RFQ - The Importance of Shopping Around
Below are two side by side RFQs from two established manufacturers. These aren’t complete, there are some assembly costs and a few minor components that I left out (baggies for components).
On the surface Manufacturer 2 looks substantially cheaper than Manufacturer 1, and indeed for the game in question it is, by $0.62 which is implies about $3 more at retail.
But there is a lot more nuance to the picture:
Manufacturer 1 is substantially cheaper in terms of printed components, Punchboard and Cards.
Manufacturer 2 is cheaper for wooden components (meeples), the box, and insert.
This implies that a game heavy on cards, and punchboard would be better suited with Manufacturer 1, whereas a game heavy on wooden components is better served by Manufacturer 2.
One of our Nut Hunt! hex arts that I really love (that has nothing to do with the article) - Muckville Marsh by Steve Nickel
I hope to spend more time talking about RFQs and the RFQ process, but will leave a few thoughts links and further reading for now.
Make sure to shop around as manufacturer skews aren’t as simple as high cost / low cost, there is a lot more nuance across manufacturer specialization.
Here is a great list of manufacturers.
James Manthe had a great article on the art of the RFQ, when I find an archived link I’ll post it here.
There are also going to be intangible considerations: customer service and communication, confidence in product quality, etc.
Beyond price, what do you look for in a manufacturer?
