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Prices Will Be Going Up
www.tabletopwire.com/toys-board-games-an...CTUVkwrY9p739LVLeAM4
Unless this trade war ends soon, we can look forward to games getting even more expensive. And some current Kickstarters may turn suddenly unprofitable for the publishers.
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The math on it could shake out a couple of ways, but based on similar tariffs elsewhere we can expect about a $2-5 increase in purchase costs until/if the tariff is resolved. If they inflate significantly beyond that I'd be very curious as to how publishers are handling their internal finances. Margins in board games are thin, but not typically that thin.
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- Disgustipater
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Vysetron wrote: The math on it could shake out a couple of ways, but based on similar tariffs elsewhere we can expect about a $2-5 increase in purchase costs until/if the tariff is resolved.
Assuming it is just a small increase like that, what are the chances they never lower the prices back after the tariffs end? Or does it just depend on how much consumer backlash there is?
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disgustipater wrote:
Vysetron wrote: The math on it could shake out a couple of ways, but based on similar tariffs elsewhere we can expect about a $2-5 increase in purchase costs until/if the tariff is resolved.
Assuming it is just a small increase like that, what are the chances they never lower the prices back after the tariffs end? Or does it just depend on how much consumer backlash there is?
This is going to vary publisher to publisher, but I'm actually predicting a mix of the two. Publishers bump costs up higher than needed in order to make a bit of additional profit using the tariff as a justification. Customers complain. When the tariff goes away prices drop a bit to please said customers, but not back to where it originally was. Said publishers continue to make a few bucks more on every box from then on.
Of course, none of this really matters if almost every game ends up on sale a month after release.
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- hotseatgames
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Gary Sax wrote: It's wild how this could affect kickstarters/preorders. Now we get to see who priced trade barrier risk into their estimates. Preview: probably no one.
It's not hard to imagine a very unluckily timed Kickstarter completely blowing up in someone's face over this.
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- hotseatgames
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Let's say some enterprising American wants to open a new board game manufacturing plant. This requires a great deal of investment, ramp-up time, etc. Things get rolling, some companies take a chance on it, maybe even get great results, albeit at a higher price, of course. You get some back on lower freight, but probably not a lot.
Then the tariffs end. Guess what happens then?
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- Sagrilarus
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Gary Sax wrote: MMP not worried about this one, for example. They print in the US.
Other than GMT I am pretty sure everyone else in the wargame biz prints domestically.
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- Michael Barnes
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I don’t really give a shit about how the tariffs are going to affect board games- why would I when people who make less money than I do and would never have the spare income to finance a hobby are going to get hit the hardest?
I’m also at the point where I couldn’t care less about just about every board game coming out any time soon. Endless streams of more-of-the-same. I can count the new games I am currently interested in taking a look at on one hand. So if they go up $2, who cares.
The truth of it is that once the tariffs go away, the prices will not adjust back down accordingly.
The fact that some in the industry are calling this “apocalyptic” is telling. The dependence on Chinese factories, driven by customer demand for massively overproduced games at the lowest possible price, could in fact hurt a lot of folks. Nobody wants that. But this is a “made your bed, now lie in it” situation. Ideally, this should drive makers to look at domestic options and reducing productions down to reasonable, more modest levels. But it probably won’t because Joe Gamer has gotten spoiled and now demands that games be on the quality level of Scythe and no lower.
Chinese manufacturing is unavoidable, I get it. I buy made in China stuff, we all do. But this is an area where positive change could be made, driven by these tariffs,and won’t be because white boys gotta have their fun.
I’m willing to pay more for games made in better political conditions and by manufacturers that are environmentally responsible and treat people fairly.
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Michael Barnes wrote: The fact that some in the industry are calling this “apocalyptic” is telling. The dependence on Chinese factories, driven by customer demand for massively overproduced games at the lowest possible price, could in fact hurt a lot of folks. Nobody wants that. But this is a “made your bed, now lie in it” situation. Ideally, this should drive makers to look at domestic options and reducing productions down to reasonable, more modest levels. But it probably won’t because Joe Gamer has gotten spoiled and now demands that games be on the quality level of Scythe and no lower.
If Joe Gamer can't get what they want without exploitative practices and ruining the environment, then I hope everyone who caters to Joe Gamer fails. No sympathy.
Board games are still gonna exist after this. They never won't exist. Anyone pushing the gamepocalypse narrative is someone you should be seriously suspicious of going forward. That goes doubly for the people who's first reaction to all of this is to complain about having to pay more for their bloody luxuries.
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