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Where to buy dice CHEAP...

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questccg
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Hello all,

I have resolved to lower the cost of my "Reviewer" copies of the game. They won't have completed artwork so they aren't of any real value besides trying to playtest the game for a reviewer.

However I don't expect each reviewer to snail-mail back each copies of the game. It might reduce the cost for me, but it will be an out-of-pocket expense for them and what am I going to do with 20 prototypes that are incomplete.

So this brings me to the subject matter of this message: "Where the hell do I find cheap dice in bulk?"

I am looking for about 60 white d6s, 20 black d6s, 20 red d6s, 20 blue d6s and 20 black d10s. If possible I would like all numeral dice versus pips. It's for a Sci-Fi game so I would want all numerals.

If there is a big difference in price between numerals and pips - well then I'm probably going to go with pips. But it depends.

I recently bought a bulk of ice cubes (acrylic versus wooden cubes) and I will be putting those with the game ($0.40 per game set - which is fantastic).

I know Koplow Games has dice and you can order what you like - but an initial order must be $150 and subsequent orders must be $50 or more. So too bad if they have all the dice I want - I don't meet minimums.

Anyone have any places I could shop for dice???

MarkJindra
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I found dice on Amazon ...

I found dice on Amazon ... 100 for 23.95 (24 cents each)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KPLH1EW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s0...

I also found small cubes for prototypes there as well.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F8VB4G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s0...

=M=

Soulfinger
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A pound of D6 (approx. 100

A pound of D6 (approx. 100 factory 2nds) costs $20 through Chessex. You are incorporated though, right? So, you should be able to purchase wholesale through a distributor with a 40-50% markdown. If I recall, you are Canadian, so I don't know the distributors in your area. Lion Rampart Imports, maybe? They'll have a minimum order as well, but we all have friends who'd love to pitch in for games at a discount, right?

If you decide you want to go bulk though, I can see about digging up the info for the guys I used to order from in England. They manufacture, or at least used to, all of Chessex's dice. I think the minimum order was 1k per specific die (i.e. red d6). The price point was pretty attractive. Ah, nevermind, super easy to look up thanks to the miracle of teh interwebz: http://www.dice.co.uk/fs_poly.htm

It is quite a thrill to get a box like that in the mail.

Galaxy Zento
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I second the Chessex vote.

I second the Chessex vote. They can put you together, but I don't know how much control you get for color

questccg
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Not Chessex!

Galaxy Zento wrote:
I second the Chessex vote. They can put you together, but I don't know how much control you get for color

Well there are two (2) problems with Chessex:

  1. The first is that I want specific dice: d6s and one d10.
  2. The other problem is that I want specific colors for them.

My order would be like this:

  • 3 standard d6s white.
  • 1 standard d6 and d10 black.
  • 1 standard d6 red.
  • 1 standard d6 blue.

That's seven (7) dice and I need 20x the amount (so 140 dice in total). Now 140 dice is not a HUGE amount nor is it a single order amount. It's somewhere in between.

Koplow games requires a first minimum order to be $150. And subsequent orders can be $50. My order doesn't match unless each dice costs me $1.00 (which is an extremely HIGH price). Chessex charges more than $1.00 per dice - which is crazy, I don't want it to cost me $150+ dollars for the dice.

My last option is to EXCLUDE the dice for reviewers and only send the cards. The d10 is only used for the solitary game and the other d6s are standard dice - you can use your own.

Tell me what you think!

Update: I'd like to know if sending JUST the cards ONLY seems like a viable alternative? Most reviewers must have dice lying around and they are ONLY d6s... They could be ANY color... Just not if I am having the game professionally produced (then I want the proper colors...)

Soulfinger
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questccg wrote:Koplow games

questccg wrote:
Koplow games requires a first minimum order to be $150. And subsequent orders can be $50. My order doesn't match unless each dice costs me $1.00 (which is an extremely HIGH price). Chessex charges more than $1.00 per dice - which is crazy, I don't want it to cost me $150+ dollars for the dice.

$1.00? Say what!? Chessex sells them as cheap as 18 cents. They sell 12mm opaque in bricks of 36 for $6, and again, that is only if you are buying at retail price. Seeing as how you run a genuine business, order through a distributor and get the 40%+ markdown. Lion Rampart, which I mentioned earlier, doesn't even have a minimum order. They just tack on a handling fee for orders under $200.

questccg
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Thanks for pointing it out to me...

@Soulfinger: Thanks. I just looked at fancy dice and saw $1.45 per dice!

But you are right, the standard dice are more affordable and you can buy by blocks. I priced all my dice needs and it's about $75 + shipping. This is retail, thanks for Lion Rampart - but I don't want to fill out a credit report, etc...

I think I will just place a retail order with Chessex and expense the whole amount as R&D materials... It's just the cost of doing business! :D

Now if I could only understand HOW DriveThruCards wants me to submit my cards (using PDFs, like WTF?!?) Each one of my PDFs is 3mb. I don't know why these people are using a ridiculous file format for their cards... I'm still not 100% certain that I understand what they want...

I really want to use DTC to help proliferate Quest Adventure Cards(tm), the First Edition... I know the game dates back to 2009 - but I still want to be able to sell it, on the odds that someone may want to get a CHEAP (low priced) version. Maybe like $12 (for 100 cards). That's $0.12 a card - pretty good! Plus you get Geof's Marvelous illustrations (pun intended!)

It's sort of a "Second life" for Quest AC. Since it's POD - no cost to me or to DTC to have the game published in their directory of games. Really a GOOD idea (all-around)!

Soulfinger
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Shop around a little. Even

Shop around a little. Even doing retail, you should be able to find a 20% markdown. Alternately, drop by your local game store and let them know you need $75 of dice. At the very least, they will cover S&H, but you can ask for 20% off and maybe end up negotiating down to 10 or 15. There is the added benefit of building a relationship with a local merchant for future orders.

questccg
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Very insightful!

@Soulfinger: I agree. "Building a bridge" is a good idea. Establishing a relationship with a store might be good. I could maybe even set up a game night to demo "Tradewars - Homeworld"!

I don't know about 20% - but at least shipping should be covered!

See these are the opportunities that usually pass me by. I don't think about networking with a store to establish a relationship - because I'm not a salesperson.

Even in my day job - I don't do sales. I suck when it comes to SELLING.

Usually I'm pretty much left to develop things on my own. Then the boss takes a look at what I have been up to and it's like: "That's awesome, exactly what we were looking for." I just debugged a months worth of code in two (2) days. When I found out the product was not stable, I needed to take a look under the hood to find out what was wrong.

Enough to make the product NOT sell-able. F- it pisses me off. Two days of tinkering around to resolve someone else's mess (because they left the product in an inconsistent state).

Same goes with my games - I am usually focused on them and am working on them alone.

But I thank you for the advice, I will definitely go to a local store and see if I can make some sort of deal with them...

lewpuls
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EAI Education online (I

EAI Education online (I believe it's eaieducation.com) sells a bulk set of poly dice. They target the schools market but anyone can order. Lots of other useful stuff in bulk such as plastic 1 cm cubes and stackable plastic "counters".

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