Holy sticker shock, Batman! Is that really an acceptable, standard rate for such stuff? You definitely need to hold off until these folks reply:
I’ve sent an email to the custom dice place David suggested to see what sort of quotes they provide.
Glad I found them–as I said above, they’ve GOT to be able to beat $4.50 a die, given what they sell those emoticon dice for (less than $1.00 a die). Again I suggest that maybe the BW/BE Powers need to talk to them about an actual product line, not “just” a short-run group buy…
These are the rates that have been gathered so far, if anyone else got other rates please post them:
Chessex (Custom dice):
10-25 dice: $1.00 per side, 6 sides @ $6 USD each
26-99 dice: $0.75 per side, 6 sides @ $4.5 USD each
100-199 dice: $0.60 per side, 6 sides @ $3.60 USD each
Q-Workshop (from Z-dog’s post):
10 dice @ $12 USD each
30 dice @ $8 USD each
100 dice @ $5 USD each
Dice.co.uk: (from pfischer’s post)
These prices seem to be for 6 sides. Divide by 6 to get the per side price.
25+ pieces 3.00 GBP each, $6 USD each
51+ pieces - 2.10 GBP each, $4.20 USD each
100+ pieces - 1.68 GBP each, $3.32 USD each
200+ pieces - 1.50 GBP each, $3.00 USD each
500+ pieces - 1.20 GBP each, $2.40 USD each
Including VAT (17.5%)
25+ dice @ 3.53 GBP, $7.01 USD each
51+ dice @ 2.47 GBP, $4.91 USD each
100+ dice @ 1.97 GBP, $3.93 USD each
200+ dice @ 1.76 GBP, $3.51 USD each
500+ dice @ 1.41 GBP, $2.81 USD each
So the prices are lower but the VAT makes them higher. I’m not sure if the VAT is applicable to all orders, someone in UK/Europe could better inform us.
CustomDice.com:
16mm d6, with any engraving and any 1 color paint per side.
1-19 dice @ $6.50 USD each
20-49 dice @ $5.00 USD each
50-99 dice @ $4.00 USD each
100-199 dice @ $3.25 USD each
Shipping information:
The prices quoted have varied from $5 USD to $30 USD. So that’s something to consider as that can add up to a 10% increase on the final order price.
Send me a PM if any of these are wrong so I can correct them and keep the info in one post, instead of spread across the whole thread
We had customized dice at one point (from Q-Workshop). They had a very nice design. But they weren’t big sellers. And they’re expensive enough that we couldn’t get any margin on them. I think Luke wound up giving most of them away to customers at cons.
At 100 dice, CustomDice.com is the cheapest and allows for 6 side engraving and coloring. It’s $3.25 per dice. Anyways, let me know what you guys think.
No, we sold sets of them. There were odd dice remainders that didn’t make it into sets. I gave those remainders away with purchase at cons. I still have one left!
EDIT: Also, if you’re really going to go through with this, keep your symbols very simple and graphic. The simpler they are – the thicker you can make the lines – the better you can read the dice. Also, make sure you use distinct plastic and ink colors – like black on white or yellow on red. Using two cool colors also makes the dice hard to read.
Did they say anything about making a permanent product on their GameStation site? Also, what about mixed sets (ex: 10 each of red/orange on black, gray, and white)?
And what about it, Luke or Chris (or whomever holds rights to the symbol)? Perhaps you should see what their arrangement is for making dice for your game(s) and giving you a cut of their sales (or being a short-run dice provider and retailer)? Or would you just want to buy bulk and repackage and sell yourself(ves)?
I didn’t really inquire about setting up a product line, as BE and the Burning Wheel are not my property. I just asked about making some dice with the graphics Chris made and they allowed us to print onto dice.
I’m asking about mixed sets. Chessex said mixing die colors was not an issue, they still count as part of the same batch. I’ll post as soon as I hear from CustomDice.com.
I’m not speaking for Luke here (he’s more than capable of doing it himself), but I’m pretty sure neither Chris nor Luke would see a commercial product as kosher. It’s cool if you want to make something for yourself, though.
scratch head
Where do I imply that it wouldn’t be one of their products, to manage and from which to profit? Not here:
Nor here:
Now, fair enough, that second was was slap-dash and I didn’t make clear what I was taking as given: “allowing them to use BE/BW art” is not something anyone but Chris or Luke can decide. But, now, I think it’s a bad deal for them to make such an arrangement for just one bulk order; hence the reason I switched to the proposal in the former quote: set up an actual product line with them, and let us go and buy from Chris/Luke, and let them earn a bit of extra income, and let us pay something closer to the $1-a-die price points that GameStation has for their existing “dice game” products. I would surely buy a heck of a lot more dice at $12 or $15 for ten (in black, gray, white) than I would $36 or $40 for ten.
Anyhow, not trying to be too defensive, but c’mon; I am not exactly newb enough to think someone can or should piggyback onto their IP or use their iconography without their permission.
That said, there’s nothing–but fear of being The Asshole–to prevent someone from (say) making dice with three blank, two dot, and one star sides (or a variation on the BW progression, for black, white, and gray sets) and selling them as “Funk Dice” or any other name that avoids the terms “burning” and “wheel” or “empire”. The notion of a six sider with a 50% change of being FOO, a 33.3% change of being BAR, and a 16.6% chance of being SNAFU isn’t patented (is it?) or copyrighted (no IP violations). Not to give anyone ideas, but them’s the facts.
Anyhow, back to the regularly scheduled program, already in progress…
I’d consider (only consider, not commit to) being part of a group-buy ONLY IF I was assured that a later, packaged product would not come to pass (an assurance stronger than the “Lucas DVD Promise”). I don’t want to buy BE dice at $4 a pop only to find that, in a month or six, they come out for a third the price. After all, I already own (count, count, shuffle) something like eighty d6.
Hence the reason I haven’t committed to the group buy: I think there’s a cheaper way for it to be done which would also support the artist and designer; and I am not quite wealthy enough to buy custom dice usable in only two games which cost about the same as solid metal dice. Sorry, but I’m only a middle class American, living in the Time of Bush…
I have no stake in this, being well supplied in regular pipped d6s, but I highly suggest you first get a minimum order of custom dice before you go all out and mass order a ton of dice that may not work out.
Question: Did anyone here attempt to act on his behalf by looking into making a product which will allow him/them to profit from his/their IP(s), rather than a custom one-off bulk order that doesn’t use their iconography and, thus, doesn’t help to promote the Burning product line?
Question: Did anyone appoint you to be his whip; he doesn’t seem the least bit bothered, why are you?
Question: Is it typical of this community to imperiously question someone who comes along with enthusiasm and tries to help everyone save money while also trying to help the creator(s) make money (i.e. rather than only the dice provider making money… and a LOT of it, from the quotes I’ve seen)?
You needn’t reply… my questions are rhetorical.
David
(P.S. Thanks for waiting until The Day I Quit Smoking to jerk my chain about something I did nearly a week ago.)
