Introduction

Crowdfunding is a modern fundraising method that uses digital platforms to raise funds from numerous individuals for various projects or causes. It relies on social networks to amplify its reach and encourages donations within a specific timeframe, typically in small amounts. Kickstarter, GoFundMe, and Indiegogo are leading crowdfunding platforms, where card and board game crowdfunding orders are particularly high. It is projected that by 2026, crowdfunded board games will account for over 35% of newly released games, with platforms like Kickstarter, Gamefound, and Indiegogo driving innovation and community funding.

What are the logistics needs of crowdfunding users?

The logistics and delivery of card and board game orders present unique challenges. A professional board game logistics provider can help you overcome these challenges and ensure customer satisfaction at every stage. A board game logistics provider is a third-party logistics service provider that handles warehousing, picking, packaging, and shipping on behalf of game developers, publishers, or distributors, especially in crowdfunding campaigns or online sales. They are responsible for inventory management, order processing, and shipping, handling both individual consumer orders and bulk shipments to retailers, allowing developers to focus on design, development, and marketing. Understanding the logistics expectations of crowdfunding users is crucial for successful delivery.

• On-Time Delivery and Transparency

Supporters expect clear timelines and real-time tracking. Delays are the leading cause of user dissatisfaction in crowdfunding campaigns. Users demand proactive communication, especially during production or shipping disruptions (e.g., port congestion, customs detentions).

• Damaged Delivery

Given the emotional investment supporters make in the project, they are highly sensitive to damaged goods. They expect premium packaging tailored to the product's fragility, rather than standard mail packaging.

• Cost-Effective Global Transportation

Supporters are located worldwide. They criticize excessively high shipping costs, especially for ancillary products or those required to unlock specific goals. Many hope to reduce costs and import duties by establishing regional logistics hubs.

• Flexible inventory management

Imagine this: a board game launches a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter and becomes an overnight sensation. Orders flood in, far exceeding expectations. The logistics team is overwhelmed. Then, the hype quickly fades, leaving them with a massive amount of excess inventory. Such fluctuating demand can be a logistics nightmare. For products with such unpredictable popularity, inventory management must be extremely flexible. When demand surges, logistics centers must rapidly increase capacity to ensure enough games can be packed and shipped on time. But when the hype dies down, they have to figure out how to handle the excess inventory, which consumes space and resources.

Why choose a 3PL for your card and board games?

Flexible to respond to needs

One of the main advantages of working with a third-party logistics (3PL) is the flexibility to respond to changes in order demand for a variety of reasons. Predictably, as your board game brand continues to grow, so will your logistics needs, and a professional 3PL can adapt to your changing needs. In addition, there may be some unforeseen demand changes, such as a surge in demand due to the popularity of a certain activity. After Netflix launched "The Queen's Gambit" in 2020, sales of chess sets and accessories on eBay increased significantly; after the release of the Barbie movie in the summer of 2023, overall sales of Barbie dolls and dolls increased. Toy and game sellers need to react quickly to these trends across a variety of social and sales channels to reap strong returns, and 3PLs can do just that.

Reducing Logistics Costs

Logistics outsourcing can significantly reduce logistics costs because third-party logistics companies (3PLs) typically have long-term partnerships with most large freight companies. These freight companies offer 3PLs relatively cheaper discounted prices. Therefore, if you partner with a 3PL, you can also enjoy their discounted prices, allowing you to pass on the cost savings to your customers or reinvest them in business development.

Focus on your core business

By outsourcing logistics to a professional logistics team, you can concentrate on what you do best—creating and marketing board games. This allows you to dedicate more time to product development and customer engagement, rather than being bogged down in logistical tasks, thus driving your business growth.

Expanding into International Markets

Generally speaking, professional logistics agents like ChinaDivision have warehouses in multiple regions and countries around the world. This warehousing network helps customers promote their card and board games to the international market faster, more conveniently, and cheaper.

What are the problems with table and card game logistics services?

Regarding the transportation of items such as chess and board games, due to the particularity of their categories, customers may have the following concerns during the transportation process:

•  Since the items of chess, card, and board games are relatively small and numerous, customers are worried that if there are many combinations of chess, card, and board game orders, packaging errors may occur, such as placing fewer and fewer accessories.
•  Generally speaking, customers may ship a chess and card game product to multiple countries and regions for sale. At this time, customers will worry that there are too many countries and regions involved. A logistics company has a limited number of warehouses, and the location of the warehouses is relatively fixed, which cannot satisfy multi-place and multi-country warehousing.
•  Since conventional cards or board game items are easy to be damaged, especially the four corners of board games, and cards are easy to bend, etc., customers are worried about damage to the goods.
•  Customers are worried about price issues, especially for some tabletop game products that are light in weight but large in size. Generally speaking, freight is calculated based on volume and weight. The final freight may deviate from what the customer initially imagined. Of course, in addition to large board games, there are also some products with excellent workmanship but heavy weight. Customers will also worry that the shipping cost of heavyweight products is too expensive.

Why choose ChinaDivision for your board and card game logistics fulfillment?

As a professional logistics agent with many years of experience in card and board game logistics, ChinaDivision processes board game crowdfunding orders almost every month. During this time, we have also developed a set of precautions for card and board game fulfillment agents, which has become the reason why more and more card and board game companies are cooperating with us.

• First and foremost, regarding the packaging methods that all board game vendors are most concerned about, we offer five packaging options: bubble wrap + envelope bubble wrap; bubble wrap + box; bubble column + bag; bubble column + box; and corner protectors + box. We will provide a suitable packaging solution based on the actual crowdfunding order volume. The fourth option is the safest and least likely to damage the goods, but it may be very bulky and heavy. Therefore, its adoption depends on the actual order combination and test data after packaging. Corner protectors and boxes are mainly for protecting the corners of fragile board games. These are methods we have summarized from practice. Diverse packaging options are one of our advantages.
• We can offer different shipping methods based on customers' price requirements. For smaller orders under 1 kg, we generally use air freight, which is relatively inexpensive. For larger board games, such as orders of 3-10 kg, we offer either our own European sea freight or US sea freight services. These multiple shipping options meet the price needs of most customers.
• To address customers' concerns about packing errors due to large order combinations, we provide PDA picking and scanning. Every SKU in each order is scanned, ensuring both intelligent and manual control.
• We have warehouses in many regions around the world. We are a company with a global logistics advantage, which allows us to reach the world at competitive prices.

FAQs

1. What is crowdfunding in gaming?

2. What happens if my game gets damaged during shipping?

We have excellent packaging options and an after-sales team to handle and compensate for damage and loss, and we have established procedures for handling damaged or lost games to minimize disruption and ensure quick resolution.