I have self-published my games, but they were kind of expensive. The I went to thegamecrafter.com and found the prices to be decent. But the prices went up, and I have no sales. Then I had a eureka moment, where I can have a high quality deck for half the price. These are homemade decks, made one by one, that handles the best of my experimental decks, and most importantly in a card game, your opponents can't see through the back. A couple pieces of advice. My deck has a plain white back, so don't eat wile playing. The reason why it's white is that it's too hard to cut cards in the exact same place and have it line up right. That's why you're only paying $7.50 for a full deck of 130 cards plus a couple of blanks you could use if you lose a card. This was a deck selling for $20.00 at thegamecrafter.com My original premium deck was sold for $15.00, but again, there was a plain white back design.
If you wish to read the rules for 14 games that can be played with my deck, or even try one of 3 games before you buy, visit http://www.tripletopper.com and click on games to read game rules, products to buy a deck, or online to play a game in Java 1.2 Some people found my games confusing, so if you've got a question, contact me on the contact page. I also welcome suggestions for games that can be played with this deck. Someone already did, and got credit for it.
For those who don't know, my deck can play lots of different games, like a regular card deck. It's a card game system. But there is a difference, whereas regular decks have 13 numbers and 4 suits making a total of 2 independent variables and 52 combinations , my deck 5 colors, 5 numbers, and 5 suits, for a total of 3 independent variables and 125 combinations. The reason why regular cards don't have the third independent variable of color is because color is a function of suit. Once you know it's a heart, you know it's red. There is no such thing as a black heart. The cards are flat, so in that sense the cards are 2-D , but the 3 independent variables can be thought of as arranging the cards in a 3-D table, hence my slogan, "The Third Dimension for the Third Millennium Card Game System."
There are games for all tastes. Some game are simple yet deep, others make a tough game even tougher. You probably won't like every game, but if you find one you like, it's worth $7.50 And any other games you like are a bonus for free. Plus I will give to anyone who has bought my complete deck, rules to 12 games that haven't been web-published yet, sent as a PDF.
Also I'm looking for common confusions and ways to explain them. I understand, most games you have to understand the regular card game it's based on to catch the new game well. But I'm looking for ways to better explain the game, both to those who are familiar with the regular card game and those who aren't. Please email me on my contact page to send an email to me.
I don't think the $20 cost is a huge obstacle for you in selling your game. Looking at your comments on The Game Crafter website showed some confusion surrounding your game. I think once you can explain how-to-play your game better, you'll see an increase in sales. After all, your deck has 130 cards and so it's a decent size. It was rather unfortunate that some of the prices jumped up a bit at TGC. Other prices went down but with cards it increased slightly because of a bug with the original pricing calculations. (it's called a beta launch for a reason.. hehe) But, if you look at your game, $20 is not the production cost of the game but rather your selling price. I'm sure there's a slight markup so you make a little profit, but considering the fact that a few of TGC's competitors are selling custom 54-card decks for $20, it's still a very good deal. (one of the more well known competitors sells them for $13.99 + 5.99 shipping) So for a 130 card deck, you'd have to buy 3 decks and then you'd have blank cards or duplicates and it would cost you $59.94 to get those produced. All of a sudden, the $20 cost for a 130-card deck isn't too shabby. :)
I would suggest pushing out some copies of your games to some active BGG, BGDF, and TGC community members so that you can get feedback on how to explain your games better. Clearing that up might really help boost your sales and any positive reviews you get can also do wonders. It's always good to have those stats on BGG so that people see 10, 25, 50+ people own your game and think it's decent. The gaming market is flooded.. often times it's not the best game that gets the most attention but rather the one that employs the best marketing. :) (which is unfortunate in many cases)