helping startups raise capital from investors.
• Fundable: Allows startups to raise equity or rewards-based funds.
• Republic: An equity crowdfunding platform for startups and real estate.
• Crowdcube: A UK-based equity crowdfunding platform aimed at helping companies raise investment.

These platforms serve different purposes. Some focus on personal causes, while others target startups or ongoing projects. Choose based on your needs—equity, rewards, or charitable giving.

Not every platform fits every project. For instance, GoFundMe works well for raising money in emergencies but wouldn’t be suitable for launching a tech startup. Equity platforms like StartEngine or Republic are perfect if you’re looking to offer investors a stake in your company.

3 most important factors to choose between Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo

When you choose between Kickstarter and Indiegogo, there are only three factors that should make a decisive difference: your product type, the rules, and whether you want partial funding access.

There are plenty of differences between the platforms, to be sure, and we’ll talk about those. But these three factors are, by far, the most important. Below is explanation of why this is the case:

1. What platform will be the best fit for your product?

Kickstarter is best for creative projects. Think games, films, and art. Even Kickstarter’s branding leans heavily into creativity and artistry, in much the same way that Adobe’s does.

Indiegogo, on the other hand, covers a broader range of categories. But among them, projects in the technology, fitness, outdoor, and home categories tend to do well.

You need to go to the platform your audience expects you to be on. Launching a board game on Indiegogo would be a mistake. But that would not be the case if you launched a new consumer electronic product on Indiegogo.

2. Are your product and company able to follow the rules?

Kickstarter has strict guidelines. It doesn’t allow charities, personal causes, or any project that isn’t focused on creation.

Indiegogo’s rules are more relaxed. If your project doesn’t follow Kickstarter’s rules, this could be your better option. This would be the case for charity or for personal causes. There’s simply no use in trying to launch projects like that on Kickstarter, since the manual review process will eliminate them before they have a chance.

3. Do you want the ability to take partial funding if you underperform your goal?

Kickstarter is all or nothing. You either hit your goal, or you get nothing. It’s great for ambitious projects with big goals, where not having enough capital would lead to the creators having to invest far too much of their own money to ship far too few products.

Indiegogo offers flexible funding. If you want to keep whatever money you raise, no matter if you hit your target, Indiegogo’s flexibility gives you that option. To be clear – Indiegogo still offers all-or-nothing funding as an option too. But the point is that you can choose in advance to keep the funds if you don’t raise enough to reach your goal outright.

Flexible funding is useful for creators who can still succeed even with partial funding. If you want to take advantage of that, you can’t use Kickstarter.

Kickstarter (Pros)

Kickstarter is a household name in a way that other crowdfunding platforms simply aren’t. It’s this brand name – and the community that comes along with it – that set Kickstarter apart since it helps with reach, success odds, media exposure, and community-building.

1. Kickstarter has a larger audience.

Kickstarter is the largest crowdfunding platform. Even though you should build your own audience before launching, you will still see a huge spike in attention just by the act of launching on Kickstarter. This makes it easier to attract even more backers, creating a virtuous cycle.

2. Kickstarter success rates are higher.

Kickstarter campaigns generally have a higher chance of meeting their funding goals compared to other platforms. The all-or-nothing model encourages backers to help you reach that target. This gives creators a better shot at full funding.

3. The media loves Kickstarter.

Kickstarter projects often get media coverage, especially if they are unique or innovative. The word “Kickstarter” itself rather than “Indiegogo” or “Patreon” or some other crowdfunding platform tends to get the attention of journalists.

When you land press coverage, it can help drive even more attention and backers to your campaign. It’s simply easier to do that with Kickstarter than other platforms.

4. Kickstarter’s fixed funding model reduces the risk of being underfunded.

By only allowing funds to be collected if the goal is met, creators avoid being stuck with less money than they need. This ensures that you get enough resources to complete your project. It’s a safeguard against underperformance.

In fact, Kickstarter’s strict insistence on all-or-nothing funding has likely contributed to its success as a platform. Reducing the risk of creators having to fulfill orders without enough funding reduces the risk of backers paying for products and receiving nothing. It likely has helped Kickstarter’s reputation.

5. Kickstarter generally has better analytics.

Both Kickstarter and Indiegogo have built-in analytics tools. But Mark Pecota, CEO of LaunchBoom, says in his article comparing the two platforms that “in my experience, Kickstarter has better integration and the data tracked in Google Analytics almost identically matches the data tracked on your Kickstarter campaign.”

6. Kickstarter has a thriving community of creative projects.

Kickstarter is home to a passionate, engaged audience that loves supporting creative ventures. This community boosts projects in categories like art, film, and games. It’s hard to measure the impact of culture on a crowdfunding platform overall, but let’s not forget that Kickstarter is home to “superbackers” who have supported more than 25 projects with pledges of $10 or greater in the last year.

7. Kickstarter will pay all funds after 14 days, holding none back.

Once your campaign ends successfully, Kickstarter transfers the funds quickly. The 14-day period is short, allowing you to start using the money right away. There are no additional holdbacks or delays. Indiegogo, by comparison, holds onto about 5% of the funds to issue to backers in the event of refunds.

Kickstarter (Cons)

Kickstarter also has its downsides. The platform has some limitations that you should be aware of prior to launching.

1. Kickstarter manually reviews projects and has strict rules.

Each project must pass Kickstarter’s approval process, which can be time-consuming. The platform has strict guidelines on what projects are allowed. This can be a hurdle for creators with unconventional ideas.

2. Flexible funding is not an option on Kickstarter.

Kickstarter uses an all-or-nothing model, meaning you must meet your goal to get any money. If you fall short, you get nothing. Some creators simply hate the idea of working hard on a crowdfunding campaign only to end up empty-handed and this lack of flexible funding can be a dealbreaker for certain projects.

3. Kickstarter’s page builder is notoriously hard to use.

Kickstarter’s tools for creating campaign pages are known for being clunky and difficult to navigate. Creators often struggle with formatting and design. This can make it hard to build a professional-looking page.

4. Kickstarter does not have a platform for post-campaign fundraising.

Once your campaign ends, there’s no built-in way to continue raising funds on the platform. Kickstarter doesn’t offer tools for ongoing support like some other platforms do. This limits creators who want to extend their campaigns.

This forces a lot of creators to use third-party tools like BackerKit, Gamefound, or even Indiegogo InDemand to continue raising funds after the completion of their projects.

5. Kickstarter has relatively few project categories.

Kickstarter focuses heavily on creative projects and has fewer categories for business or personal causes. This can make it hard for some campaigns to find a home. If your project doesn’t fit their mold, you might have a hard time raising enough funding.

Indiegogo (Pros)

Though it is less popular than Kickstarter, Indiegogo has some attractive features for campaign creators. In particular, it’s known for its flexibility and openness to various project types.

1. Indiegogo allows flexible funding.

Unlike Kickstarter, Indiegogo gives you the option to keep whatever you raise, even if you don’t hit your full goal. This reduces the risk of walking away empty-handed. Flexible funding is perfect for creators unsure about meeting their target.

2. Indiegogo has a broader range of product categories.

Indiegogo welcomes projects that range from creative endeavors to personal causes and tech innovations. That makes it more versatile for projects that might not fit into Kickstarter’s stricter guidelines.

3. Indiegogo is open to more countries.

Indiegogo is available to creators in a wider range of countries than Kickstarter. This makes it more accessible to a global audience. It’s a great option for international campaigns seeking a broader reach.

4. Indiegogo allows for post-campaign funding via Indiegogo InDemand.

Once your campaign ends, you can continue raising money through Indiegogo InDemand. This feature lets you keep accepting contributions even after your initial goal is met. It’s perfect for projects that want to maintain momentum.

If you want to do this with Kickstarter, your only choice is to use a third-party pledge manager such as BackerKit. Although it should be noted that Kickstarter has been researching and beta testing a system for post-campaign funding.

5. Indiegogo’s page builder is more flexible.

Indiegogo’s tools for creating your campaign page offer more customization options than Kickstarter. You have greater control over the design and layout. This flexibility makes it easier to create a polished, professional page.

If you are particularly tech-savvy, you’ll be pleased to know that Indiegogo’s page builder even supports basic HTML and CSS if you want to get a little more hands-on with your page styling.

6. Indiegogo collects backer information immediately after pledging.

As soon as someone contributes to your campaign, Indiegogo collects their contact and shipping details. This means you have everything you need to fulfill orders quickly. Early access to backer info helps streamline fulfillment.

7. Indiegogo has a thriving tech and gadgets community.

Indiegogo is particularly well-known for its tech and gadgets campaigns. If your project falls into one of these categories, you’ll find a ready-to-back community of interested backers. This niche focus can boost your campaign’s success in the tech world.

Indiegogo (Cons)

Indiegogo has some drawbacks, especially when compared to Kickstarter. It’s important to weigh these cons before deciding to launch a project on the platform.

1. Indiegogo has lower success rates.

As many as 37.7% of Kickstarter campaigns succeed. Only 17-18% of Indiegogo campaigns do the same.

To be clear, these are base odds of success that don’t consider the product category or the skill of the crowdfunding creator. But even still, this can be awfully discouraging for creators hoping for guaranteed success.

2. Indiegogo has a smaller audience.

While Indiegogo is a popular platform, it doesn’t have the same massive audience that Kickstarter does. Fewer potential backers mean you might have to work harder to promote your campaign. This smaller pool of users limits your campaign’s exposure.

Again, if you are launching in the right category, this is less of an issue.

3. Indiegogo campaigns aren’t as attractive to the media as Kickstarter campaigns.

Kickstarter has a stronger media presence, often drawing more attention from journalists and bloggers. Indiegogo campaigns don’t typically get as much press coverage. This lack of media buzz can make it harder to generate excitement.

4. Indiegogo holds 5% of funds for refunds.

Indiegogo keeps 5% of your funds on hold in case refunds are needed. This is a relatively minor concern if you budget for it, but it can still be annoying if you aren’t aware of this fact. Make sure you consider how immediate your cash flow needs are before you launch an Indiegogo campaign.

5. Indiegogo charges backers immediately, rather than after the conclusion of a successful campaign.

On Indiegogo, backers are charged as soon as they pledge, regardless of whether the campaign hits its goal. For cash flow purposes, this can be excellent, but until those orders are fulfilled, accountants will consider that money “unearned revenue.”

Now to be clear, this is also the case with Kickstarter, but since you receive rewards after the campaign is over, that’s less time that unearned revenue will be sitting on your books.

There’s also a psychological element to consider for backers. Some backers may hesitate to pledge if they don’t know whether the campaign will succeed. This could affect your overall funding.

Final Thoughts

Kickstarter and Indiegogo both have well-established communities, and both can be a great place to launch your crowdfunding campaign.

The most important thing to consider is: “what kind of product am I selling?” Games, film, art, publishing, and design do really well on Kickstarter. Technology, fitness, outdoor, and home do really well on Indiegogo.

After considering product category, it’s a matter of subtleties. What’s more important: higher chances of success or openness? Does flexible funding move the needle? What about the ease of transitioning into a post-campaign pledge manager?

These questions will help you determine whether Kickstarter or Indiegogo is right for you and your business.

But no matter what you choose – good luck! Let us know if you need any help shipping orders.

Shoppers are impatient. Every additional tenth of a second it takes a store to load can drop conversion rates by 7%. Can you imagine how much money a Shopify store owner could lose over a 2-second delay?

Slow websites provide bad user experiences. This alone causes people to turn away from stores they would otherwise shop from. But it can also negatively impact search engine rankings too. That’s another huge problem in its own right since so many Shopify store owners count on being listed high in Google Shopping ratings.

Fixing a slow website is tricky and technical. But thankfully, it’s easier to troubleshoot issues on Shopify than it is on most platforms. In this guide, we’re going to talk about what makes Shopify stores load slowly and why it matters (in the words of actual store owners).

We’ll wrap up with clear steps you can follow to troubleshoot your slow store.

Why Your Shopify Store Is Loading Slowly: 3 Common Reasons

Shopify stores can load slowly for a lot of reasons — oversized images, sluggish apps, theme issues, you name it. We’re going to talk about each of these in a little more detail so you can understand why each one of these causes loading issues.

This is not an exhaustive list. Truth is, there are a million reasons why your Shopify store could be loading slowly. You might have a server issue or some kind of obscure coding problem. But 95% of the time, something much simpler is giving you trouble.

Here are three loading time issues that come up all the time and that you are going to have some control over.

1. Your images are too big.

Big images are, by far, the most commonly cited reason why Shopify stores load slowly. Nearly every source we asked for advice on this matter told us this, independently of one another.

Jose Gomez, Partner at Summit Metals, put it best. “Websites generally load slowly because images are not optimized in size. For example, people might upload a JPG that is 3MB.”

On its own, that isn’t a problem, but clarifies, saying that “multiplied by 20 images, your cell phone will take a while to load [the web page].”

There are ways you can troubleshoot this, which we’ll get into more later. Gomez recommends converting images to WEBP format, which cuts size by about 70% without sacrificing quality too much. Meanwhile, Steve Sacona, Founder of Top 10 Lawyers, recommends using tools like Photoshop or free online converters to compress images to smaller sizes. In our experience, we’ve found either technique can work well.

2. One or more of your apps is slowing down your site.

Remember the days when iPhones only had 8 or 16 GB of storage? Take a second and rewind to the days of having to delete apps to make room for your music. Shopify works like that.

If your store has app after app that you are not using, it might be slowing the site down. Consider purging unneeded apps and reap the benefits of faster load times.

“Carefully choose the apps that you add to your store, and remove any that aren’t needed,” suggests Justin Christopher, Manager of Ecommerce and Marketing at Klatch Coffee. “In addition to removing the app, you might need to check to make sure the app automatically removes any code that it installed, because old apps can leave behind code that slows your site. Shopify store owners can run before-and-after tests using Google Lighthouse to ensure that newly-added apps aren’t slowing their store.”

3. You’re using a slow Shopify theme.

When themes don’t work properly, they can slow down your page. Themes are all made by developers, and developers make them by writing code. The way the code is written can have a huge impact on how the website itself is loaded when it runs that code.

Practically speaking, if your theme is the problem, the only option you really have is to switch themes. Granted, there are many other things you can troubleshoot first, which we’ll talk about. But if you keep having stubborn performance issues, your theme might be the problem after all.

Why Shopify Store Loading Time Matters

If you want to really understand why loading time matters so much, it helps to hear what other store owners have to say.

Gomez says that “Google/Bing Search Engine crawlers rate your site based on how fast your site runs. The reason for this is they want to give users best user experience (which means smooth loading times.”

Christopher states that “site speed is critical for usability. We know that visitors quickly abandon slow-loading websites, especially mobile users, which make up about 70% of our audience.” He then expressed the value of using Lighthouse, Core Web Vitals, and Search Console to find and fix issues.

“There is a reason loading time is important for many reasons. Ignoring this essential aspect can scare away prospective buyers, because an average online shopper is quite impatient, and every additional second of waiting increases the bounce rate and decreases the satisfaction rate,” says Ben Schreiber, Head of Ecommerce at Latico Leathers. “Even a [one-second] delay can lead to fewer conversions, according to research. SEO is also adversely affected by slow websites as search engines such as that of Google take loading speed as a factor when indexing web content. Reduced download times mean enhanced popularity and increased chances of converting visitors into regular clients.”

Sacona states that “fast loading times are essential for keeping visitors on your site and can directly impact your business’s bottom line. From a legal standpoint ᅳ seeing to it that your website performs efficiently is not just about user experience ᅳ it’s about seeing to it that your business against potential disputes & maintaining your market position.”

Taken all together, one thing is clear. Making your Shopify store fast is not just an intellectual exercise. It has a direct impact on your profitability.

How To Speed Up Your Shopify Store: 7 Steps

With all of the above in mind, we would like to provide some tips on how you can speed up your Shopify store. Try each of these steps one at a time, and in the order they are listed below. Use free tools like GTMetrix, Pingdom, and PageSpeed Insights to measure changes in performance as you go along.

Why follow these specific steps?

This is a technical point, but it’s helpful to understand, so bear with us. You are trying to optimize three different factors:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): The amount of time it takes to load the largest object on the page. Less time is better.
• Interaction with Next Paint (INP): The amount of time it takes for a website to respond after a user interacts, such as by clicking on something. Less time is better.
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): The amount that objects appear to “jump around” as the website loads. Less shifting is better.

The tips that we’re going to share require relatively little technical expertise but should make a large impact on these three figures. Don’t get too hung up on the figures themselves, though, they are ultimately just ways to quantify how it feels to use your website. And you want it to feel good, so use your human judgment.

1. Optimize your images.

If your website is loading slow, you should check your images first. That’s because overly large image files are both the most likely reason for your website to be loading slowly and one of the easiest to fix.

There are two ways main ways to optimize images, and either will work. You can either convert them to WEBP or use a tool – paid or free – to compress the images to a smaller file size. It doesn’t matter which one you use, it only matters that the file size is relatively small.

Of the two, we personally find WEBP preferable since it’s a little less technical than compressing images and certain speed measurement tools tend to like it better than optimized PNG and JPG files.

When you compress images, look at them closely and make sure the quality is still good before you use them on your website. You want the smallest file that still looks good.

Windy Pierre, Ecommerce Growth Marketer at Ecommerce Manager Dot Com has some additional recommendations for image optimization. He says it’s best to “[avoid making] the main picture load lazily. Only make pictures that you can’t see right away [should] load lazily. For more control, it’s better to use Shopify’s automatic lazy loading or the section index.”

He also advises against using special effects for main pictures.  “While making pictures fade in might seem cool, it can make the website slower. It’s better to remove them for a faster website.”

2. Remove apps you don’t use.

Having too many apps is a sure way to slow down your Shopify store. The easiest thing you can do is start removing ones you don’t use.

Sacona is a fan of this approach, saying that a “quick fix is cutting back on unnecessary plugins and streamlining your site’s design to reduce the number of elements that need to load.” Removing extra apps is a great way to do this and requires relatively little explanation.

 

3. Eliminate pop-ups and lightboxes.

You likely want to avoid removing apps that you use on a regular basis. But if you’ve optimized your images and removed unnecessary apps, and you’re still running into load time issues, you might need to consider removing some marketing-related apps. Of those, the easiest thing to check for are slow-loading pop-ups and lightboxes.

“Don’t use big pop-ups. Pop-ups for cookie consent and signing up for newsletters can take a long time to load and be the most significant thing on the page,” says Pierre. If you use them, he advises that you “make sure the text or pictures in these pop-ups are small.”

4. Disable apps one by one.

If you are still having problems with loading time after optimizing images, removing old apps, and turning off pop-ups and lightboxes, you need to go a bit further. At this point, we recommend that you start disabling apps one by one and seeing how each removal affects performance. Odds are, you’ll find at least one app is tanking your load time and it’s only by disabling them one by one that you’ll be sure which one it is.

5. Toggle your lazy loader settings.

Lazy loaders cause images to load only when they are needed. For the most part, lazy loading helps a lot with site performance and Shopify’s Dawn theme enables it by default.

But sometimes, lazy loading has problems and you need to turn it off or on. This can get a bit technical, so here is a video that can walk you through the process of enabling and disabling lazy loading. It’s best to try both ways and see which one gets a better performance.

6. Make sure your CDN is working properly.

CDN is short for content delivery network. CDNs basically save a copy of your website’s files in various servers all over the world. When people load your website, the files come to them from servers that are located physically closer to them. That means the actual electronic information that moves in physical form through fiber optic cables doesn’t have to go as far.

This is nice, since Shopify’s development team has not figured out how to move data faster than the speed of light. Give them a couple of years, though, and we’re sure they’ll figure it out!

If you use Shopify to host your store, you are automatically using their CDN. For the most part, Shopify’s CDN is excellent and probably won’t give you any trouble. But if you can’t quite get the performance you need, here is a tutorial that will walk you through replacing the default CDN with one of your choosing.

7. Use a fast Shopify theme.

If you have followed the above steps and you are still running into issues, it’s possible that your theme is slowing down your website. We saved this tip for last because switching Shopify themes requires a lot of extra work and it’s not something you want to do lightly.

But if you do get to this point, Justin Christopher recommends that you “choose a theme for your Shopify store that makes fast loading a priority, and comes from a reputable developer. Quality themes include regular updates that include bug fixes and new features, as well as performance improvements.”

Final Thoughts

A slow Shopify store doesn’t just frustrate customers—it costs you money. Every second of delay means fewer conversions and lower sales. If your store isn’t loading fast enough, you’re essentially turning away shoppers who are ready to buy.

Speed matters. It affects user experience, search engine rankings, and ultimately, your bottom line. With so many factors influencing loading times, you can’t afford to ignore the problem. Start with the basics: optimize images, remove unused apps, and choose a theme designed for performance.

Fixing a slow store takes effort, but it’s worth it. Follow these steps, track your progress, and watch your store’s performance improve. A faster site leads to happier customers and a more profitable business.

Freight shipping makes global commerce possible. Take away the trains and trucks and cargo ships and our modern economy would simply stop. Freight is how goods move from factories to customers, bridging continents and oceans.

But not all shipping methods are created equal. For many businesses, the choice comes down to sea or air.

Sea shipping is the backbone of global trade, moving enormous quantities of goods at low costs. Air shipping, on the other hand, offers speed but comes with a much higher price tag. Understanding why sea shipping is cheaper than air shipping can save businesses thousands, if not more.

It’s not just about size, though size matters. Ships can carry far more cargo than planes, but the real savings come from efficiency, infrastructure, and fuel costs. All these factors work together to keep sea shipping affordable, even though it takes longer.

The question then becomes: when does air shipping make sense? And how do businesses balance cost and speed in their supply chains?

These are the trade-offs that smart companies navigate every day. Here’s what you need to know.

Sea shipping is cheaper than air shipping

For the vast majority of freight shipments, sea shipping is cheaper than air shipping. And it’s not close at all.

We like to use Freightos to compare freight shipping rates, since their software provides instant quotes. To illustrate the price gap between sea shipping and air shipping, we’ve run a few quotes for this article.

If you were to ship 5 pallets (48” x 40” x 60”), each weighing 1,000 pounds from a factory in Shanghai to our warehouse in Lakewood, New Jersey, you would have a lot of shipping options.

Among them, the lowest priced carrier on their portal would charge $3,011 to do that. It would ship by sea and the process would take 4-5 weeks, port-to-port. Freightos estimates the actual delivery time would take between 40-48 days, which is about 6-7 weeks.

On the flip side, the cheapest available air shipping could be done in 8-9 days port-to-port, 13-16 days, at a price of $14,110. That’s about 32 days or 4.5 weeks faster, but at almost five times the cost!

Not pictured, the fastest quote we saw would take only 1-3 days to ship total, but at a cost of $28,830. That’s about 7 weeks faster, but at about 10 times the price.

If you try different shipment sizes, you will see very similar results across the board. Air shipping is consistently much faster, but far more expensive. So it’s worth exploring why that is the case, and why you might choose air over sea or vice versa.

Why is sea shipping cheaper than air shipping?

Sea shipping is cheaper than air shipping for one simple reason: efficiency. Ships can carry far more cargo than planes. This reduces the cost per unit, allowing companies to save big on shipping.

This effect is so pronounced that business owners outside of the logistics industry are well aware of its impact. “Ships can carry far more volume per journey compared to airplanes,” says Marin Cristian-Ovidiu, CEO of Online Games. “Plus, fuel is definitely a smaller part of a ship’s operating cost than for planes.”

Planes use an enormous amount of fuel to fly and customers – the folks who need freight shipped – end up paying for the cost. Ships are slower, but burn a lot less relative to the cargo they carry, thanks to the ocean doing much of the work.

Infrastructure also plays a role here. Airports are expensive to build and maintain. Ports aren’t cheap either, of course, but they have been in use for centuries and handle far large volumes of goods.

When you think about cargo capacity, fuel, and infrastructure combined, it’s not hard to understand why sea shipping is cheaper than air shipping. The mind-boggling part is how big the difference in cost is!

Why would you choose air shipping over sea shipping?

Even though it’s more expensive, air shipping definitely has its benefits. Dane Nk, Founder of That VideoGame Blog gives a great example from his experience.

“All in all, from what I’ve come to observe in the last few years, air shipping typically makes more sense than sea shipping under specific instances where every second counts. For example, when it comes to tech, sending out and shipping products like smartphones close to their release date is necessary to maintaining market relevance and consumer satisfaction.”

He goes on to add that “for perishable goods like medical supplies, air freight has the necessary speed to make sure such products arrive in optimal condition ᅳ preserving their value and efficacy.”

“Despite its higher cost though, air shipping gives its consumers unmatched speed and reliability for urgent or high-value shipments, making it the go-to choice when the cost of delayed delivery far exceeds the expense of faster transportation.”

Sea shipping typically takes weeks, and there is no way around this. When speed really matters, air shipping is truly the only acceptable option for long-haul freight shipping.

What other kinds of freight shipping are there?

Aside from sea and air, there are two other major types of freight shipping: road and rail. Both have their strengths, depending on the distance and the type of goods being moved. Road shipping is flexible. Trucks can go nearly anywhere, making them perfect for that last mile.

Rail shipping, on the other hand, is ideal for heavy or bulky items. Trains can carry large amounts of cargo over long distances. It’s slower than road transport, but the cost per unit is much lower, especially when moving goods in bulk.

Rail transport is like the ground equivalent of sea shipping, with road transport being the ground equivalent of air shipping. (This metaphor has limits, of course, since you’d hardly expect a plane to land at a warehouse, although perhaps our competitors disagree!)

That said, for shorter distances, road freight is hard to beat. Trucks can pick up and drop off at specific locations, offering door-to-door service. This makes them perfect for regional deliveries and eCommerce.

Rail is more limited in its reach. You need access to a rail network, and that’s not always available. But where it works, it’s cost-effective, especially when transporting goods over landlocked areas.

Another option, and one which is very common in freight shipping, is intermodal shipping. Intermodal shipping means combining several types of freight. Goods might move by truck to a rail terminal, then continue by rail, and finally be delivered by truck. This is kind of like the freight equivalent of booking a flight, taking a shuttle, and then renting a car if you need to travel out of town.

What is the best way to keep freight shipping costs low?

The best way to keep freight shipping costs low is to plan ahead. When you have time on your side, you can choose more affordable options, like sea or rail. Faster shipping, like air freight, always costs more. The situation you really want to avoid is shipping something by air that can be shipped by sea because you’re under a time crunch.

“In our operations, while we mainly deal with digital products, we sometimes need to ship physical merchandise or marketing materials,” says Cristian-Ovidiu. “We generally stick to sea freight to keep costs down unless we’re under a tight deadline or dealing with items that need quicker handling. Then air freight becomes worth the expense.”

Planning in advance alone is the largest lever you have for lowering costs. But if you’re looking for a bit more advice, here are a few other things you can do.

• Design with shipping in mind. Before you start manufacturing, think about ways you can make your products as light and small as possible. This will help you cut down on freight and order fulfillment costs, and might save some money during the manufacturing process as well.
• Consolidate shipments when you can. Instead of sending multiple small packages, wait until you have enough to fill a container or truck. Shipping in bulk brings the cost per item down.
• Pick partners carefully. A good freight forwarder can negotiate better rates and find the most efficient routes. They’ll also handle the paperwork, which can help you avoid costly mistakes.
• Packaging matters too. Use the smallest, lightest packaging that still protects your goods. Excessive packaging takes up space, and in shipping, space is money.

Again, planning freight shipping in advance is, by far, typically the most impactful step you can take. But these other four tips can also save you considerable sums of money in the long run.

Final Thoughts

In freight shipping, time and money rarely move in the same direction. Sea shipping wins on cost, giving businesses the ability to move huge volumes of goods at a fraction of the price of air. But when speed is critical, air shipping can be worth every extra dollar.

Choosing the right shipping method depends on your needs. If your products can wait a few extra weeks, sea freight is your best bet. It keeps costs low, which can help boost profit margins or keep prices competitive.

On the flip side, for urgent shipments or high-value goods, air shipping is the answer. The speed it provides ensures you don’t lose out on sales or quality, especially for perishable goods or time-sensitive products.

Ultimately, smart planning is the key to managing freight costs. When you understand the strengths of each shipping method, you can strike the perfect balance between speed and savings.

Shipping isn’t just a business process in eCommerce. Doing it well means pleasing customers, retaining them, and maxing out your long-term profitability. Failing to provide a good customer experience, on the other hand, is a surefire way to shorten the lifespan of any eCommerce business.

There is plenty of evidence to back up these assertions too. Almost 70% of shoppers are less likely to shop with a retailer if purchases are not delivered within 2 days of the date promised. Nearly two-thirds have canceled purchases because of excessive shipping fees. Another 74% of shoppers have said free shipping is one of the most important factors at checkout.

The message is loud and clear: provide a great shipping experience or else.

But how do you do that?

One useful frame for answering that question is to consider common mistakes that other eCommerce sellers make. Once you know what they are, you can take steps to avoid making them yourself.

In this post, we’ll talk about seven common mistakes that eCommerce sellers make in order fulfillment. Problems can take hold anywhere from inventory management to customer communication, so there are plenty of ways to improve. This post will give you actionable strategies that you can apply to step up your eCommerce order fulfillment experience.

What happens when shipping goes wrong?

Shipping in general is difficult, and international shipping doubly so. But if you know what can go wrong and how to prevent it, you’ll save a lot of money on shipping because of all the problems that don’t happen.

If you ask any eCommerce pro for a shipping horror story, they’ll be able to give you one. And much like tough guys comparing scars, they’ll have fun telling you too.

Dan Jones, Founder of Terrarium Tribe, shared a particularly harrowing tale with us, saying, “we ship live moss that’s in a dried/dormant state. It’s meant to be a lot less sensitive to different temperatures and environmental conditions this way, and to be fair, it is. But during the heat waves this summer, we certainly found the limit of that resilience. One week, we shipped out a few orders of fresh green moss to Texas, and those customers each received a package of brown, dry husks. Thankfully, it’s a straightforward fix now with the inclusion of cold packs, but the weather is getting increasingly difficult to manage.”

Lou Haverty, Owner of Tank Retailer also shared an unusual horror story as well. In his telling, “the order was for a high cost item and my customer actually passed away after the product was delivered to his house. A few weeks later I received a call from his widow to see if it would be possible to return the product after the return window had expired. Given the circumstances, I made an exception and we were able to return the product.”

The point of sharing these stories is twofold. First, any eCommerce operation that ships orders, domestic or international, needs to be able to prevent as many issues as possible in order to save money. But also, it should be noted that sometimes unpredictable events — like accepting a return from a customer’s window — happen as well so processes need to be flexible enough to accommodate these issues as they arise.

What metrics do you use to monitor order fulfillment?

If you want to keep order fulfillment costs in check, you need to know what kind of data to pay attention to. Ed Rakovsky, CEO of Superior Seating, chooses to monitor “production lead time, order accuracy, customer satisfaction, and on-time delivery rates.” This is a good all-purpose collection of metrics that any firm can use.

Dan Jones from Terrarium Tribe has a more in-depth process that might be suitable for different types of businesses. He says that “with shipping live bugs, there are a few key metrics that really influence the chances of them arriving safely and healthily. Shipping speed is number one, so we track the advertised shipping rate chosen (e.g., Priority 2-day) and the actual date the package was delivered. That way, we can keep track of the reliability and performance of the different carriers.”

He goes on to state that “we keep track of any dead-on-arrivals (DOAs) so we can track the performance of our own processes and see whether they were clearly down to carrier error or if there’s any way for us to improve.”

This more in-depth approach, though it sounds highly specific to Jones’ line of work, can be generalized to other kinds of products that are perishable such as food or even temperature-sensitive, such as cosmetics.

Mistake 1: Sending shipments to the wrong address.

One of the easiest ways to save money on shipping is to make sure you always send to the correct address. This is trickier to do than you might think since every country has different standards for postal addresses and people often make mistakes when providing their information.

Renante Altar, Project Manager of Creloaded, suggests using address validation software to cut down on incorrect shipments. “These programs help check that the addresses are right, and they keep track of every order,” says Altar. “This cuts down on mistakes and makes everything faster.”

Because of the nature of his business, which involves shipping large, heavy items, Haverty says that “I always contact the customer to confirm the shipment address and whether they need a liftgate. The biggest risk is if you ship an expensive product blindly to an address without confirming the customer can handle the delivery.”

Regardless of what you ship, you need some system in place to check addresses before you print postage or arrange shipping.

Mistake 2: Stocking out or overstocking.

Inventory issues will crush online stores, whether that means having too many items or not enough. You need some way to make sure that you have enough inventory available for shipping, but not so much that it’s sitting around and costing money to store.

Renante, from his experience managing an eCommerce blog, says that “companies use systems to watch their stock all the time. These systems tell them when to order more products or when to slow down because they have too much. This helps them avoid running out of items or having too many that no one buys.”

This applies not only to finished products, but raw materials as well. Rakovsky says that “since most of our products are custom-made, stockouts are rare. However, for certain materials, we use a just-in-time inventory system and demand forecasting to avoid overstocking while ensuring material availability.”

Here are some specific tips you can follow to resolve common inventory issues:

• Use an inventory management system with real-time tracking to monitor stock levels.
• Establish good demand planning processes. Analyze past sales data for trends and stay tuned to market shifts and consumer behaviors.
• Keep an open line of communication with suppliers to understand lead times and potential supply chain disruptions before they become an issue.
• Conduct regular inventory audits to identify discrepancies and issues like theft or damage.
• Diversify your inventory to reduce risks associated with demand fluctuations for certain products. In other words, make sure your business isn’t dependent upon the sales of a single hot commodity.

Managing your inventory comes down to balancing stock levels with market demands. The process takes some trial and error, but once you get it right, it can really help you grow your business, manage your expenses, and keep stock levels where they need to be.

Mistake 3: Inefficient picking and packing.

Picking and packing is the process of retrieving items from storage and prepping them for shipping. It’s not a hard thing to do well if you have processes to support you (or a fulfillment partner to do the work on your behalf), but you do have to be organized and careful because it’s easy to make mistakes.

Delays or errors in these processes can lead to customer dissatisfaction and increased returns. That means that streamlining these operations is essential for quick, accurate order fulfillment.

• Optimize your warehouse layout: Arrange products strategically for easy access and group similar items together.
• Implement barcode scanning technology to speed up the process and ensure accuracy in picking and packing.
• Adopt batch picking methods for fulfilling multiple orders simultaneously, particularly for similar orders.
• Regularly train and update your warehouse staff on best practices and new technologies.
• Alternatively, choose an order fulfillment partner to take care of these processes for you if you don’t want to do them in-house.

Again picking and packing isn’t hard, but it does require an eye for detail. If you’re already tired or spread thin, it’s easy to mess up, so it’s important to have systems and processes to make it as easy as possible. By implementing these strategies, you can significantly reduce errors and delays, enhancing overall operational efficiency.

Mistake 4: Underestimating shipping times, delays, and costs.

Shipping challenges like delays and high costs can significantly impact customer satisfaction and profitability. This is especially true once your orders leave your warehouse and are taken care of by carriers such as the US Postal Service, UPS, FedEx, or DHL.

Though you cede direct control over your orders when carriers take custody of them, your customers will still hold you responsible. Any delays or carrier issues will require your management. Being proactive is best here, so consider how these efficient shipping strategies can help you maintain your competitive edge.

• Diversify your shipping carriers to avoid dependency on a single carrier’s delays and rate hikes.
• Negotiate better rates with carriers using your regular shipping volume as leverage.
• Use regional carriers for shorter routes to reduce costs.
• Incorporate real-time tracking systems to keep both you and your customers informed about shipments.
• Explore using fulfillment centers closer to major customer bases to reduce shipping distances, costs, and delivery times.

Again, the key here is picking the right partners and making sure they work with you on favorable terms. If you try not to depend too much on any individual carrier, that will go a long way toward mitigating shipping issues.

Mistake 5: Mishandling returns.

For shippers of all kinds, returns are also a frequent source of unnecessary expenses. The trick is that you need to be able to balance customer experience and ease of making a return with cost.

“When it comes to returns, having a simple and clear return policy is really important,” says Renante. “Businesses [should] make it easy for customers to send items back if they need to. This keeps the customers happy and helps the business keep [accurate stock levels].”

To give a more concrete example, Haverty states that, “we offer a 30 day return window for all customer sales. If the customer decides to return the product during that window the customer also has to pay return shipping unless there is a defect with the product.”

Even businesses that create bespoke products need to consider returns as well. To quote Rakovsky, “given that many of our products are custom-built, we handle returns on a case-by-case basis. We aim to resolve any issues quickly, ensuring customer satisfaction while adhering to our return policies for custom items.”

This is supported by a larger body of evidence too. “Over 60% of individuals will examine the return policy before purchasing” according to Ecommerce Fastlane. This means providing a good returns experience will help tremendously with assuring customer loyalty. Unfortunately, it’s very easy to think about returns only as an afterthought.

Here are some tips on how to avoid making that mistake:

• Ensure your returns policy is clear, concise, and easily accessible to set proper customer expectations.
• Include specific details in your policy about the time frame for returns, accepted item conditions, and the refund process.
• Consider offering free returns, balancing customer loyalty benefits with financial implications.
• Implement a straightforward online system for initiating returns to simplify the process.
• Process returns and refunds promptly to avoid customer frustration.
• Analyze returned items for recurring issues to improve product quality and description accuracy.
• Try to minimize returns by providing clear product descriptions, detailed images from multiple angles, and – where applicable – accurate sizing charts.

Focus on establishing a clear and efficient returns process. This will allow your business to maintain a great customer experience even when the product doesn’t work out, which can help you build that much-desired loyal customer base.

Mistake 6: Underestimating the importance of customer communication.

Poor communication, like delayed responses or inadequate order updates, will make customers angry and sully your brand. Conversely, proactive and transparent communication will keep customers informed and satisfied. Below is a list of tips on how to do that.

• Send order confirmations immediately and provide regular shipping updates, including information about any delays or issues.
• Use automated systems for sending order confirmations, shipping updates, and delivery notifications.
• Ensure easy access to human customer service representatives for personal queries or concerns. Chatbots and voice response phone systems can help reduce inquiry volume on your reps, but it still needs to be easy to talk to a person.
• Encourage customer feedback post-delivery to show that their opinions are valued and to gather insights for service improvement.
• Respond promptly and effectively to customer queries or complaints to demonstrate your commitment to customer service.

Every time someone receives an email, talks to your service reps, or checks your online system, you have a chance to build trust and loyalty. Use every chance you get.

Mistake 7: Not using common-sense technology and automation.

In eCommerce, technology and automation are essential for staying competitive and minimizing errors in fulfillment processes. Manual handling in areas like inventory management and shipping is error-prone. While nothing can replace the human touch, automation can significantly reduce mistakes and streamline operations, making it a necessity for efficient and accurate order processing.

• Implement an automated inventory management system for real-time stock level tracking and to prevent overselling. There’s no reason to track inventory in spreadsheets.
• Use automated picking and packing solutions, like barcode scanners and RFID systems, to speed up fulfillment and minimize errors.
• Integrate your eCommerce platform with fulfillment systems to ensure a seamless flow of information and reduce processing time and input errors.

Smartly deployed technology will reduce the likelihood of errors and improve overall operational performance. That will help you keep your costs down and service quality high.

Final Thoughts

Order fulfillment is a huge part of eCommerce, not to mention unavoidable. Do it poorly, and your store won’t last long. Do it well, however, and you can retain customers, increase your profitability, and build a brand that lasts.

The seven common mistakes we’ve discussed—ranging from inadequate inventory management to neglecting the power of data and analytics—show areas where a little attention and strategy can have a dramatic impact.

Ultimately, if you care about your customers and remain proactive and adaptable, you can easily avoid these mistakes. In doing so, you can build an efficient, thriving eCommerce store for years to come.

Every successful business needs to make a profit. But no matter how much revenue you bring in, if your operations are inefficient, your company will either underperform or take a loss.

This is a hard fact of life and business. There’s no getting around it.

Lean supply chain management is a way to embrace limits and make business operations as efficient as possible. It’s an attractive promise, and it’s not hard to see why lean supply chain management is a common buzzword in the business world.

Lean principles have been taught for years in everything from books for start-ups to Fortune-100 companies. It’s no surprise to find lean principles at work in the supply chain too.

In this article, we’re going to talk about lean principles first, then talk about lean supply chain management. We’ll go over the advantages and disadvantages of going lean. Then we’ll talk about how you can make your supply chain leaner.

What Does “Lean” Mean?

First, let’s start with the definition of lean principles. There are five of them, and once you understand them, you can start to see how they can be applied to the supply chain.

1. Define Value. Figure out what is important to your customer, including needs that have previously been unmet or even unmentioned.
2. Map the Value Stream. Determine how each activity your business performs contributes – or doesn’t contribute – to delivering value to the customer.
3. Create Flow. Determine which activities are needed to deliver value and do them as efficiently as possible.
4. Establish Pull. Basically, eliminate wasteful inventory practices.
5. Pursue Perfection. Always improve.

It’s a simple, elegant system with a lot of applications. Figure out what’s useful. Figure out the best way to be useful. Fix what doesn’t work. Rinse and repeat.

Now let’s talk about how you can apply that to supply chain management.

What Does Lean Supply Chain Mean?

As you can see from the principles above, the Lean Way is all about streamlining processes, eliminating waste, and reducing non-value added activities. It’s a business philosophy that is extremely relevant in complicated industries.

Supply chain management is nothing if not complicated! You can find waste and inefficiency at nearly any step of the supply chain if you try hard enough.

In procurement, it’s common for different departments to do the same thing. Manufacturing is a hotbed for material waste if done wrong. Warehousing costs can quickly spiral out of control without good inventory practices. And transportation? As anyone who’s ever moved across town with a U-Haul knows, it’s not easy to pack efficiently!

On the flip side, a lean supply chain is a laser-targeted mechanism for delivering value to the customer. Very little is wasted, whether time or material. Expenses go down and often revenues go up.

10 Advantages of Lean Supply Chain Management

Adopting lean supply chain principles can have a lot of benefits. These benefits range from saving money to simplifying processes. We can think of ten that are especially relevant for businesses that carry inventory, listed below:

1. 1. Eliminating waste saves money. Profit is nothing more than revenue minus expenses. Lean processes cut expenses and can often lead to efficiency gains that increase revenue as well.
   2. Lean supply chain management is a proven way to cut down on waste. Waste costs money, looks bad, and puts a subconscious psychological strain on workers. This results in poorer customer service.
   3. Less waste means better customer service. Fewer wasteful practices allow your company to create better products and provide better services, making customers happier.
   4. Lean management clarifies vague processes. Vague processes force workers to make too many decisions, which results in poorer decision making. Lean supply chain management is a great way to remove complexity.
   5. Lean supply chains require less inventory. One of the five main points of lean supply chain management is to reduce excessive inventory. This is fantastic for businesses since inventory is expensive!
   6. Carrying less inventory makes it easier to reinvest in different projects. It’s a lot easier to roll with changes in demand with lower inventory levels. This can save a ton of money, leaving valuable company resources available for more promising projects.
   7. Lean processes are faster. With simpler processes, it’s easier to eliminate time-consuming parts of the supply chain. That can reduce excessive lead times in the supply chain, giving your company a much better chance at responding to changes in the market.
   8. Simpler processes result in less damage. More carefully crafted processes typically result in fewer damaged items.
   9. Unnecessary labor costs are reduced since unnecessary processes are eliminated.
   10. Decision-making is easier. The simplicity provided by lean supply chain principles makes it a lot easier to generally understand what’s going on in your business. That means you can set more relevant goals.

When you look at this list, it seems like moving toward lean supply chain principles is a no-brainer. But it’s not quite that simple, since there are disadvantages to the approach as well. We’ll cover those in the next section.

6 Disadvantages of Lean Supply Chain Management

During the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chains slowed to a crawl. As consumers, we dealt with the consequences of this first through shortages and then through inflation. The initial weeks of slowdown were enough to cause issues for the rest of 2020, as well as 2021 and 2022.

One of the factors that exacerbated these issues was an overreliance on lean supply chains. A lot of businesses did not have enough safety stock. Others did not have contingency plans for unexpected issues.

Bearing that in mind, it’s worth considering the disadvantages of unchecked lean supply chain management so you can take advantage of its good qualities while mitigating the bad ones.

1. Leaner supply chains are vulnerable to disruptions. Companies that hold minimal inventory are more vulnerable to natural disasters, political instability, pandemics, and other random unlucky events. The best insurance policy against this is simple — keep extra stock on hand.
2. Leaner supply chains are less flexible in some situations. If customer demand becomes highly unpredictable, lean systems may fail to respond efficiently, resulting in stockouts, longer lead times, or the need for costly emergency measures to meet customer needs.
3. Lean supply chains tend to over-rely on suppliers. Any delays or quality issues from suppliers can significantly disrupt the entire chain, as there’s little buffer stock to cover shortages.
4. Inventory management needs to be more precise. To maintain a lean supply chain, companies often need to invest in sophisticated management systems and forecasting tools. This complexity can increase costs and require specialized skills to ensure smooth operations.
5. Going lean isn’t easy to do. Rolling out a lean supply chain can be expensive and time-consuming, requiring careful coordination, process reengineering, and possibly technology investments. The long-term benefits may not always justify the initial cost, especially for smaller businesses.
6. Lean supply chains are only as good as their forecast. Inaccurate predictions can lead to inventory shortages or overstocking, negating the benefits of a lean approach.

Lean principles are not a cure-all. Some “inefficiency” in the form of safety stock, back-up suppliers, and redundant processes can be beneficial. Should you decide to move more toward a lean supply chain, keep these issues in mind so they don’t sneak up on you.

How Can You Implement Lean Supply Chain Management?

When you pursue lean principles, you are likely to encounter a number of issues. Employees may not provide complete visibility into the nature of their jobs. There will probably be a political element if your company is large enough to have different departments with conflicting objectives. A large part of implementing lean principles is change management.

With that in mind, we recommend starting small and making incremental changes. If you’re able to effectively make a large number of changes to your organization all at once, all the better.

1. Look for waste to eliminate.

The truth here is simple. Waste is bad and any amount that you can eliminate is great! Here are seven wastes commonly found in the supply chain, as said by Cerasis.

1. System complexity – additional, unnecessary steps and confusing processes
2. Lead time – excessive wait times
3. Transport – unnecessary movement of product
4. Space – holding places for unnecessary inventory
5. Inventory – inactive raw, work-in-process, or finished goods
6. Human effort – activity that does not add value
7. Packaging – containers that transport air or allow damage

As a general rule, if you can eliminate waste in any of these areas without causing excessively negative outcomes somewhere else, then do it.

2. Increase process visibility to the point where you intuitively understand what is being done.

Identifying and eliminating waste on your own is a great place to start. Yet even better is getting others to help you.

People don’t like waste or inefficiency in their work. The possible exception being when someone’s job depends on inefficiency as a form of job security. Otherwise, when people see waste and feel empowered to make a change, they’ll make it.

Increasing visibility into opaque processes is a great way to uncover inefficiency so people can collectively come up with ways to improve. This can be done by cross-training, gathering data, or simply holding meetings where everybody shares what they are working on.

Little changes in visibility of work can make a big difference!

3. Use technology to make processes simpler.

Technology is a great way to reduce inefficiency in processes. Properly implemented, systems can force users to be organized and collect data which increases visibility. These factors and more contribute to more lean processes.

We’ll borrow from Cerasis again here and list out some technologies that can help you make your business’s supply chain leaner.

• RFID – an excellent way to track inventory in places such as retail stores
• Supply chain management (SCM) systems with electronic data interface (EDI)
• Customer order management systems
• Customer relationship management (CRM) systems such as Salesforce
• GPS tracking
• Transportation management systems (TMS)

Technology is abundant and its uses incredibly diverse. Before implementing any complex technology, though, be sure to do careful analysis. You need to understand existing business processes and how they relate to the delivery of customer value. Technology done well makes life much easier. Done poorly, technology is just another hurdle to doing great work.

4. Focus on the total cost of fulfillment.

Always keep the end goal in mind. Lean management is all about finding easier ways to give customers something they care about. In lean supply chain management, this is the only thing that matters.

With this in mind, look out for political infighting that causes people or departments to act in ways that are contrary to the customer’s best interest. A lot of times, people are simply doing what is in their best interest. Sometimes the business needs to change so that everyone’s best interests are aligned!

5. Outsource activities when it makes sense.

Often, it doesn’t make sense for a business to perform every function of the supply chain. That is why businesses rely on manufacturers, freight forwarders, and indeed, fulfillment companies like our own.

To put it more simply, if you’re doing something in-house that isn’t a part of your business’s core activities, stop.

For example, acting as your own customs broker often doesn’t make sense. Neither does fulfilling packages on your own either. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Final Thoughts

Lean supply chain management is a powerful philosophy. That’s why it has managed to gain such a foothold in the business world. And it’s no secret why, since so much of it works on a common sense level.

Lean principles are sound and can be applied beautifully to supply chain management, where waste tends to be common. With simple principles and a keen eye for process improvements, your business can earn a competitive edge. And who doesn’t want that?

Ultimately, it comes down to some very basic principles: figure out what’s valuable, find the best way to do it, eliminate waste, and continually improve.

Lean principles are no cure-all. A little bit of “inefficiency” can be good, especially in the form of safety stock and contingency plans.

But as a general direction, lean supply chain management is, simply put, a smart, intuitive way to do business. If you take its ideas to heart, you’ll probably save a lot of money and run your business more efficiently along the way.

For over a decade, board games have been dominating Kickstarter. But making them isn’t easy, especially when you need to find someone to handle complex plastic manufacturing for you!

So how do you find a company that can manufacture all those beautiful plastic minis? What’s the difference between PVC and HIPS sprue and resin?

To be honest with you, I don’t know the answers to those questions.

But Billy Long at Unicool Game Manufacturing does! That’s why I’ve asked him a bunch of questions about the board game plastic manufacturing business.

What follows is a transcript of our conversation. It has been edited for clarity and brevity.

10 Questions About Board Game Plastic Manufacturing, Answered by an Expert

1. What does Unicool Game Manufacturing specialize in?

Unicool Game Manufacturing is a premium board game manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China. We have printing and miniature manufacturing equipment in-house. We also have strong technical and sourcing abilities for quality game accessories such as dice, neoprene playmats, coins, customized wooden and metal pieces, and custom plastics.

2. What games has Unicool made?

We began as a plastic manufacturer of action figures, toys, and miniatures earlier. From there, we did some behind-the-scenes work for larger board game companies.

We have made lots of super nice miniatures for a host of big projects (such as Joan of Arc, Blood Rage, etc.). You won’t often find our name on boxes since we’re a parts manufacturer, but these days, more and more clients are happy to promote us and even proudly print our logo on the box (such as Eldfall Chronicles). We’re very grateful for that!

3. Creating plastic components is notoriously expensive in small batches. Why is it that?

I think one of the biggest impediments that many game designers/developers run into is the high upfront tooling costs. This makes the overall cost per unit steep in small runs once high molding costs are factored in.

But we’ve changed the game and started producing small batches in a way that is no longer cost-prohibitive and intimidating-proudly. We call it Unicool Plastic! It doesn’t require tooling and the plastic material we’re using isn’t as brittle as normal resins, while still maintaining the delicate detail seen in resins.

4. How does plastic manufacturing work?

There are 11 steps in the process.

1. The client provides us with their 3-D design in a common format such as STL or ZTL.
2. We check the files and see if they need to be resculpted prior to mass production. Sometimes we can even recommend changes to help clients save money later in the process.
3. If resculpting is needed, we provide advice on how to do it.
4. We print a high-resolution model with a 3-D printer.
5. We then make a tooling master with high-detail resin.
6. From there, we will make polyurethane resin miniatures for preproduction copies.
7. The client is given a chance to review the preproduction copies and see if they like them.
8. We create the mold for mass production of plastics.
9. We then inject plastic into the mold.
10. When parts are completed, we do any necessary gluing and assembly.
11. Then we pack boxes and the game is complete!

5. What’s the difference between PVC, HIPS Sprue, and Resin when it comes to manufacturing minis?

Yes, this one can be tricky and bemusing.

In a nutshell, PVC and HIPS minis will need a metal mold, which is substantially more expensive than the silicone mold for resin.

PVC and HIPS minis often come preassembled while resin models usually come unassembled. Resin can capture a higher level of detail but may break easily.

Then, of course, there’s Unicool Plastic, where we balance quality, flexibility, and fragility so we can have the best qualities of PVC, HIPS, and resin minis.

6. What’s the most cost-effective way to manufacture a game that has dozens and dozens of plastic miniatures?

The easiest way is to find a professional plastics manufacturer and ask for their help early in the process. They can help you perfect your 3-D models and find cost-efficient materials.

Unicool is a good option here, but any expert advice early in the process will help a lot.

7. What should first-time publishers know about plastic manufacturing for games that isn’t common knowledge?

What looks amazing in a computer-generated 3-D model can be really problematic in the physical model.

A lot of our job involves helping publishers fix 3-D models that won’t work in physical manufacturing. If you’re going to be manufacturing custom plastics, plan to spend at least some time revising your initial ideas. Build that into your project timeline.

8. What are the most unusual components that Unicool has ever manufactured for a client?

We keep mentioning it, but Unicool Plastic is definitely our most unusual component. It’s tough to create your own raw materials, but we’ve done so in order to give publishers more options for high-quality, cost-efficient miniatures.

Unicool Plastic raises the bar for the quality of materials and the level of detail, delivering top-quality models that fit every painter – even the most demanding for breathtaking details! We push the limits of possibility and make sure all your intricate features are wonderfully defined and elevated to create an incredible painting experience for you and your customers.

9. Does Unicool manufacture for crowdfunding campaigns?

Yes, we surely do.

We’ve finished a whole host of crowdfunding projects and we’re happy to provide added value and serve as a guiding hand to help you go from zero to hero along the ride.

10. Where can people find Unicool Game Manufacturing online?

You can find out more about us on our website as well as our YouTube Channel.

Need help turning your board game dream into a reality? Contact Unicool for a quote today.

International shipping is a monster. On the surface, it seems like getting products from point A to point B. But doing that involves dealing with complex logistics, handling unpredictable events, and managing your customers’ expectations.

It’s very easy to send items to the wrong address and run out of inventory. Returns are also a common source of trouble. And even if you manage to set up everything correctly, you still need to know what metrics to monitor to make sure processes continue to work properly.

In this article, we’re going to talk about why international shipping is tricky. Then we’ll give you some specific tips you can use today to cut down on international shipping costs for your eCommerce store.

Why is international shipping tricky?

When it comes to shipping, certain parts of the process tend to lead to problems, no matter where you’re sending items. If items are not properly packed, they are more likely to break in the mail. And the odds of this happening only increase with the long distances involved in international shipping.

Sending shipments to the wrong places is also always a risk. This is true of domestic shipping, but every country has different address formatting standards, so this is a far larger problem when shipping internationally as well.

Then there is customs clearance. Every country has customs, and every item imported into a country needs to follow local laws. Otherwise, it might get seized by customs before it reaches its destination. Sometimes, all it takes is a slight mistake on customs paperwork to increase the odds of this happening.

Cynthia Asije, CEO & Cofounder of Craftmerce says that “we once had a shipment delayed for weeks due to customs issues. It taught us the importance of clear documentation and working with trusted logistics partners.”

Customs concerns loom so large in international shipping that it repeatedly came up as a worry of eCommerce professionals when we reached out to experts as part of writing this article.

“Once, when shipping to the United Kingdom, our customer provided her new shipping address after the item had already been shipped to the address she originally provided,” says Shanna Bynes Bradford, CEO/Formulator at Grow Out Oils Clinical Aromatherapy Company. “It was quite a complicated process to track down the packages overseas.”

She was able to resolve the issue ultimately, but only after a lot of troubleshooting. “Thankfully, we had taken pictures of the box and filed a shipping claim while communicating with the shipping center in the United Kingdom. After 10 business days of mayhem, the package was finally delivered to the customer. Our team was incredibly relieved, and this experience prompted us to revise our shipping and handling process and requirements moving forward.”

14 Ways Reduce International Shipping Costs For Ecommerce

Now that you understand the fundamental reasons that shipping, in general, can get expensive, we’ll now cover 14 specific tips that you can follow today to save money on international shipping.

1. Optimize shipping rates with carriers by negotiating or shopping around.

Even though common postal consolidators like EasyShip and ShipStation have to charge more now, it’s still in your best interest to work with one. If your business isn’t large enough to negotiate directly with giants like the USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL, don’t worry – fulfillment companies like Fulfillrite will do that on your behalf. Negotiated rates are often far cheaper than retail postage rates, and the savings add up quickly, especially for international shipping.

Asije said something to this effect when we reached out to her as well. Her exact quote on the subject was “when shipping internationally, the best tips for keeping costs low include comparing pricing for international shipping with various carrier services such as USPS, FedEx, UPS, and DHL. This will help you determine the best options for shipping.”

Don’t just accept the first rate you see. Bargain if you can, shop around if you can’t.

2. Use your shipping account number.

We’ll borrow a tip from Enterpreneur.com about a man named Fred DuBois, a laptop battery shipper with a lot of business:

While he originally had suppliers shipping products to him and invoicing for the transport costs, he managed to persuade his domestic suppliers to ship products on his company’s FedEx account number. This not only increases his business’s shipping volume, which can lead to cheaper rates, but it also helps prevent suppliers from padding their shipping costs.

3. Optimize your item dimensions and weight for cheaper packaging.

When you are manufacturing your item, it helps to begin with the end in mind. If you know that you will be shipping your product in the mail, look at the difference in cost for different box/bag sizes and weights. If you can find a way to make your item fit into a smaller box or to weigh less, you can save a ton of money on postage in the long run.

“Keep in mind that packaging can increase the weight of an item,” Bradford advises. “So it’s essential to customize packaging accordingly to ensure it is securely wrapped and ready to go. Use lightweight materials when possible, and consider flat-rate shipping options if they are available, as these can sometimes offer significant savings.”

She also advocates for using a shipping calculator tool to estimate costs based on dimensions and weights of certain types of packaging.

4. Use flat-rate packaging.

We’ve talked a lot about flat-rate shipping before, and for good reason! Postal carriers such as the USPS charge at least partly on how much space your package takes up in their truck. Flat rate packages give them the opportunity to more neatly pack their trucks, which saves them money and allows them to pass on the savings to you.

Flat-rate postage is often cheap in the first place. On top of that, you also have the added benefit of being able to use flat-rate packaging instead of buying your own boxes or bags.

5. Buy supplies in bulk.

Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to use flat-rate packaging. If that’s the case, be sure to buy packing and shipping supplies in bulk. ULINE is a great place to start.

6. Use regional carriers.

If you do most of your business within a regional area, consider following this advice from Easyship:

Regional carriers offer the same services as major carriers like UPS and FedEx but at significantly reduced prices. The only difference is that – as their designation implies – their delivery network is limited as they only operate within a small geographic area. For example, you can partner with OnTrac in the West, LoneStar in Texas, and Spee-Dee in the Midwest. This can be a good option if your deliveries are within their region.

7. Stick to a handful of carriers.

The more you ship with a given postal carrier, the more likely they will be to give you a discount. They want to keep your business, after all. It’s not realistic for a small business to always ship by FedEx or UPS, but it often makes sense to prefer one over the other consistently. That way, you have stronger bargaining power when it’s time to negotiate rates.

8. Swap out boxes with polybags.

Postage rates are going up, but remember: a big part of shipping costs still comes from supplies. While flat-rate packaging and ordering supplies in bulk is often enough to keep costs low, you can still sometimes take it one step further. ShipBob recommends switching from boxes to polybag mailers if you ship items such as clothing.

Be careful with this, though. You have to be absolutely sure not to ship fragile items in a polybag!

9. Use prepaid shipping.

FedEx and UPS both offer prepaid shipping options with steep discounts. If you know you need to send out a lot of shipments all at once, it often makes sense to buy all of the postage up front.

10. Use third-party insurance.

Another major expense associated with shipping is replacing items that were lost or damaged in the mail. If your items are high-value, consider buying third-party postal insurance with companies like Parcel Insurance Plan. It’s usually cheaper than buying the insurance directly from your carrier.

11. Outsource fulfillment.

Fulfillment, in general, is expensive. Outsourcing it can often save you money. You save on labor, training, supplies, and storage at a minimum. You often also benefit from having peace of mind and retaining more customers. Once you’re shipping more than 100 orders per month, outsourcing fulfillment should definitely be on your radar.

“We partner with logistics providers that offer discounted rates for bulk shipments,” says Asije, “and we optimize packaging to reduce weight and size, keeping costs efficient.”

12. Research local customs regulations.

The customs clearance process can balloon costs for two different reasons. The first is that imports and exports often come with taxes, and you want to try to lower your tax burden if you can. The other is that if goods end up getting impounded frequently due to bad processes, that can become expensive as well since it means either sending another item or issuing a refund to the customer.

It’s for this reason that Asije advocates for “[researching] customs regulations thoroughly for each country, [choosing] reliable shipping partners, and always [including] tracking to ensure transparency for your customers.

13. Validate addresses before you ship.

“If this is your first time shipping internationally,” says Bradford, “always double-check with your customer to ensure all shipping details are correct and accurate. It is also helpful to include an email address and phone number on the package, as this can assist the carrier service in case there are any discrepancies with the package address or if you need to file a claim.”

To that end, it’s worth investing in address validation software it is not included with your eCommerce platform by default. This will let you double-check the validity of addresses before sending out packages. This won’t help you if someone moves and forgets to use their new address, but it will at least make sure that every address you ship to is a real one. That can save a lot of money in the long run, especially where international shipping is concerned.

14. Keep clear records and communicate with your customers.

There are few challenges in business so gnarly that improvements to record-keeping and communication can’t make a meaningful difference. International shipping is no exception.

Bradford states that it’s a good idea to “maintain clear communication with your customers about shipping times, especially since international shipments can take longer due to customs processing.” She also suggests “[keeping] thorough records of all shipments, including tracking numbers and customs documentation, for future reference and potential disputes.”

Final Thoughts

International shipping doesn’t have to break your budget. Mastering the basics is enough to help you reduce costly errors. That is, ship to the right addresses, understand how customs works, and keep packages as small as you can.

Once you get the basics right, then you can follow the tips in this article to further cut down on costs. It’s not easy to learn at first. But if you’re proactive, you can make international shipping work for you, not against you.

Getting started in eCommerce can be tricky. Even with all the wonderful eCommerce software like Shopify and WooCommerce, it still takes hours of setup even if you’re tech-savvy. What if you just want to start selling online without all the hassle?

Thankfully, PayPal has a very user-friendly option for entrepreneurs with a single product to sell. The idea is simple: you set up a PayPal Business Account and then you add PayPal Buy buttons to your website.

Seriously, that’s it! The configuration couldn’t be simpler and it’s a great stopgap to use before your business is large enough to justify setting up something more permanent, like a Shopify store.

So without any more preamble, let’s talk about how you can add PayPal Buy buttons to your website.

1. Create a PayPal Business account.

Before you can follow any of the steps in this guide, you will need to set up a PayPal Business Account. You can do that by going here and following all the prompts.

2. Log into your PayPal account and click Business Tools.

After you’ve set up your PayPal Business Account and logged in, you will see a home page like the one above. Click on Business Tools to proceed.

3. Scroll down and click PayPal Checkout.

4. Click Get Started.

5. Click Set up Pay Links and Buttons.

At this point, please note that you have a lot of options for integrating PayPal onto your store. When you click on Set up Pay Links and Buttons, you will have a chance to configure buttons for different products in different styles. At the end of the process, you will receive an HTML code which you will paste into your website.

If you are using a major platform like WooCommerce or Shopify, you may want to check Connect to an ecommerce platform and follow the steps provided by Shopify. If you’re custom-coding your site, Have a custom-built site is probably the better option.

If you don’t have a website and you simply need a very easy page for payments, click Accept payments without a site in the No website? No problem section.

The rest of this guide will talk about what happens when you click Set up Pay Links and Buttons.

6. Select Payment Button.

When you click Payment Button, you will have a chance to setup a payment button for different products or services in a style of your choosing. If you don’t have a website, you might prefer the Payment link & QR code option instead.

In the steps to follow, we will assume you click Payment Button.

7. Enter product details and customize buttons and thank you page.

 

There are three button types: single product or service, variable product or service, and customer defined. The type of button you choose to create will determine which other fields are available. PayPal gives a brief overview of what each button is for when you click on the dropdown.

Fields vary slightly based on type of item, but overall, you will need to enter a product or service name and price. You may choose to add a product ID. You can also set a maximum quantity for orders and configure shipping and tax rates as well.

Variable products or services allow you to create options for users. For example, if you are selling shirts, options might include different shirt sizes. You are also able to adjust price based on option.

Under the Customize your buttons section, you can choose between different button style options, including:

• Stacked vs. single
• Vertical vs. horizontal
• Rectangle vs. pill (rounded)
• Small, medium, and large
• Gold, blue, black, white, or silver

You can also choose what the buttons will say, with options including PayPal, Checkout, Buy Now, and Pay. Text options for checkout buttons are Checkout, Proceed, Pay, and Custom.

Lastly, if you would like to send customers to a custom thank you page, you can do so by choosing “Use a custom Auto Return URL.” Once you do that, you enter in the URL of your custom thank you page.

 

8. Click Build It.

Once you have configured all button options to your satisfaction, click on Build It to generate the code you will insert on your website.

9. Copy the code and paste on your website.

When you’re done customizing the button, click copy code. PayPal will generate an HTML code and copy it to your computer’s clipboard. You can then paste this code anywhere on your website to add the button to your page.

This part is a little tricky since how you add this code snippet depends on which website software you are using to manage your website. Here’s a screenshot of what it looks like on one of my client’s websites, where they use WordPress.

To clarify what exactly is going on above: I added the HTML code for the PayPal buttons right below a text box that says “$19.99” in large print. The first screenshot shows what it looks like in the WordPress editor. The second shows what it looks like on the actual shopping page.

Pretty neat, right?

Final Thoughts

There you go! Adding a PayPal button to your website is one of the fastest ways to start selling items online.

Remember: if you need help storing and shipping items once they start selling, Fulfillrite can help. We provide order fulfillment for businesses like yours. You can request a quote to learn more.

Plan on taking your board game idea to Kickstarter? There are a lot of games out there, and you need a way to prove yours is worth playing! Getting reviews is one way to do this, but it’s not the only way. You can also make an online board game demo.

But how do you do that? How do you turn a tabletop game into something playable online?

Turns out there are a lot of ways, the two most popular of which are Tabletop Simulator, which is available cheaply on Steam. The other is Tabletopia, which is entirely free.

Of course, as easy as it is to get into Tabletop Simulator or Tabletopia, making a good-looking board game demo is still not easy. That’s where Kenny Goodman, Owner of Overboard Games comes in. He runs a business entirely dedicated to helping board game publishers create online versions of their games.

I sent a bunch of questions his way by email, and he sent some insightful responses back which we’re going to share with you!

What follows are his answers to Fulfillrite’s questions, lightly edited.

What is Overboard Games and what services do you provide?

Overboard Games is a digital board game marketing company. We provide various services to help publishers and designers promote their board games, specializing in the creation of Tabletop Simulator & Tabletopia mods for online board game demos. We also do renders and animation.

How does Tabletop Simulator work?

Tabletop Simulator is essentially a physics sandbox engine that you can use to create board games. You drag and drop your files into pre-set templates which you then modify within the game to suit your need. It mimics the experience of having physical game components on a physical table.

It’s clunky at first, but once you get into the rhythm of things, Tabletop Simulator really starts to sing. Anyone can make a simple mod on Tabletop Simulator, but it’s hard to make good-looking ones, which is what we specialize in.

How did you get into creating Tabletop Simulator mods?

I got into creating Tabletop Simulator mods a couple of years ago by casually turning free print-and-plays into digital games. Then I would email the publishers to share the mod I made. This quickly snowballed into something bigger, and publishers started contacting me, which I did not expect. But once I saw there was a market, I embraced it and turned Overboard Games into a business.

When did Tabletop Simulator really start to take off?

Tabletop Simulator is one of those peices of software which board game publishers have always known about, but never fully embraced. Physical games reign supreme in the board game world. But it took off when the pandemic started, as it forced everyone to turn to digital gaming platforms.

Why do board game creators, particularly Kickstarter/Gamefound creators use Tabletop Sim so much?

They use it because it’s a free way to advertise their game. It also gives players a chance to play their new game before they back on Kickstarter.

It’s also opened the door for new designers by simplifying playtesting. Tabletop Simulator allows you to do an infinite amount of iterations for free, which increases the quality of your game way faster than doing it in person.

How does Tabletop Sim help crowdfunding creators raise money?

Tabletop Simulator has two sides: the workshop and downloadable content (DLCs). We use the workshop, a place where anyone can upload a mod and then distrubute it for free, for anyone to play. The workshop allows you to indirectly monetize the game by drawing attention to the crowdfunding campaign.

What was the hardest mod you’ve made?

This is an easy question. The most difficult mod is the one we’re creating right now: an update for Europa Universalis: The Price of Power. The demo originally had five custom scenarios, and now we’re increasing that to twenty in the complete game. As a result, it is going to require a lot of scripting. (You can program Tabletop Simulator mods to automatically perform certain functions like board setup. But writing the scripts to do this is hard!)

What was the most fun mod you’ve made?

Honestly, all the mods are fun to make, but Merchant’s Cove is my favorite. It has multiple fun things, like a spinning compass, a marble machine, sliding ramps, and cute little “good tokens.” It’s even got a very attractive and functional interface, backed up by scripting, that automatically sets up the game for certain factions.

What’s next for Overboard Games?

We would love to do more animation and renders as that is a lot of fun. As an overall business, I want to fully embrace the Overboard brand and branch into other forms of media that I’m interested in.

What else should crowdfunding creators do in order to ensure success?

To ensure success in an industry so competitive is difficult, but the key to it is to make your game known and market it to create a solid following. Build a community from the start, have a dedicated playtesting team, and get as many people as you can invested in your game early.

Want help creating a digital version of your board game? Check out Overboard Games to request a quote.

You’ve been working on your board game for years. Or perhaps you’ve created a new, fantastic technological wonder and you just need a little bit of funding to make it a reality.

No matter what you’ve done, you put your heart into it. You’ve designed it, tested it, gone to all the conventions, built up a mailing list, and everything else. Kickstarter is your destiny!

But alas: taxes. Specifically, customs and VAT. How are you going to handle that for your Kickstarter?

This is a very common stumbling block, and for good reason.

Customs & VAT may seem very complicated, and we won’t lie to you – they are. But with a little bit of planning, you can handle your Kickstarter backers’ customs with ease. In this article, we will discuss four ways you can do so.

Please note: we are writing this article assuming that you’re doing business in the US. If you’re not, though, most of the advice in this article still applies.

How Customs & VAT Work

The whole idea behind customs is to allow different countries to control the flow of goods in and out of their borders. Customs agencies are responsible for making sure that every business shipping goods into the country is following the law and paying the right taxes.

Customs duties are taxes imposed on goods when they are transported across international borders. These taxes are based on tariff codes, which correspond to the type of item being exported or imported. VAT, or value-added tax, is a tax that countries apply based on a percentage of the item’s sale price.

To simplify: many times, when your Kickstarter backer in a foreign country imports your item, someone will have to pay for customs duties and/or VAT.

Customs and VAT don’t apply to everything. Many countries do not have VAT at all, so that often does not apply. Customs duties only apply if the imported good’s value exceeds the importing country’s “customs de minimis value.” (A similar principle applies to VAT). In the USA, an item imported from a country with a value of less than $800 USD is duty-free. But beyond that, you may owe customs.

Lastly, you might be saying “how do tax authorities know what an item is worth?” Simply put, you – the sender – tell them. The value you tell them is the declared value.

4 Ways Your Kickstarter Can Handle Customs & VAT

In this section, we’re going to talk about four ways you can handle customs and VAT for your Kickstarter campaign. You can generalize these lessons to business as a whole, though, even if you aren’t using crowdfunding.

To help us give you the best possible advice, we’ve reached out to Robert Ruutsalo, Chief Revenue Officer at EAS. In their own words, EAS is “your trusted partner for European tax compliance.” When it comes to customs and VAT matters, including IOSS and UK VAT, they’re the best people we know to answer.

With that context in mind, let’s talk about four ways you can handle these tiresome taxes.

1. Use the IOSS/UK VAT Scheme (EU & UK Only)

Up until 2021, there were basically three ways to handle customs and VAT for Kickstarter. You could make backers pay for fees, store inventory in other countries, or use delivery duty paid (DDP) shipping.

The Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) was rolled out to simplify and expedite customs clearance. In Ruutsalo’s words, “for shipments to the EU, the IOSS is a cost-effective way for  Kickstarter creators to manage VAT for goods valued at €150 [about $165 USD] or less. This allows creators to collect VAT at the point of sale, simplifying customs and ensuring that backers receive their rewards without additional customs fees upon delivery.” [Emphasis ours.]

Ruutsalo goes on to clarify that “it’s important to note that IOSS applies only to EU countries, but a similar VAT system is in place for shipments to the UK, where you can collect and remit VAT for low-value goods in the same manner. For US merchants with many backers in Europe, using IOSS for the EU and UK VAT registration can significantly streamline customs clearance and reduce the chance of delays.”

You may wonder where it makes the most sense to use IOSS for Kickstarter. In response to that question, Ruutsalo states that “IOSS is ideal for campaigns with smaller items and a significant number of EU backers. Compared to other methods, it offers a cheaper and faster way to handle customs for low value shipments, reducing the complexity of dealing with multiple tax authorities.” [Emphasis ours.]

It should be noted, however, that IOSS is complex to understand. If you want to take advantage of it, your best bet is to work with a professional such as EAS.

2. Make Backers Pay For Fees

You have another option when it comes to customs and VAT, and it’s deceptively simple. Do nothing.

The benefit of this method is clear: it’s very easy. Even Kickstarter itself does not require Kickstarter creators to specify how customs will be handled. They merely recommend it.

Kickstarter creators are not obligated to go out of their way to ensure that backers don’t pay customs. In fact, if your item is really low in value, it may fall under the customs de minimis of most countries, making it not worthwhile to try to create a “customs-friendly” campaign. What’s more, many international backers are accustomed to paying for customs and VAT for Kickstarter campaigns that they receive.

It’s not hard to imagine the problems you might encounter if you do take this path, though. In Ruutsalo’s words, “this option pushes the responsibility of paying customs duties and taxes to the backers, which can lead to a negative experience if they are surprised by additional fees upon delivery.”

Put another way, it might make people mad!

But Ruutsalo doesn’t dismiss this path entirely, saying that “this option may work for smaller campaigns or those that do not expect to have significant international backers.” But he cautions that “it can be risky in terms of customer satisfaction for larger campaigns.”

3. Store Inventory in Multiple Countries

“Customs-friendly” is a phrase you will see a lot of on Kickstarter if you look. You can often find variants of it such as “EU-friendly,” “UK-friendly,” “Canada-friendly,” and “Australia-friendly.” This is generally understood to mean one of the following:

1. Goods are shipped from within a country or region, avoiding import fees and taxes.
2. Goods are below the customs de minimis value.
3. The import fees are handled on behalf of the backer. (This is a definition we have added on our own, based on our understanding of backers’ underlying needs.)

So with this in mind, it makes sense that if your Kickstarter rewards exceed the customs and/or VAT de minimis values of the countries you plan to ship to, that you must split your inventory between warehouses in different regions in the world. Many board game Kickstarters, for example, have a warehouse in the US, one in the EU, one in Australia, one in Canada, and so on.

This approach has a number of benefits. Backers receive their rewards pretty quickly after shipping since the warehouse is in their country. What’s more, they never see Kickstarter-related customs or VAT fees.

But there are some downsides to be aware of too:

1. You have to coordinate multiple freight shipments to different warehouses in different countries, which can become complex. For smaller campaigns, this can be prohibitively expensive.
2. When each of those freight shipments docks, you have to pay customs. Granted, the customs fees will be levied on the wholesale value of the goods and not the retail value, but this can still add up depending on how many countries you ship to.
3. It’s complex. The more warehouses you’re working with, the more room there is for errors, customer service issues, delays, and unexpected bills.

“It’s a complex and expensive solution that may not make sense for smaller campaigns, especially when the high upfront costs outweigh the benefits,” says Ruutsalo.

4. Use Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) Shipping

There is one last way you can handle customs & VAT for your Kickstarter campaign. It’s tempting to think that if you are unable to split your inventory between different warehouses or if you don’t want to deal with IOSS, that you are out of luck when it comes to customs & VAT. You may think that you have to default to Method #2.

We’re here to tell you that there is a viable middle ground. You can house your inventory in the US, ship internationally, and avoid having your backers pay customs & VAT. The trick is that you must use “delivery duty paid” shipping.

“In DDP shipping,” says Ruutsalo, “the creator covers all customs duties and taxes upfront, ensuring that backers receive their packages without any surprise fees. This approach creates a seamless experience for backers but is more expensive than IOSS/UK VAT, for shipments to the EU or UK under €150. DDP involves paying duties and taxes on all  orders, which can significantly increase costs for creators, particularly for high-volume campaigns.”

“For US merchants shipping to Europe, IOSS/UK VAT is the more affordable solution for low-value goods, as it eliminates customs fees for backers while keeping costs lower than DDP. DDP is more suitable for high-value items or campaigns where maintaining a premium backer experience is essential, but it should be used cautiously as it can cut into profit margins.”

Our experience lines up well with Ruutsalo’s. We’ve found that DDP shipping is generally more expensive than using IOSS/UK VAT, though some prefer to go that route due to either high-value goods or a strong preference to not deal with IOSS, either directly or through a third party.

How Can I Make Kickstarter Customs Clearance Easier?

Seeing how much of a hassle it can be to handle customs clearance and VAT, you may wonder what you can do to cut down on the difficulty.

In response to that Ruutsalo says “the single most effective way to make customs clearance easier is to provide accurate and complete documentation upfront. This includes correctly filled-out commercial  invoices, precise product descriptions, appropriate HS codes, and clear shipping labels. These details ensure that customs officials can process shipments swiftly, reducing the risk of delays or additional fees.” [Emphasis ours.]

He goes on to state that for the EU and UK, using IOSS dramatically streamlines the process. That’s because IOSS allows you to use a single VAT identification number of all EU countries, which makes cross-border compliance easier. The same basic principle applies to UK VAT, even though it is outside of the EU.

How Do You Find a Good Customs Broker?

If you’re like a lot of creators, the idea of dealing with international trade at all is migraine-inducing. So you may want to hire a customs broker just to avoid the trouble altogether.

If you choose to do that, there are a few things you need to know. To quote Ruutsalo, “finding a reliable customs broker is crucial for smooth international shipping, but it’s  important to note that for EU and UK shipments using IOSS and UK VAT, a customs broker is not required for goods valued at €150 or less. These schemes simplify the process, allowing you to manage VAT and customs clearance without needing a third-party broker.” So first, make sure you need one!

If you determine that you need a broker, Ruutsalo suggests focusing on these three factors:

• Experience and Specialization: You want a broker who is experienced with both eCommerce and crowdfunding.

• Global Reach: Your broker needs to have a strong network in key shipping regions like the US, EU, UK, and beyond.

• Clear Communication: Their pricing needs to be sensible, have no hidden fees, and they should keep you informed of the status of your shipments and any regulatory changes that might impact deliverability.

Should you find yourself needing a customs broker, looking for someone who checks these boxes will help you feel confident that you’ve made the right call.

Final Thoughts

Handling customs and VAT might feel scary, especially if it’s your first Kickstarter campaign. But if you approach the right way, you can prevent a lot of issues and streamline the process.

There are a lot of ways you can handle customs and VAT. You can use IOSS, make backers pay fees, store inventory in multiple countries, or opt for DDP shipping.

Each method has its pros and cons. Choose the one that fits your campaign best. As long as you plan well, customs won’t be an obstacle to your Kickstarter’s success.

FAQ

What are customs?

Customs are fees charged by a government when goods are imported or exported. These charges are applied to ensure goods meet legal requirements and can include taxes or duties.

What is VAT (value-added tax)?

VAT is a tax added to a product at every step of production or sale. The final buyer usually pays it, while businesses collect it for the government.

What is the IOSS?

The IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop) is an EU system for managing VAT on low-value imports. It allows sellers to collect VAT at the point of sale, making it easier for goods under €150 to clear customs and avoid extra charges on delivery.

What are tariff codes or HS codes?

Tariff or HS codes are numbers used to classify products in international trade. They help apply correct taxes, track shipments, and ensure compliance with trade laws.

Nothing beats making your ideas tangible. Creating a product prototype is how you do that. This is the process that turns concepts into realities.

When you have a prototype, you can test, refine, and perfect your design before mass production. But it’s not always a straight path to get there. You need to plan, research, and adapt as you learn new information.

Many aspiring inventors rush through the prototyping phase. They might overlook important details or skip critical tests, only to end up paying for it later. A well-thought-out prototype, on the other hand, can save time, money, and headaches later.

In this guide, we’re going to talk about how you can prototype your product in five simple steps. Along the way, we’re going to share thoughts from industry experts who’ve been through the process.

How Product Manufacturing Works

Before you start working on a prototype, it helps to know what goes into product manufacturing. It starts, of course, with an idea. You come up with a clear concept and then you make a prototype.

Prototyping means creating detailed specifications, including those around materials, dimensions, and functionality. Depending on what you’re making, you might end up using computer-aided design (CAD) software.

Once the design is finalized, you’ll need to choose a manufacturer, assuming this isn’t something you can make in-house. Manufacturers vary in terms of capabilities, quality standards, and costs. So if you want great results, you’ll be doing a lot of research.

Your design might require special processes, like injection molding, CNC machining, or 3D printing. But that will all depend on what you’re making.

Once you find a few manufacturers you like, then you request quotes. Once you review those, you settle one you like best and then start production. This might involve doing a small test run to make sure everything goes OK. If the sample run turns out well, you can move on to full-scale production.

Bearing all that in mind, we’ll now share advice from experts on common mistakes to avoid during the prototyping and manufacturing processes.

5 Tips Before You Start Manufacturing

When you start having product manufactured for you, it can be stressful, even if you know what you’re doing. But with some forethought, you can avoid common issues.

1. Know your customers.

Jason Wingate, CEO of Emerald Ocean Ltd., illustrates this especially well in a story he shared with us. He says, “a few years ago we released the Rotary Thread tool, a thread filing tool that was revolutionary and nothing was like it on the market. It could file threads quicker and faster than anything. We sold (and still sell) to Lowe’s and Home Depot in the USA, and Canadian Tire in Canada.”

“But sales were not as good as we expected. Why? Because the customers of most retail chains don’t need a thread filing tool most of the time. If a nut or bolt comes loose, they just buy a new one for a few cents.”

Wingate’s team was ultimately able to pivot into a much more profitable niche with time. But he stresses the importance of knowing your customer before total commitment to a certain course of action. “If the customer doesn’t have a problem or need your product – you need to reflect on that and find out what they do need and how your product fits.”

2. Start small and iterate quickly.

You’re not going to get everything right the first time. Multiple sources stated this to us, perhaps best said by Jorge Argota, a marketing consultant with a background in product development.

Argota says it’s best to “start small with your prototypes to keep costs down and iterate quickly based on feedback. Engage potential users early in the process to make sure the product meets their needs. Keep detailed records of all changes and decisions during the prototyping phase, it will help you in future development.”

He also emphasizes that it’s important to be flexible with your design, and to adapt to challenges or new opportunities as they come.

On a related note, Ryan McDonald, COO of Resell Calendar, states that it’s important to not “forget packaging and branding during the prototyping process. Early consideration of these elements can significantly impact the perceived value of your product. At Resell Calendar, we’ve found that your product’s resale value is much improved by appealing, well-designed packaging.”

3. Don’t underestimate the costs.

One unfortunately common issue that product creators run into is underestimating costs. It’s easy to overlook certain expenses, especially when they’re not obvious. But hidden or not, costs associated with material testing, design revisions, and multiple iterations add up. So does gaining access to specialized tools or machinery, like plastic molds.

When asked about mistakes best avoided, Argota said that “I underestimated costs early on, didn’t vet some manufacturers well enough and sometimes rushed through the prototyping phase without enough testing.”

The learning curve is formidable and making mistakes is common. But nevertheless, Argota emphasizes that “miscommunication about product specs led to some costly mistakes.  Looking back better planning and clearer communication would have saved a lot of trouble.”

When in doubt, assume manufacturing – including prototyping – will cost more than you think.

4. Don’t hurry the process.

Another tempting mistake is to rush through the prototyping process. But ironically, this can end up wasting more time, in addition to leading to costly mistakes. When you’re in a hurry, it’s easy to skip steps like testing, refinement of the design, and gathering feedback.

“Anyone beginning their own product prototype should never hurry the process,” says McDonald. “Spend time evaluating your prototypes in real-world conditions. Don’t be afraid to iterate, as every version should improve upon the last. Keep your target market in mind throughout the process. In the end, the product must fulfill the needs and wants of your customers.”

5. Consider hiring a broker.

You don’t necessarily have to manufacture your own products. In fact, you have the option to hire a broker to assist.

When asked what he would do differently, Wingate stated that “if I could change anything – first I would get a good broker. Without one we were just going back and forth ourselves looking up and trying to evaluate manufacturers, but a good broker will have that knowledge and possibly existing relationships already.”

5 Steps To Create A Product Prototype

It’s premature to start prototyping before you understand the underlying logic of manufacturing and prototyping. Having covered that in the previous sections, we can now provide a list five steps that you can follow to get started with prototyping.

1. Create the best prototype you can alone.

Everyone we talked to, independently of one another, agreed that it was vitally important to have a clear vision of what you want to make. One great way to do that is to make the best prototype you can on your own. This isn’t a substitute for a sample run, but rather a way to clarify your thinking.

McDonald says, “we’ve found that having a clear vision is crucial when prototyping products. First, we create detailed sketches and 3D renderings of our product ideas. This visualizes the end result, allowing us to identify potential issues early on. After that, we create physical prototypes. For smaller items, we use 3D printing, and for larger ones, we work with local craftsmen.”

Argota has a similar process, saying that he and his team would create “a basic version of the product using basic materials to test the idea. Depending on the product complexity and requirements, I used 3D printing, CNC machining, or even handcrafting. This stage [involved] a lot of iterative testing and gathering feedback to refine both design and functionality.”

Even Wingate, who advocates for working with a broker says that “while I don’t usually prototype the products myself – the general way is that we try to see if we can ‘throw it together’ as a prototype in-house using CAD drawings and, if possible, a 3D printer (of course – this depends on what you’re trying to create).”

2. Find a similar product.

Once you have a sense of what your product will look like, try to find similar ones. Buy them, if need be. You want to analyze similar products and try to understand how they are made.

If you’re not sure how a product is being made, you can try looking for “making of” or “X being manufactured” videos on YouTube. You might also have some luck looking for how to blogs or even searching for patents.

Even if you are unable to tell how specific products are made, finding similar ones will allow you to describe what you want to a manufacturer. They may be able to reverse engineer a product that already exists.

Sometimes, you can even find the manufacturer of products you like. That gives you chance to reach out to a company whose work you’re already familiar with.

3. Shop for materials.

Once you have similar products around, you can start searching on websites like Alibaba to figure out what kind of materials can be used in manufacturing. This will differ greatly depending on the nature of the product you are manufacturing, but the basic principle is useful in most cases.

For example, if you know you need transparent plastic, you can figure out a more specific name using this method. The screenshot below shows you what happens when you look for “transparent plastic” on Alibaba. You have options ranging from food-grade R-PET plastic to cast acrylic to polycarbonate…the list goes on.

When asked about best practices on material selection, McDonald says that “we consider cost, durability, and user experience. To evaluate performance and quality, we often order samples from several suppliers. For electronics, we prioritize components that satisfy industry standards and have a track record of reliability. Regarding clothing and accessories, we pay close attention to materials that provide longevity as well as comfort.”

Argota has a similar method, saying that in his prior career, “material selection was driven by durability, cost, availability and how well the material suited the product’s purpose. I did some initial research by consulting with material experts and engineers and factored in sustainability if that was a priority. Prototyping with different materials helped me make a more informed decision.”

Wingate emphasized the importance of “research, research, research.” And indeed, his emphasis is well placed, since material requirements vary widely based on product, price, market, your target audience, and a variety of other factors.

4. Look for a manufacturer.

When the situation calls for it, it’s a great idea to make your own prototype. But your own in-house prototype is no replacement for a true sample of a manufacturer’s work. So it is very important to note that prototyping will also involve finding a manufacturing partner.

This can be an in-depth process. According to Argota, “finding the right manufacturer required researching companies that specialized in my type of product. I used online directories, attended industry trade shows and reached out to my contacts for referrals. I made sure to evaluate each manufacturer’s capabilities, quality standards, communication style and reliability before making a decision.”

McDonald says that his team has “had success with platforms like Alibaba and GlobalSources. These platforms let us connect with many different manufacturers and evaluate their capacity and cost performance. Whenever possible, we also go to trade events since they offer great chances to meet manufacturers personally and see their work firsthand.”

To add to the above, we believe it is best practice to contact multiple manufacturers so that you can compare quotes. Alternatively, you can consider Wingate’s advice to hire a broker.

5. Request quotes.

Once you have a clear idea of what you need to manufacture and what materials you need to use to make it, then you can request quotes. You want multiple quotes from multiple manufacturers so you can compare them and make a smart decision.

“To get quotes I reached out to several manufacturers with detailed specifications of the product, including drawings or CAD files, material requirements and expected quantities,” says Argota. “Comparing these quotes helped me understand the market rates and negotiate better terms. Having all the info ready upfront made the process smoother.”

This isn’t a process you can shortcut. As McDonald states, “though it can take time, the quote request procedure is necessary to get the best value. Usually, we reach out to various manufacturers with detailed product specifications. We request quotations breaking out labor, material, and any additional fees.”

This thorough approach has a lot of benefits. “This lets us compare offerings more easily. We also consider production capacity, quality control measures, and communication responsiveness as the lowest bid as not necessarily the best choice.”

If this process intimidates you, take heart. According to Wingate, “quoting isn’t too hard.” He further states that “you’ll get feedback and pricing from a variety of suppliers, and if you did your research (or had your broker do it for you), you can select from there.”

Final Thoughts

Making a great product prototype requires patience, planning, and willingness to adapt. The goal here isn’t just to bring an idea to life, but to refine an idea until it’s the perfect fit for your customers. If you follow the steps in this article, you’ll be well on your way to doing exactly that.

Don’t rush the process and don’t underestimate its complexities. Doing that can lead to delays and extra expenses. Take your time and do things right. Test, gather feedback, and improve at every stage. If you go through this process and you’re careful and attentive to detail, you won’t just make your idea tangible – you’ll make a really good product that people desperately want to buy.

Creating a board game can be really difficult! First, you have to create a design and play-test it until it’s a great game. You have to build a business around it in order to raise funds, market, and eventually sell it. Of course, then there’s the small matter of actually turning it into a real, physical product. That’s where companies like Panda Game Manufacturing come in.

I recently had the pleasure of working with Jennifer Lee, CMO of Panda Game Manufacturing. I sent a bunch of questions her way by email, and she sent some insightful responses back which we’re going to share with you!

What follows are her answers to Fulfillrite’s questions, unedited.

1. What does Panda Game Manufacturing specialize in?

We specialize in making tabletop board games of the highest quality, and our mission is to produce (and play!) the best games in the industry. We believe we are at our best when there is a mix of different pieces in the box, as we have significant experience with a vast array of different materials and components. In addition, as Panda Project Managers, we are dedicated gamers and scrutinize each game we work on with a discerning eye to help our customers maximize the impact of their design.

2. Panda Game Manufacturing has been in business for 15 years now! Any special plans?

We do have some fun things going on to celebrate 15 years. We just launched an updated website design that should be easier for users to navigate and better showcase our capabilities. A critical part of the new design is our all-new pricing estimator tool. Now prospective designers and publishers can price out their game and adjust components on the fly to see how it affects the overall project. Lastly, we are celebrating by sharing some 15th-anniversary discounts and promos with our clients. You can learn more about them here.

3. What’s the toughest-to-manufacture game that Panda has ever done?

That is a tough one to answer. All projects bring their own unique issues, but we love a new challenge! Our team loves taking on a new or innovative design and figuring out how to make it work and look great. We actually have a project we are working on right now that has a game board, unlike anything we have made before – it is really wild. We can’t share too much more about it right now, but you will know it when you see it!

4. What materials are most commonly used in manufacturing board games?

Paper, cardstock, and greyboard make up the majority of components in a game since nearly every game has a box (greyboard) and rules (paper). Additionally, many have cards (cardstock). Panda has our own printing facility so we manufacture all of these items in-house under the guidance of our own specially trained staff. We think it’s especially important to have control of this process since most games contain printed components and quality control is so critical.

5. I’ve noticed that many of your games, such as Shiver Me Timbers and Mechs vs. Minions, tend to use unique game pieces. How do you make them?

It is a collaborative effort. Our clients come to us with a vision for what they want to do, then our team samples different iterations of these unique components until we get them to a place where the client and we are happy with everything. It is really amazing to see the prototypes of games and then compare them to the end product! It takes a lot of creative, hard-working people to make that happen and we love being in the middle of that process.

6. Panda Game Manufacturing is known for sending out really cool sample kits. What’s your current one like and how did you create it?

Many years ago, Panda pioneered making toolkits so people could see and feel our high-quality components. We’re thrilled that the industry responded so positively! Of course, toolkits have since become a standard in the game manufacturing industry. So, we’ve challenged ourselves to continue to innovate with even better and more useful toolkits.

In the past, we took a broad approach, with various cool components inside the toolkit. Recently, our toolkit honed in on just print and paper components so we could really explore all of the options available to our clients. Of course, with a bunch of paper samples, we had to print something on them, so we introduced our Panda adventurers exploring a board game-inspired fantasy world.

For our upcoming toolkit, our band of adventurers has wandered into some mysterious woods, so we’re focusing on wood components. We always want to wow clients and players so we sought out unusual or underutilized wood options to feature. That means our Panda Ranger meeple will ride an oversized moose meeple, roll wooden dice featuring metallic ink, and stash her winnings in a buildable wooden treasure chest!

7. How often does Panda manufacture crowdfunded games vs. mass market games?

Over the years the ratio of crowdfunded games to mass market games has ebbed and flowed. Early on we made almost exclusively crowdfunded games, including some of the early pioneers in the crowdfunding space – Eminent Domain, Alien Frontiers, and Viticulture. We now have a very good balance between crowdfunded and non-crowdfunded games. So you are about as likely to see the “Made by Panda” logo on a crowdfunding campaign page as you are on the back of a game box at Target or Barnes & Noble.

8. Have you ever manufactured a game that started as a small crowdfunding campaign, and then saw massive success later?

Absolutely! One of the biggest thrills we have in our line of work is watching clients grow into full-time board game publishers. We have a lot of creators that started off with a single crowdfunded project and then built on that over time until they have a fully-fledged board game business on their hands. Stonemaier Games is probably one of the biggest examples of this, but there are a ton of others like Keymaster Games (Parks) and Thunderworks Games (the Roll Player and Cartographers series).

9. What’s the most fun kind of game to manufacture?

Any game with a passionate publisher. We are fortunate to work in the business of fun, so every game we make is enjoyable in some way or another.  But when a creator is really jazzed about the design and puts their all into it, it gets us even more excited about the manufacturing work that goes into that game. We look at our client relationships as partnerships and it’s always good to have vision and enthusiasm!

10. How did life change at Panda Game Manufacturing during the COVID-19 pandemic?

As with so many in the industry, the pandemic has also been a challenging time for Panda. The early months of COVID were the most harrowing as we faced an extended, government-mandated shutdown in Asia coming out of the Chinese New Year. We focused very hard on additional safety protocols and procedures to ensure that everyone in our manufacturing facility felt comfortable in this new environment.

On the Western side of our business, we were a little ahead of the game. Panda has been a work-from-home company since it was formed, so remote work during the pandemic came naturally to us.  Eighteen months ago, we made one of the most difficult decisions in our company’s history: we temporarily shut down our website quote tool. We did that to focus our energy on existing clients and their projects, and to provide them with our 5-star service amid historic disruptions to the shipping and supply chains. We don’t regret that decision, but we do regret that we didn’t have the chance to work with more new creators during that time. Thankfully, we’re opening up more like so much of the world and we feel ready to work with new creators again.

As far as COVID goes, we know the world isn’t quite out of the woods yet, but we continue to monitor the global situation and try to make the best decisions we can when it comes to navigating this “new normal.” We are proud to say that we never experienced an outbreak in our factory and our employees have remained healthy and safe during these trying times.

11. Do your employees ever have game nights?

Oh for sure! In fact, our team in Asia has an annual board game competition in the office and our project management team in the US, Canada, and EU have many of their own game nights and regularly play online. Even though we all work remotely, when we get on calls together a lot of the “water cooler” chatter is about what games we have played lately and what we thought about them.

12. How do people find Panda Game Manufacturing?

We are excited to share our newly designed website at www.pandagm.com. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

13. I noticed that Panda is big on sustainability. In 2020, Panda created a sustainability team. What other actions can creators take that would make board game manufacturing more sustainable?

The biggest thing is to ask their manufacturer or publisher about sustainable options. Whether working with Panda or another manufacturer, the more creators ask for sustainable options, the more the whole industry will move in that direction, with more sustainable options and better pricing for them.

14. Why should a board game publisher choose to print with Panda?

You are testing our humility! First of all, we think creators should work with us because we love games and we will treat your special project with the attention and care that you do. When you work with Panda, you are working with one of the finest board game manufacturers in the world and your game will be created by dedicated production professionals, checked by our amazing quality control team, and shepherded by Project Managers that provide best-in-class customer service and can’t wait to play your game almost as much as you!

Want to know what Panda Game Manufacturing is up to? Follow them on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to stay up to date with everything we’re up to! Also check out their newly designed website, which features a time-limited 15-year anniversary promotion, new quote estimator, and brand-new Shopify store.